Category Archive: April 2011

« March 2011 | Main | May 2011 »

April 25, 2011

Guitar chords = yoga for the hand

To a student having difficulty memorizing and mastering new guitar chords and chord progressions, and who has been studying yoga for 30 years:

"Think of chord shapes as yoga poses for your hand.. Let your hand embody and experience each chord as your body experiences each yoga posture. Have that same focus, that same economy and fluidity of motion, that same aliveness to the physical and energetic sensation, that same attention.

Think of a progression of several chords as a yoga routine for your hand. Go from position to position (that is, chord to chord) smoothly, unhurriedly, arriving at each chord with full commitment and awareness, letting each express itself fully, then moving on to the next.

See whether this approach changes how you experience the act of practicing guitar, and how deeply you integrate what you are learning."

Posted by richard at 09:38 PM

April 14, 2011

Don't stereotype yourself.

If a song idea comes to you that feels outside your usual "turf" as a writer, don't turn it away. See where it goes, and whether you can get a finished song out of it.

Sure, it might feel strange to write a silly children's song if your usual thing is heavy metal. But write it anyway. Even if you know you'll never record it yourself, maybe somebody else will. You never know — maybe this weird little idea will become the song that makes you famous and puts your kids through college.

More important, you don't want to judge or limit yourself as a writer. You want your creative channels to be wide open, to receive whatever inspiration and ideas might come. And when they do come, you don't want to judge them too soon, or shut the door on some part of your creative self. You want to be open and flexible, so your imagination can be free, and so your songwriting range and skill continue to grow.

Besides, any song that comes is a gift, and it's good to practice some humility and gratitude where those gifts are concerned. Otherwise, the next one might take a lot longer in coming.

Posted by richard at 09:37 PM

April 11, 2011

Responding vs. Instigating

We can shut ourselves down, or shunt ourselves down the same well-worn grooves, by always expecting ourselves to "be creative" and “come up with something."

Sometimes creativity is more about reacting to something than it is making something happen. That is, letting go of the role of instigator and allowing yourself to respond to some outside stimulus, then seeing where that response takes you.

I like it when the stimulus is out of my control, something random and unconnected with my usual trains of thought. There are lots of ways to get started: open a book to a random page and poke your finger at a random word and then riff on that; do the same thing with pictures instead of words; flip on the radio or the TV and use the first word, or image, or whatever that comes; take an image from a remembered dream; etc.

Sometimes a single element isn't enough to get the juices flowing. For example, when I'm writing, I prefer having two or three random words, because the unexpected synergy or friction between them often sparks something interesting. I even wrote a computer program that offers up random word combinations culled from any text file, providing me with an unlimited supply.

These random bits prime the pump of my unconscious, so to speak. They allow me to simply react and respond to what I'm given, without the responsibility of having to deliberately "create something."

In your creative work this week, try to be the "responder" instead of the "instigator." Find a way to generate random, external stimuli, and then get out of the way and see how your unconscious mind responds, what impulses and images come. It might point you in exciting new directions in your work.

Posted by richard at 10:25 PM

April 07, 2011

Thoughts on rhyme in songwriting

Why rhyme?

Rhyme has been a default in songwriting for so long that people don't often consider what it's for. How is it useful, how can it help you? It turns out that rhyme is a powerful tool, for a variety of reasons.

First, a rhyme scheme gives form and shape to your lyrics, helping to knit the song together into a whole, rather than just a collection of lines. This draws listeners deeper into a song, because unconsciously they're following the form.

Used skillfully, rhyme can emphasize important words and images, if you locate them in key rhyming positions. The emphasis comes both from the rhyme itself, and from the listener's anticipation of the rhymed words. Also, words that rhyme are connected to each other, in sound and meaning.

Rhyme highlights the sounds of the words, which brings out the musicality of your lyrics.

And all of these factors can make a song easier to sing and remember — always a good thing. Keep these things in mind as you write, so you can use the power of rhyme to your advantage.

Don't let the rhymes control the song.

Rhyme can be a powerful tool for knitting a song together, but it can also become a distraction from your main goal: saying what you want to say as powerfully as you can. If you let rhyme overshadow your point, it can twist your song in the wrong direction.

