ABOUT WRITING SONGS…

Several days ago, my good friend Steve Cravis insisted that I record such notions somewhere so that all and sundry might partake in my musical wisdoms.

Lesson #1 – Should you choose to seek the musical promised land, where melody and rhyme form the perfect construct, you must first strive to string three to four chords together. On Monday, play the aforementioned progression 348 times at varying tempos and time signatures. Add libation as needed. At 142 repetitions, add a chord. At 197, subtract. As you run through the chords, hum some notes – like one of those commuters on BART who talk to themselves on their blueteeth. Which notes doesn’t matter. But don’t stop until you have something that sounds like it fits the chords. Then put everything away.

When Thursday rolls around, you’ll only remember the good bits. By accident or because you’ve forgotten everything else you tried on Monday, you’ll patch over the gaps with something better and likely nothing you thought of to begin with.

Next time a word on lyrics.

Regards,

John Mac