December 2019
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 24, No. 12
Next meeting Sunday December 1st 2019 at 5pm
We will be having the party on Sunday Dec 8th at 5pm in Union Park, thanks to Lindsay Stroh.
If you wish to attend, please send an e-mail to isgorlando@gmail.com asking for the map.
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every
month at the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson St.,
Orlando, FL 32803 (at the extreme east end of Robinson, near Orlando Executive
Airport)
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to
join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our
group and what we do. If you wish to join, there is an annual fee of only $5. For
more information, visit our website at www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business, networking and
introductions. 5:30 to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled),
or a short workshop/exercise. 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song critiques.
Please bring a CD or I-phone or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring 10
or more lyric sheets. If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored,
and 6 members scoring, then we will have them entered in the Monthly competition.
Everyone is encouraged to write constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs
If you wish to join our Facebook group, please check us out at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/831814850193553/
Ralph Murphy #2
By Jeff Mason
In this month’s article I will examine Ralph Murphy’s useful and informative analysis of the hot country Billboard charts of 2018.
There were only three number one songs on the Hot Country Charts in 2018. This is the link to Ralph’s breakdown of those songs.
https://murphyslawsofsongwriting.com/hot-country-billboard-charts-2018
The first thing I have to say is that I thought I’d misread Ralph’s article! Only three number 1 songs in a whole year! After some r
esearch I am able to confirm this figure. Oh “ye of little faith.” This admonishment is aimed at yours truly!
“Meant To Be” by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line held the number one spot on the Hot Country Songs at the beginning of
2018. That continued a run that had begun on Dec 16, 2017. It held the top spot until Nov 24, 2018. This comes from Wikipedia and
aligns with Ralph’s study. This is the link to Wikipedia. Use it as a guide along with Ralph’s article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_number-one_country_songs_of_2018
This is the YouTube video, with lyrics, of “Meant To Be.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOP5HrIkTrA
“Meant To Be” was ultimately replaced by ”Lose It” by Kane Brown. This is the YouTube link with lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=558fACqI-LU
The third number one song was “Speechless” by Dan and Shay which took the number spot on Dec 15 2018. Here’s the link to the
YouTube video with lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkXIpQkFCWA
On a personal note, I think “Speechless” is the best out of the three. I’ll be very interested to hear other points of view.
Ralph opens his article with his thoughts on song structure or as he describes it “form.” It’s best if I leave it to him to describe his
view on “form.”
“We find they were only written in 4th form. There are 7 forms. I call them forms for lack of a better word for the songs, but these songs
were only written in 4th form. In Europe the “lift”, or “prechorus” is called a “bridge” and when they refer the “middle 8” its also called the
“bridge” in the United States....as I’m writing it in the United States, we'll call it a “lift”, ”prechorus” and a “middle 8” or “bridge”.
The 4th form is verse, lift, chorus, verse, lift, chorus, middle 8/instrumental/breakdown or whatever and either lift or chorus.”
Ralph divides his analysis into nine parts. They are as follows: #1Intro #2 First Use of the pronoun “you” #3 Detail #4 Structure #5
The two minute wall #6 Beats Per Minute #7 Time to first use of the title #8 Fade/Dead End # 9Gender
He then in his words,”With each of the figures quoted what I do is add all the numbers together (intros, length of time to first use of “you”,etc.)
and find the average number.” Here are the averages for 2018.
If you want the average, here’s the average...
Have a 7 second intro
Use the pronoun “you” on average about 14 seconds into the song
Have a detail sprinkled around liberally
Be sure to honor the “2 minute wall”
Keep the BPMs around 87
Average for the dead end is 2.58
Aim at a male singer or make sure there’s a place for a woman
Use the 4th form...but don’t be afraid of the 3rd
Arrive at the title in 60 seconds or less...(40 seconds), including Intro
Those of you who are familiar with Ralph’s work will know the importance he placed on the pronoun “you.” It is because when you use
the pronoun “you” it invites the listener into the song. If I were to write a book on song writing I would use Ralph’s rule at the front of my book.
The two minute wall is where you need to introduce a new section into the song. It could be a middle 8, an instrumental or breakdown.
What I am noticing is the Beats Per Minute (BPM) are getting slower in songs and after a long time with stinger or button endings, fades
may be returning.
I am not a huge country fan and I’m even not sure I’d call these songs country. There is no denying, however, the talent, song craft and
musicianship evidenced in these three songs.Ralph said he did the analyses because he wanted to know what was wrong with his songs.
RIP Ralph Murphy.
See you next month.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association,
Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the
interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more
information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing call SusieCool with your
appearance schedule! 407-760-2153 or e-mail her the details at isgorlando@gmail.com
If you are interested in open mics in the Central Florida area, SusieCool has compiled a list.
https://sites.google.com/site/susiecoolsongs/Home/open-mic-directory-central-florida
If you want to join us at the Central Florida Folk song circle, please show up at
Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux at 3022 Corrine Drive on Tuesday November 26th.
from 6 to 8:30/9pm. The BBB has many delicious items on their menu, and also some vegetarian stuff.
They also serve beer and wine. They have a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Central-Florida-Folk-Song-Circle-139385302761066/
On Wednesday November 20th and December 18th we have a playing circle with the Fingerstyle
Guitar Group in the Community room of the winter Park Library.460 E. New England Ave.
Winter Park, FL 32789. 6 to 8:30pm. The event usually takes place on 3rd Wednesdays, but
sometimes 2nd Wednesdays. Songwriters are welcome, but we do try to play our fingerstyle
songs and not use picks. There is more info on the facebook group page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/228147620559285/?fref=nf
SusieCool is the admin for a Facebook group called "Orlando Creative Music Network"
where we give out info on songwriter meetings, playing circles, open mics, workshops and concerts.
We have a Facebook page for this group if you want to join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/274152179716552/
November 2019 no Critique Contest
We had a visit from Jeremy, who played us a few songs that he wants to record on an EP. They were
very good, and also thought provoking. There was much discussion!!!
New members and guests always welcome!
© 2019 ISG