How is one person able to keep on creating hit-song after hit-song… while another person produces or sings songs that hardly ever gets heard?
The secret of great producers and great musicians is the same secret to every other greatness under the sun - practice. You would probably have heard of the story:
Winston Churchill was invited to speak at a high school graduation. He was already renowned for his eloquence; expectations were therefore high. When he arrived, he climbed the podium, looked hard into the audience, raised his finger up, and firmly, but quietly, said,
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never…" Then he climbed down and walked out.
The secret to distinction in any facet of life is endless practice.
The same goes for songwriting and producing.
Every singer, songwriter or producer of great music became great through endless practice.
And that practice comes two-fold; the writer likes to call them:
EAR PRACTICE & FINGER PRACTICE
EAR PRACTICE
Almost every famous musician, songwriter or producer grew up, from childhood to maturity, with music constantly playing in their homes. Don Williams sang, in "Listen to the Radio",
"The songs I sing... don’t seem to sound as real,
The songs they sing... that's how I really feel".
In another song, he sang,
"... I really love the songs the world does sing."
In his memorable "Amanda", he sang,
"I got my first guitar... when I was fourteen..."
Every great musician has been a great music lover for a long time. Bob Marley released his first song at the age of 19. Michael Jackson started singing from the age of five.
The rapper J.Z., in "Mama Loves Me", rapped a line about how his home was always filled with music, and how he would tap his feet to the beat.
The late legendary rapper 2Pac dedicated a whole song, "The Old School" to the rappers he used to listen to when he was a kid.
Every great musician, songwriter or producer became so, by listening to great music, over a long period of time. And this resulted in their ears being trained to the elusive secrets of sweet music.
I mean, just think about it.
If I give you two cups of coffee, you will be able to tell which one is sweeter and why - because of the sugar.
But with music its different.
Two songs will have the vocals, the instruments and everything else that could go into a song. Yet one song will be sweeter than the other. Why?
Honestly I don't know. That's why you need to spend good time listening to good music. And when you do the tunes will just ooze out of you.
And you will be able to sing, 'I got the music in me'.
It is not a luck game. Show me a very good musician, songwriter or producer and I will show you someone who grew up listening to very sweet music.
And by sweet music I mean songs that the generality of the world would nod their heads to in enjoyment, irrespective of age bracket, like Bob Marley’s ‘Waiting In Vain’. No one can honestly say that that is not a sweet song.
Its all in your ears. Harmony in - harmony out.
A friend of mine who wanted to go into rock music once complained to me (it seemed as if he had been unsuccessfully trying to compose good songs)
“Ben,” he said with a frown, “the people who make good music are just bloody lucky”.
But he was wrong.
If you grew up in China, you can’t wake up one day, and suddenly start speaking English. In the same vein, you can’t start producing good music if you haven’t been listening to it over time.
Those musicians and producers who've become legendary for the music they’ve made, grew up listening to the legends of their own times.
It’s not by chance or luck, it’s by long years of ‘ear practice’.
If you want to be a great musician, song-writer or producer, and you didn’t grow up listening to good music, then you must get yourself a sizeable collection of the famous, legendary artists, past and present -- and listen to them.
And the longer you do this, the better you will become.
Mozart, Beethoven, Percy Sledge, Otis Redding, Skeeter Davis, Cliff Richards, The Beatles, Rod Stewart, Bob Marley, Abba, Don Williams, Michael Jackson, Sade, Tracy Chapman, Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, Westlife, Seal, Lighthouse Family, Brain McKnight, Yanni, Kenny G, Don Moen, Ron Kenoly, Kirk Franklin, 2Pac, Biggie, BustaRhymes, Coldplay, U2, ThreeDoorsDown, Nickelback,
- the list goes on.
You want to wax legendary hits? Listen to them.
Listen carefully to the lyrics; listen carefully to the tunes; enjoy them. Its just as easy as that.
I could write a 300-page book, and title it,
“The 101 Irrefutable Song-Writing Secrets”.
“The 101 Irrefutable Song-Writing Secrets”.
But I’ll just be wasting your time and mine. Listen and you will produce hits. Harmony in - harmony out. Ear Practice. Its as simple as that.
FINGER PRACTICE
Of course, its one thing to listen, and another thing to write or produce. After you’ve 'burnt' the mysterious formula of sweet music into the ‘hard disk’ of your subconscious mind, you need to start digging deep down to bring it all out again.
And all you need to do this is to just write a song, everyday for at least one year.
That's all; just keep writing, everyday. It doesn’t matter if the song is sweet or not, just write it. If you do this for a year, making hits will become second nature to you.
When you try to wax a good song, you will at first meet heavy discouragement, as the good tunes will just refuse to come out. And you will be tempted to give up.
But if you keep on writing or composing, with the strong resolve not to stop until it becomes second-nature, it eventually will.
Sadly, this is where the majority of aspiring artists give up in exasperation. Do not give up, and you will separate yourself from the rest.
Some years ago, I heard on B.B.C. radio news that some scholars had discovered 400 unpublished songs Bob Marley had written. My guess is that those were the songs he wrote, each day for over a year, before he started his career in earnest.
