It is impossible to define good music and bad music. Quality is such a personal choice that it often appears to defy logic or traditional ‘good musical taste’. This is certainly the case where music licensing is concerned. ‘Good’ really means ‘most suitable’ for a specific context. There have been occasions when we have recommended music which we’ve considered to be strong melodically and harmonically only for the client to choose something that in our opinion seemed pretty average. Sometimes Continue Reading…
Songwriting thought of the Day
Uneven Lyric Length
Have you thought about your lyric phrase lengths? The Golden rule- Keep things EVEN. Ninety percent of mainstream commercial pop music is written with four beats to each bar (4/4) time, meaning the music is divisible by 4. This needs to be considered when writing commercial pop lyrics. If you write consistent song sections-verses, chorus, bridges, etc, that are grouped into 4 or 8 lines, you are on the right track. If you write lyrics with sections containing odd phrase lengths, e.g., 3 lines, 5 lines, 7 lines, or phrases with notable uneven syllable lengths, etc, they will not work well rhythmically, and will almost always be overlooked by composers looking for lyrics. Here is a great article on this very subject >>
Power of Pentatonic Scale –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gjreHt0tRI Musical artist Bobby McFerrin directs his audience in a demonstration of the power of the pentatonic scale at the event “Notes Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus” from the 2009 World Science Festival. Utterly Inspirational! Songbayteam
It may seem utterly obvious, but the importance of melody can sometimes be overlooked-great grooves, clever chord sequences and glossy production can culminate in just that: a great groove, some chords and glossy production! From a music licensing perspective, it tends to be the melody that sells; writers who can compose great melodies are of most interest to film producers. The chords and rhythm set the mood, but its the tune that allows the viewer to relate to the product Continue Reading…
