Rihanna Star

Songwriting Hits

Article by John

What is it about a song that draws you into first humming along to it, then eventually into you learning the words and dancing to it? What makes a song so infectious, that the whole world unites by rushing out to buy this one song? What makes a song a hit?A songwriter or group of songwriters creates melody and lyric. Songwriters and composers are skilled musicians; male or female singer, guitarists, pianists/keyboard players, bassists, drummers, saxophonists, horn players, violinists and lyricists to name a few – and also have the ability to create structured parts of music, instruments and lyrics which fit together to form a song. This may be instrumental or vocal music.There is no order in how the music or lyrics are created. It is normally a combination of the two coming together simultaneously. It starts with an idea, a concept, an inspiring thought, or perhaps real life event. Love is the most popular topic songwriters write about, because we are fascinated, disappointed, intrigued, affected and passionate about it throughout the journey of life.In musical terms, ideas, emotions or inspirational thoughts are also in notes and not just words. Depending on how chords are put together and the tempo they are played in, these create feeling in music. For instance dissonant chords are moodier, darker and could be more fitting for an unrequited love song or about war, whereas an upbeat, brighter, major chord structure could be about being happy about life’s precious gifts. Once a series of chords are put together, these form parts, like phrases. Sequences of these parts eventually become verses, choruses and bridges, like paragraphs that form a story.A song is a story, an expression to say something in a way sometimes everyday words cannot. Language is mostly processed to the left side of the brain whereas music is processed on both sides of the brain. Further explaining why music touches a person faster than when someone is trying to explain him or herself. That is why when testing a non-musical person versus a musician, the Music Jobs is found to have a greater word memory (more developed left planum temporalis). So save time and rather just say whatever it is in with a song! They way that a song is put together needs to make the same logical and emotional sense as a story in order for the listener to understand what the songwriter is trying to communicate. Here is an example structure of how to write a song:It needs an opening musical line and lyric which is captivating enough for the listener to continue listening, like a book’s first sentence. The words and music need to speak to the audience without too much effort, simplicity is key as how it flows from verse one (introduction) to pre-chorus one (leading information to pull you into the chorus) to the grand arrival of the chorus (the first arrival of the plot of the story). At the end of the first chorus it needs to lend to a surprise part, blending into the second chorus. Predictability is a BIG no-no in writing; a surprise is far more enchanting and because the chorus is often the final part of the song, it is fundamental that when leading from first chorus to second verse that there is something substantial taking you there – keep the surprise in the there, so not to think this is the end because it’s the chorus – i.e. the core message within the story. The creation of the melody and harmony can help you achieve this. That is the beauty about music, sometimes no words need to be said just emotions need to be felt. With pitch, timbre, rhythm and tone this can be accomplished.The music of the second verse is a repetition of the first verse, with maybe a slight chord change in a part that makes sense and has reason – but it’s probably better to keep this the same and rather focus on the lyrical content and how that deepens the story-telling, then falling into the pre-chorus (melodically the same as first pre-chorus), finally landing back into the second chorus. As already mentioned the chorus is the place where the listener finds the main reason of what the story is about. By landing back into the chorus, this method of repetition reiterates the motive with a ‘hook’. The ‘hook’ is a musical term that musicians use to define what pulls an audience in, to somehow naturally and magically sing along. The hook is easy to remember and sing to and the notes and words relate to the brain; this is the catching part that makes it a hit. This part of vocal is normally also the name of the song.In films and books the structure follows a plot similar to boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, somebody does something for the boy and girl to break up, but boy and girl eventually land up together regardless and live happily ever after. The bridge of the song is best explained as the ‘somebody does something for the boy and girl to break up’ part, in other words; the turnaround point, the ‘BUT’, the change of plan. To make this effective build in a crescendo of dynamics here so that at the climax part before leading into the final choruses you can just picture some lady in the next car is singing her lungs out confessing her undying live whilst sitting in traffic next to you! That is the affect you want to have, after that you can hear the whole stadium singing or probably screaming the final choruses back at you, like the