Project 2 - Songwriting

This project is for you to write your own pieces of music. These could be songs with lyrics or instrumentals.

You can enter these into the Play It Strange Songwriting Competitions.

Learning outcomes for this project:

• Compose pieces of original music (Evidence for Collaborative, Compassionate, Contributor, Designer, Fa’aaloalo, Resilient, NCEA Music, English, Literacy)
• Research songwriting and New Zealand Music (Evidence for Resilient, Compassionate, Contributor, NCEA Music, English)

What would you like to do for your songs? Do you sing, rap or play an instrument? What would be your plan for this? Do you have people to work with? What questions do you have?

• If you are writing songs you must create your own lyrics for your original tune. You must use appropriate language avoid explicit lyrics. Check with your teacher that the text you choose is suitable for the competition. You do not have to have lyrics.
• You can work in a group if you like. You will be asked to review each other's contribution if you work together. (Collaborative, Contributor)
• Duration of the songs should be longer than 2 minutes, however roughly 3 minutes would be standard radio play length.

Start to play with your ideas for songs. Do you have a riff you like?

Use compositional devices to generate a range of small musical motifs and from these develop and structure your songs. On the resources page, you will find suggestions about how to develop your pieces. (Designer)

You can use Garageband on the Macs

Or online - use Soundtrap - https://www.soundtrap.com

Or you might like to do it live on a piano or guitar or record a backing then sing over it.

Read the article on songwriting on the resources page. Complete the question sheet about this article.

Complete your Learning Narrative 1

Are your ideas working? Do they fit the brief?

• Are your pieces using the instruments appropriately?
• Do you have effective use of scales and/or modes, such as major, minor, Dorian, Lydian, or personally devised mode(s)
• Are you using development or manipulation of musical ideas using compositional devices such as sequence, decoration, extension, inversion, ostinato, diminution, augmentation, layering, fragmentation, and variation of texture, timbre, and harmony (Designer)
• Listen to someone else's CD. Look at the cover, the range of songs and what they have used musically. Complete this review on the CD you have chosen.

• Have you used variation to avoid literal repetition
• Have you shown ability to structure ideas into a coherent whole (for example, the music has an appropriate balance of repetition and variety, a clear beginning, middle, and end, and a sense of shape and progression)
• Play your song to others and get their feedback - what do they think?
• From feedback, improve your pieces (Resilient)

Complete your Learning Narrative 2

To complete your piece you'll need to represent it in some way.

• an audio file such as an mp3 or .aiff
• a visual representation conveying your compositional intent as appropriate to the style/genre e.g. standard music notation, lyric and chord chart, lead sheet, tab with rhythmic indications, graphic notation, narrative description, or a combination of these either on paper or using a computer notation programme such as Musescore, Logic or Garageband.

If your song includes improvised passages, you must play them yourself or it should be written as an example solo.

Play your piece to others and get feedback. (Resilient)

Refine your draft composition and re-work until you think it is effective and convincing. (Resilient)

Listen to a rehearsal of your song. If you are recording a live performance, ask your players if their musical lines are comfortable to play. Ask them if they have suggestions to make your composition more effective and convincing.

Listen carefully to the advice of your players, and further refine and re-work your draft. Repeat the refining process until you feel your song is as effective and convincing as you can make it.

Could someone recreate your song from your written representation and your audio file?

To stop someone from stealing your song you should join APRA. This is really important if you are going to sell your pieces or have your music performed.

Show your songs to your kaiako via this link and upload to LincEd.

Complete your Learning Narrative 3