Hi! I’m playing a show in a couple of weeks and want to use my harmonizer on my boss VE-8, but I want to be able to move around and not be glued to my pedal.
Is there anything handheld I can hook up that I can press from anywhere on the stage so I can move around?
TYIA!
It’s pretty rare for me to write lyrics before any music, but that’s what happened with this one.
Decided to use it as an opportunity to try writing in an alternative tuning, and found this little guitar melody along the way.
Not quite sure which chords are which, I really liked some sounds that came from the 7th fret, but only found a few spots where it really clicked.
TYIA!
This is one of those where the verse and chorus were both written for different songs and stitched together.
I feel like coming out of the chorus feels okay but would love any transition ideas for the verse to the chorus. It feels a bit boring there.
(Not looking for feedback on the performance/ tempo. It’ll get cleaned up later 🙂)
I’m an award-winning songwriter out of Nashville, and have been seeing a lot of people here feeling stuck.
Instead of commenting on everyone’s post, I thought I’d share an exercise that really helped me improve my writing.
As someone who primarily writes for other artists, capturing tone of voice is literally my whole job. Once you learn how to capture someone else’s voice, you can break rules and make your own. This is one of the only exercises that gives you immediate and honest feedback on your writing.
Here’s what you do:
Find a song you’ve never heard before that’s popular. At first, it may be easier to pick an artist you’re familiar with, but as you get to be a stronger writer, just start playing roulette with whatever is charting.
Pick a random point in the song and listen to it for a few seconds. If you’re just starting, listen to the pre chorus and pause before the chorus hits. As you practice more, start doing this with verses/ bridges as well.
Set a timer for 40 minutes, and finish it from the other artist’s perspective. Not yours, theirs. Once you get over 40 minutes, you get in your own head and get stuck.
When you’re done, listen to how the actual song plays out and see what different choices were made. Watch interviews about what their process looked like and figure out why they chose what words. Were there internal rhymes you missed? Was the melody flat comparatively? Did you get the overall tone right? Did you completely miss the plot?
Take parts that you wrote that you liked and note them down. Lyrics, melody, whatever it is. You will not come close enough to the other artist’s work for it to be considered copying them. Even if you’re the best writer. There’s too many variables. You may come close in some areas, but odds are your lyrics and melody will be WAY off, especially if you don’t know the artist.
I do this multiple times a day, and it’s completely changed how I write. It’s made me a better collaborator in co-writes, and gives me a lot of material to play with.
If you share what you make in the comments, I’m happy to leave some additional feedback for anyone who’s interested!
Hope this helps someone! 🙂