anthem of their heart.Once you have developed your skill in writing, your formatting will naturally take shape and you will start to form your own signature sound. As much as it’s great to right from real emotions, sometimes songs require commercialization in order to be sold at mass. Listen to the news, watch which markets and trends are happening, tune into worldly affairs to tune into what will become your audience. These are the people you need to relate to, these are the people who will buy your records.It is imperative that you think like a performer when songwriting; you need to think about how the audience is going to receive it, what affect it will have once delivered. When you can express in music and/or lyrics what people really want to speak about but don’t always have the courage to say, gusty, passionate, real life kind of stuff – that is when you will have their full attention. Just keep reaching for the right notes to get that sound out for that killer-tune. When you have the song nailed, record it and register your copyright to avoid any infringement of your property with a legitimate association.Whether a song is written on the sidewalk, in a basement or in some fancy million-dollar studio, for it to become a hit is not straight-forward. There are more artists than in the 60s, which have had short-lived careers, known as one-hit-wonders. In the 90s and early 20th century, there was a saturation of artists and songwriters flooding the market that record labels and publishers signed up for large sums of money, yet dropped when the recession hit the USA and UK twice within ten years. Today, a lot of these artists are now unknown, broke or working in a completely different industry. So it has become extremely hard work trying to find funding let alone any record label or publisher to listen to you or your song – any new boy or girl on the block has to already be within the music circles at top level. Entry-level is seen as a financial risk. You as the songwriter have to outlay initial recording and demo costs, like looks nice and shiny enough for a suited businessman to pick it up, because you made the effort. Read more about this in DIY Artists to find out about how labels and publishers are worth pursuing for the investment to take your career to the next level.The reason for mentioning the importance of record labels and publishers whilst songwriting a hit is because they are part of the process; they are the financiers of the business with all the key contacts to make your song heard through artists, radio stations, press, distribution and alike. Remember that a song unheard is lost. So there is no use songwriting without you delivering it to the right source in order for it to be sitting in the charts, racking up royalties whilst you’re tanning in the Bahamas or working on your next project with Rihanna. When you are ready with 15-20 songs (standard industry requirement) pick up the phone and don’t stop calling until you reach Mr SonyBMG who has finally received your demo in a pizza box and actually put it in the CD player and says, ‘damn, bring this kid in, we have a hit right here’. You create it and you have to follow through by delivering it to someone who believes in it 150 million times more than you. Without that belief and passion from a complete stranger, no way is anyone going to put at least £150,000 into recording, artist time and production fees. It has to be driven by you relentlessly. How much you believe in your song is an ounce of how much the publisher or A&R director will believe – that’s how much energy, well-planned organisation and convincing it requires. See each song you write as a product with a specific purpose, that will place focus on how to follow through to the finish line.Let this to-do-list guide you:1) Be a skilled musician and or lyricist (collaborate if you need a Musicians Wanted or lyricist or study to become skilled and self-sufficient)2) Have equipment to record your writings to copyright and do state ownership in all collaborations on paper and signed by each person3) Think like a businessman, not like a musician – this is your investment and also your bread and butter money!4) Perform at every showcase or singer-songwriter gig to be heard (listen to feedback from the audience you’re playing to, they will help you to improve)5) Once you have 15-20 song ready to submit for listening, create a demo CD with branding that stands out saying ‘choose me to listen to’ – this is your product, you need to sell it6) Set a timeline with budget, but keep writing, practice makes perfect7) Know what your genre is in order to contact the relevant person within in a label or publishing house8) Keep calling, fight past the ‘evil’ receptionists and find creative ways to reach that person9) Don’t stop believing and finding that person who believes 150 millions times than you! That will be the person who will release your record and continue to do so throughout your musical career10) A song unheard is lost – deliver, deliver, deliver!

About the Author

The author is a music band owner which offers its services to a variety of class especially five star hotels in Asia. There are several music bands which performs live shows six days a week. The band offers Singer Wanted or Musicians Wanted and Music Jobs or female singer across the world.

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