- Don't use words whose only purpose is to rhyme, especially if they attract too much attention to themselves
- Don't resort to rhyme cliches ("love/above," "maybe/baby," etc.)
- Don't let rhymes pull the meaning and direction of a line, a section, or a song in the wrong direction
- Don't be afraid of near rhymes, if the result expresses the idea more powerfully than a true rhyme
- Don't forget that you don't have to rhyme — it's a tool, not a requirement

If a rhyming word is forcing you into a dead end, find another word, or another way to say what you mean. Never compromise the meaning and power of your song to force a rhyme.

You don't have to rhyme.

You don't have to use rhyme if you don't want to. In fact, letting go of it might free you up in some exciting ways, especially if you're working in styles and forms that aren't particularly tied to tradition.

It's liberating to no longer have the demands of a rhyme scheme limiting your word choices. You are truly free to use whatever words best express your idea. This can actually be a bit disorienting for some songwriters, because there are fewer formal boundaries to contain and direct their creative flow.

This disorientation can trickle down to the listener, too. Many listeners half expect to hear a rhyme scheme. It's like a cultural default, hard-wired into our psyches. By defying that unconscious expectation and avoiding rhymes, you can create tension, disorientation, and even anxiety for your audience. Depending on your style or intent, you can use this to your advantage.

If you're not using end rhyme, though, do keep your ear attuned to the sounds of the words, so you can use their "music" to your advantage. Be aware of inner rhymes, rhythms, alliteration and assonance, etc., and how they can highlight and strengthen your meaning.

Quick rhyme trick

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we feel we have to use a rhyme that's a little forced. If you can't get a better rhyme by rewriting — and most of the time you can and should — then here's a quick rhyme trick that might help:

Put the more "questionable" word first, and the other word second. That way, when the rhyme hits on the second word, it feels less awkward and draws less attention to itself.

You can do the same trick when one of the words is just obvious rather than truly awkward. Just reverse the order in which we hear the words so that the least obvious word comes second and the rhyme seems fresher, or at least calls less attention to itself.

Posted by richard at 09:32 PM

April 04, 2011

Make me feel it.

Don't write a song that tells me what you feel, or tells me what to feel.. Write a song that makes me feel it.

Too many songwriters write about emotions. They write about something that's happening "over there" somewhere. The song is just a memory or shadow of an experience.

Write songs that create real experiences, rather than just describe them. Make the words, images, and music (and performance!) evoke a feeling or conjure a world that's so strong that I can't help but get swept up in it.

How do you do that? I can't give you any formulas, but there is a simple question you can ask yourself: "Does this song move me?" Not, "Does this song express how I feel?" News flash: No-one cares how you feel. They want to feel something themselves.

What I want to know is, does just listening to this song — the song itself — give you chills, make you want to cry, make you feel more alive? If it does, then it might just make me feel that way, too.

Posted by richard at 09:30 PM

April 01, 2011

Sad news...

I just learned that an old friend and huge musical influence of mine died a few days ago from stomach cancer in Japan, where he'd been living for the last 20 years or so.

John "JJ" Sutton was maddeningly self-involved, extremely funny, disarmingly charismatic, and an incredibly talented musician. His real realm of mastery was the drums - he could play it all, from Ndugu Chanceler and Harvey Mason to Steve Gadd and John Bonham - but he was also a gifted pianist and a soulful singer. When he lived with us when I was a teenager, there was certainly more chaos in our house, but there was also a lot of great music.

John ushered me into the world of keyboard harmony and improvisation.. I don't know how many times we sat side by side at my mom's old upright, taking turns playing rhythm and lead on endless jazz and funk vamps.. I learned so much.

Then he ushered me into my first professional band, a funk/soul cover band called "In Touch." I was the only white guy, just 16 while everybody else was in their 20's and 30's. John's vote of confidence got me in, and set a tone of welcome and support for me that the other guys quickly followed - they helped get me the Rhodes Mark I electric piano that became my "voice" in the band, and that I still have. We played one great night at the Showbox (with Ronnie Buford and Sam Smith), and a whole lot of nights at the legendary Helen's Diner near 23rd and Union.

I hadn't seen him in years. I'd been thinking about him a lot, lately, but didn't know how to contact him.. I'm sorry now that I won't have the chance.

Rock on, JJ.

In Touch, 1981. L to R: Pickett, JJ, Me, Phil "Boom Boom" Duncan, Keith Hooks.

Posted by richard at 10:08 PM