March 2006
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 11, No. 3
NEXT MEETING: 5:00pm Sunday, March 5th, 2006
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. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org .
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Fain, crosstyes1@yahoo.com
Membership
Susan Foster-Trewick (407) 760-2153
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
Archives
Barbara Ross (407) 862-2795
President's Letter
Dear Members,
While getting ready for next issue of our newsletter, I got a phone call asking information about our guild. I told him he’d called the right guy! I had forgotten I’d already sent him the newsletter (forgive me, I don’t have the gentleman’s name in front of me). Maybe some of you saw a news article in the local paper regarding him. They had a big picture of him sitting at his piano at home. I remember thinking we need this person in our guild, and I tried to call him. He finally did call back, and I told him I enjoyed the article and invited him to an ISG meeting. He is coming this Sunday.
In the meantime, I’ve come up with plans for a song we can all try to write together, about our soldiers overseas. The song will be dedicated to all of our fine folks in the military. This started with a call I had from New York , asking for such a song. I want to try to do this at our meeting. If we can put something decent together, there could be some money to divide up. Please come to Sunday’s meeting, and we can talk about the details. We’ve tried to write as a group before and not been too successful, but it might be fun to try again.
We had a good meeting in February, with a pretty good turnout considering it was against the Super Bowl. Hope to see you all at this weeks’ meeting.
Best as always,
Russ
Internal Rhyme, Just in Time
By Matt Griffin
One of my favorite techniques in lyric writing is the use of internal rhyme. Done properly, it adds a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle), pleasing, memorable effect to your song. A well-executed internal rhyme gives me the feeling that the movie Tin Cup called a “tuning fork to your heart”. I think it works especially well in ballads and slower songs, though there are certainly many upbeat songs that have used the technique successfully.
A couple of definitions are in order. Pretty much every songwriter uses end rhyme all of the time; like the term says, end rhyme is rhyme that occurs at the end of the line (“Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are”). Internal rhyme occurs somewhere in the middle of the line. The rhyme can come with a word or words in the same line, in a similar position in a nearby line, or with another word/words occurring at the end of a line. Here’s an example with three rhymes (two internal), from Billy Joel’s “Big Shot”:
Ain’t no big sin, stick your two cents in, if you know when to leave it alone
But you went over the line, you couldn’t see it was time to go home
What’s fun about internal rhyme is that you can let your creativity run amok. End rhyme must go at the end of the line, but internal rhyme can be placed almost anywhere. It can even work in the title (Achy Breaky Heart, Rock Around the Clock). You can rhyme parts of words, whole words, or multiple words. I love the clever two-word rhyme in the opening lines of the song “A Whole New World” by Menken and Rice:
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?
In the Lennon/McCartney song “A Day in the Life”, a couple of lines that really grab the listener feature an internal rhyme in a line that does not have an end rhyme (that is, “late” doesn’t rhyme with anything):
Found my way downstairs and had a cup
And looking up, I noticed I was late
A subtler technique is to use rhyming words in the same location in multiple verses. This works even better if the melody already provides an emphasis on the rhyming syllable or syllables. If you use that particular rhyming sound nowhere else in the song, the words will seem to pop out of the song, especially on repeat airings.
You don’t need to use internal rhyme to write a good lyric. But I think it adds a lot, if the rhyme is natural and unforced. Good rhyme makes a song more memorable and somehow more singable. Internal rhyme adds craft and polish, and can help make a good song great. J
ISG Bulletin Board
Lead Sheet preparation by Carlos Colon. A simple lead sheet contains the melody, lyrics and chord symbols. For more information, visit my website at www.cecoriginals.com and click on “Services” at the top of the page. Website design also available. Use your website address in advertising. Newspapers, business cards, fliers, to name a few and let’s not forget the use of email. Send your link to potential clients. For more information, visit a few of my clients sites at http://www.websandresumes.com/clients.htm.
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.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at the meetings or email him at isgorl@cfl.rr.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the ISG . For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please call Russ or Matt or email: isgorl@cfl.rr.com .
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best ( isgorl@cfl.rr.com ).
New members always welcome! Call or email us for more info!
February Top Three—Results of monthly critique session
(1) 7 People on a City Street by Kristen Bruno
(2) Sunset Blues by Estee Starling and Mike Kondol
(3) Eden Grace by Art Cappuccio
© 2006 ISG