A song a day keeps the discord away.
Speaking of which, when you sit down to compose a hit, you need to know that the tune is always closest to you when you are the most frustrated. Keep on pushing and you will experience the magic. Don't be in a haste, give it time.
Dr. Dre is arguably rap's greatest producer, and in one of his lines, he rapped,
"Still... taking my time to perfect the beat…"
Take your time, don't be in a hurry and it will come out.
'Ear and finger practicing' is the strong, but simple, secret behind classic songwriting and producing. Timbaland, the big-time hip-hop producer, in one of his songs, said,
"People ask me where I get my rhythm,
rhythm comes from a thing called wisdom."
And that is the simple wisdom the writer is trying to pass across to you.
No matter how talented you are, that talent will dry up eventually. The only thing that will keep you going when all else fails is practice.
Spend time listening to famous songs; write and produce one song a day, and you will make the hits that make the fame and the fortune.
But if you try to jump these steps by going straight for the fame and fortune, you will, at best, make a couple of hit songs. That will then be followed by a swift descent into oblivion.
When you put the cart before the horse, you will only be able to go so far.
What is not in you, cannot come out of you. Listen, practice and become a hit singer, songwriter or producer.
BY THE WAY's ...
ORIGINALITY
Please don't copy another person's style of music. Don't come out sounding like Michael Jackson.
The idea behind listening to other people is that the 'source codes' of good music might be burnt into your 'hard disk'; so that you will be able to use those 'codes' to carve out a niche for yourself.
Don't imitate, and if you must sample someone else's song, please clear it first.
RECORD IT
If you keep on practicing, you will reach a stage where wonderful songs will be dropping into your head from nowhere. You will be taking a walk, or a bath, and you will suddenly find yourself vigorously nodding your head to a very dangerous tune.
You must therefore make sure you always carry a recording device with you wherever you go, or you will lose the beautiful songs that come to you.
Don't take what the writer is telling you for granted or you will experience for yourself, the pain of losing songs that you know would have undoubtedly shaken the charts.
For example, imagine you were taking a shower and suddenly the tunes to Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” popped into your head; complete with chorus, verse and even bridge. Now imagine you lost the tune by the time you started dressing up…
Always carry a recorder.
If by some chance, you don't have a recorder with you, and a song comes into your head, put lyrics to the chorus and keep singing it to yourself.
KNOW THE BUSINESS
Tupac was said to have been cheated out of millions of dollars because he didn't know the business side of music quick enough. The same thing was said to have happened to Toni Braxton. And those are just two cases.
A serious piece of advice here - don't even think of stepping into the world of music if you haven't educated yourself about the industry.
Read good books about the industry, or you will most likely be taken undue advantage of. Look for books on songwriting, producing, publishing, music law and so on.
I think one of the best books is Donald Passman’s ‘All You Need To Know About The Music Business’ (Donald has cut major deals for famous artists like Janet Jackson)
You can also get some free advice at BBC's Radio1; here's the address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/howto/.
Educate yourself about the industry or it will re-educate you.
STAY BY STARTING SMALL
Another very important thing. If you want to become a musician, you must resist the temptation and pressure of saturating your debut album with hit songs.
The unwritten rule is that you have to start small, and rise gradually. If you make your debut album a smash; you will quickly fizzle out, like a shooting star.
Rise slowly, like the sun, and you will last as long.
Mc Hammer,
Seal,
Celine Dion,
Kenny G,
Donell Jones,
50 Cent,
Avril Lavigne,
Sisqo,
Brian McKnight,
Craig Davis,
Macy Gray,
Josh Groben,
James Blunt,
among many, are all artists who are, in varying degrees, suffering the same fate.
Don’t get me wrong, I love these artists like crazy, and my collection is packed full with their albums.
But compare them to artists like
Bob Marley,
Don Williams,
Tupac,
Sade,
R. Kelly and the likes.
These are guys who keep releasing album after album and still maintain their initial high standard of music.
They've got the ‘staying-power’. This is because they have listened to good music over time, practiced composing over time and started small.
Starting big is very enjoyable in the short-term - you get instant fame and fortune; your name is on the lips of every child, yet unborn. But then, shooting-stars only last so long.
In the long run, starting big is unprofitable to you, your record company and your fans.
Your music career is not a hundred meter dash; its a lifetime marathon. Start the race slowly so that you'll be able to finish it.
It's not funny being a burn-out; never saturate your album with hit songs.
Two or three hit songs in one album is okay. The remaining songs should be good ones; not garbage, but good ones.
LEARN AN INSTRUMENT
Bob Marley and Don Williams – the guitar. Michael Jackson – the piano. Stevie Wonder – the harmonica and the keyboard. You multiply your music production abilities when you learn an instrument.
(Unless of course you're a rapper.)
Tunes jump out of instruments when you spend quality time with them.
Why travel by foot, when you can use a car? Learn an instrument.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Benedict is a song-writer and producer, he loves good books, good causes and good music.
You can contact him through his email: benedictton@yahoo.com.