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In Part 2, I expanded
ideas regarding starting the songwriting process by beginning
with melody and chords first. Here I'll go into greater detail
with other processes to start with that I began in part 1.
By now, you have probably figured out that these three articles
on songwriting are on a more advanced level than is typical
of songwriting articles or most books. If the content you
read below is deeper than you are ready to understand right
now, don't give up on it, perhaps in the future you will be
ready for these more advanced ideas. If you do understand
this material, great! Implement the ideas as you see fit for
your music.
Begin with Rhythm first
Combinations
Combine 2 or more completely different rhythmic ideas into
a single idea. Take two of your favorite rhythmic patterns
and combine them into a single idea.
Augment Rhythmic Values
Create a short rhythmic pattern one measure in length. Write
it down on paper. Now increase the value of each rhythmic
event (note or rest). Here is an example. Let's say you have
this pattern: One quarter note, two 8th notes, another quarter
note, then four 16th notes. Now "augment" all of these rhythmic
notes by doubling their length.
Change all quarter notes to a half notes. Change all 8th notes
to quarter notes. Change all 16th notes to eighth notes. The
example above now gives you a rhythmic pattern that is slower
and twice as long but using the same number of events and
the exact same pattern (just slower now).
Diminish Rhythmic Values
This is the same concept as augmenting rhythmic values except
now you do the opposite. Shorten each rhythmic event, the
result is the same pattern but in shorter (faster) rhythmic
values. Using the above example, you would now:
Change all quarter notes to 8th note.
Change all 8th notes to 16th notes.
Change all 16th notes to 32nd notes.
Yep, its cool. The examples above are pretty basic, because
I told you to either double the length (in the augment section)
or cut in half (in the diminish section) above. But there
are cooler combinations such as adding a dot after each note
or change to triplets, these also can be done with augmentation
or diminution.
Destructive Rhythmic Creation
I wrote an article called Creativity and Expression (in 2
parts). In part 1, I wrote about a concept called "Destructive
Creation" Which I personally find to be a fascinating subject.
I purposely did not give any examples of this process in that
article so people would ponder the concept and may think of
original ways in which to use the Destructive Creation. This
concept has been extremely helpful to me when writing some
of the very progressive rhythmic ideas on my HESS ~ Opus 2
CD. I strongly recommend to read that article before reading
any further. Here is the link, Creativity And Expression -
Part 1
Here is an example of Destructive Creation. Do this: Get a
pencil, eraser and a sheet of paper. Write down thirty-two
16th notes. (in 4/4 time this will be 2 measures of steady
16th notes). Now randomly erase 7 (or 11 or 14 or any other
number) 16th notes. Now play the resulting new rhythm on your
instrument (you can also do this on a drum machine, computer,
etc. If you don't like the results, try erasing more or less
notes or change the order of the notes.
Once you have a new rhythmic idea that seems to have potential,
apply the other ideas on rhythm already discussed to this
rhythm. Augment the rhythmic values, diminish it, play it
in retrograde (play it backwards) or do some combination of
these ideas, the possibilities are endless. If none of these
ideas seem to be helping you, it might be because you have
not yet written an interesting melody for these rhythms. So
begin composing new melodies, or chord progressions, or riffs,
etc. for these new rhythmic ideas. Then they will begin to
come to life.
About
the author
Tom Hess is professional touring virtuoso guitarist, composer
and teacher. You can read more info about Tom at: http://tomhess.net |
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