May 2006
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 11, No. 5
NEXT MEETING: 5:00pm Sunday, May 7th, 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,
Well here it is, that time for our month of May meeting. I trust you’ve been good boys and girls and have been working on an original song for our May session. I’ve picked the title of mine, “Comes Springtime”. Writing lyrics is like telling a story and making lines rhyme. Maybe you’re not experienced with this, so let’s pretend. Just close your eyes and find thoughts and words; you can write about almost anything. Or tell it like something you dream or hope for. The fun part of critiquing for me is seeing how similar each our song ideas are, and how different.
Suppose you have an idea about Thanksgiving. Feel free to write about it any time of year. There’ll be a time for you to add more detail, if you want, when it gets closer to that part of the year. Don’t throw away anything. You may be glad you saved it; who knows, it might just fit for another topic or melody at a later time.
Let’s plan to take part of our meeting time Sunday and write a song as a group. It’ll be fun, don’t you think? And it will make you think about the process.
Hope to see you all on Sunday,
Russ
Finishing the Lyric
By Matt Griffin
“It’s done, my 20 minutes of hard work is done.” I cringe when new writers say things like this. Here’s another that drives me nutty: “I can’t change it, the song is the song.” Those of you who still cling to similar notions will forgive me if I strongly disagree. J
OK, maybe I’m being a little narrow-minded here. After all, your song is done when you say it’s done. But those of you who’ve read some of my articles know that I’m firmly in the rework-till-it’s-ready camp. To me, those 20 minutes were the initial inspiration, and the hard work is just beginning. Say it with me: you can always make it better! If one editing pass can make your song better, then why not do it? And if two is better than one, well…
My focus today is on exactly what to do to clean the lyric up. Inspiration can only forge the silver; it still needs to be polished.
(1) Read the lyric out loud; it should sound good to your ears. Do any words come out a little harsh, like a happy “eeee” sound at a dramatic turning point? Consider possible synonyms or a new line. Are any lines difficult to read, perhaps forcing you to slow down or stutter? If so, they’ll be difficult to sing too. Do your rhymes make you smile or grimace? Be honest with yourself, and rework or rewrite as necessary.
(2) Check for consistent tense. Generally you’ll want to use the same tense throughout the song. A sudden and unexpected tense change is jarring for the listener, and it’s potentially confusing and distracting as well. Intentional changes in tense can be accomplished (e.g. two verses in past tense, third in present), but the change must be clearly outlined.
(3) Check for consistent tone. This one is a bit subtler, and easy to miss; I can use myself as an example. Last month I sang a new song of mine to the group, not for critique but for a first impression. Everyone agreed that my first verse didn’t fit; it was too light-hearted to go with the rest of my otherwise serious-toned song. It’s obvious to me now too, in 20/20 hindsight! Look over your whole lyric and make sure you maintain a similar overall mood (silly, angry, nostalgic, etc.) throughout, unless you have a great reason not to.
(4) Is every word and every line meaningful? Admittedly, this is a high standard that is tough for even professional songsmiths to meet. But it’s worth striving for; each word should be there for a (good) reason, and each line should support the idea you’re trying to get across.
(5) Is your title strong and memorable? Too often, my own answer is “not really”. It’s best to start with a strong title and work from there. If you really like the song but the title is lukewarm, consider a partial rewrite to place a solid title out front. In some cases, a few simple changes may be all that is needed. More likely, you’ll have to do some restructuring of lyric or melody or both. Take the time, it’s worth it.
(6) Last but certainly not least: how well do your words match up with the music? Strong notes should match up with accented syllables, and downbeats should match up with weaker syllables. The mating of lyric and melody—it’s called prosody—should be so clean that you can’t think of one without the other. By the way, I hope it’s obvious that words and melody should also match in spirit and tone; unless you’re writing an intentionally comedic song, happy melodies work best with happy words and so on.
No lyric will be perfect, of course. But the extra effort will be worth it; you and everyone else will be able to hear it in the song. Really!
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!
April Top Two—Results of monthly critique session
(1) Hit and Run by Ester Starling and Mike Kondol
(2) Razzle Dazzle Man by Kristen Bruno
© 2006 ISG