Cool Chords

This is geared mostly towards guitar players, but could still apply in some respects to those of you who write with a keyboard.  Are your chord choices and your chord progressions getting boring?  You might find yourself always turning to the same chords when you're sitting down to write...and let's face it, you can probably only sing in certain keys so those chords work for you.

However, they're not very inspiring after awhile, are they?

Maybe you need to introduce yourself to some new sounding chords, chords that have different extensions (more about that in a minute), but still work for your voice.  There are many, many chords out there, but most of the time we stick to the common chords.  It's not that common chords are bad, but they are what we know.  I get an awful lot of visitors to one of my articles entitled "Chord Keys" because people aren't sure what chords sound good together.  In fact, they often use the search terms "what chords sound good together" to find that article!

So if you aren't sure about chord keys, that's a good primer.  However, beyond that, why not teach yourself some less common chords.  Chord "extensions" are simply added harmonic notes that change the sound of a chord.  For instance, a basic G chord changed to a Gadd5, gives it a fuller, more majestic (for lack of a better word) sound.  A Gadd5 is fretted like this:

 Gadd5
 -----------
 | | | | | |
 |_|_|_|_|_|
 | 1 | | | |
 |_|_|_|_|_|
 2 | | | 3 4
 |_|_|_|_|_|

Just adding that third finger to the third fret of the 2nd string gives the G a whole new dimension.  In fact, I know some guitar players who have permanently replaced any G they play with a Gadd5 because they like the sound of it better! But there are many other  G chords with different extensions, so I'm going to give you a bunch of them here just so you can play with them:

  Gadd5            G6              Gadd9              G11
 -----------     -----------     -----------     -----------
 | | | | | |     | | | | | |     | | | | | |     | | | | | |
 |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|
 | 1 | | | |     | 1 | | | |     | 1 | 2 | |     | | | 1 | |
 |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|
 2 | | | 3 4     2 | | | | |     3 | | | | 4     2 x 3 | | |
 |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|     |_|_|_|_|_|

(Note:  the "x" in the G13 chord means that you mute that string

with the back of your second finger)

So you can see that just by changing a couple of notes from a normal G chord, you can find lots of variations.  Sometimes I have found myself fingering some kind of chord without even knowing what to call it!  All I know and care about is the fact that it sounds cool.  Eventually I have found the names by using a website called Gootar.com and typing in the fingerings on their little Java chart.  It gives me a few names to choose from :-). The point is that you should explore how you play your regular chords to get out of your regular chord "rut".

The web is an excellent place to find chord charts if you are looking for new ones to try out. Chordie has a great one that gives all kinds of variations of all of the standard chords, and I'm sure you can find others just by Googling "guitar chord chart".

There is something about the sound of a new chord that can do all sorts of things to your ear when you are trying to write a song.  Sometimes the subtlest change can inspire something entirely new for you.  So find yourself some cool chords and get busy!

IJ

 

Songs I Like - The Chain

Fleetwood Mac's album "Rumours" was actually the 11th studio album by the band, released in 1977 and it sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.  One of the most interesting aspects of it was that there were a great number of personal problems happening within the band during the writing and recording of Rumours that contributed a great deal to the subject matter of the songs.  There are even books out there written all about the album and its creators. "Making Rumours" by Ken Caillat, is the most recent.

There were a number of big hits from Rumours including "Dreams", "Don't Stop" and "Go Your Own Way", all great songs.  But the only song on that album that had every band member credited with its writing was "The Chain".  The reason for that is interesting;  because different parts of the song were, in fact, written by different members.  John McVie, the bass player and Mick Fleetwood, the drummer had come up with the second part where the bass has that distinct, repetitive line.

It doesn't matter if you can't read bass clef, you can hear it in the video of the song below.   Stevie Nicks had written some lyrics that seemed to work with that, and together, she and Christie McVie came up with the melody to put on top of the ending part.  Lindsay Buckingham reworked an older song he had written with Stevie and came up with the first part of the song.  And that's how it all came together.

Lyrically, it's a break up song which is appropriate considering that the couples in the band were all having trouble at the time of the recording, so it more or less epitomizes what was happening to them.  It's rather simplistic, mostly about being lied to and the chain representing what ties them together.

What makes this a great song for me I think is the true emotion of it.  What is it you always hear from songwriting gurus?  It's important to keep a song meaning universal, and what's more universal than a break up song?  But the way it is delivered in the studio is with that element of "real" because for them at the time, it WAS real.  It's dramatic and powerful because it's the truth about their anger towards each other and the pain they were experiencing at the time.

The whole Rumours album is great, and it's worth listening to and reading the story behind.  "The Chain" with it's interesting instrumentation of banjos and bass lines and drums, has a rather timeless feel to it. Have a listen to the song on the video below. Here are the lyrics:

Listen to the wind blow, 
Watch the sunrise

Run in the shadow, 
Damn your love, damn your lies

CHORUS:

And if you don't love me now,

You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying                  

You would never break the chain

And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain

Listen to the wind blow

Down comes the night

Run in the shadow

Damn your love, damn your lies

Break the silence

Damn the dark, damn the light

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Chains keep us together

Running in the shadows

[REPEAT AND FADE]

~ IJ

When "Broken" Rules Work

I did an article once called Songs That Break The Rules, giving some examples of songs that went outside the lines in terms of doing things that you are often told NOT to do when writing a song. Songwriters get a little riled up when it comes to the word "rules", but I think there's a lesson to be learned from understanding those "rules" and then going beyond them and finding your own songwriting voice in spite of them.

Certain things just don't work, and there's a good reason that they don't work. Not very many people want to listen to crazy, unorganized noise. I suppose some do, but that's beside the point :-). Once you figure out what works, you're ahead of the game. The songwriters I often admire are those who take those rules and turn them upside down, and STILL come up with a great song.

Recently I was asked to work out a song for a guitar class called "Late Bloomer" by Canadian songwriter Sarah Harmer. I've heard her songs before and like her style, and she's definitely got a distinctive voice. When I was teaching it to the class, one of my students commented on how it was tricky to sing because of the way Sarah emphasizes certain words in it. You might think that's a bad thing...because how many times have you been told (by myself and others!) that you can't put the emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble? In other words, you need to make the music work with the natural stresses of the lyric.

Well, Sarah breaks this rule all the time, but it works!  There's a line in the first verse  "oh, late bloomer, the rumours were true".  The first time she sings it, her melody matches the stresses just as if you were reading the line;  OH, late BLOOMer, the RUmours were TRUE.  But the second time she emphasizes it differently;  OH, late BLOOMer, THE ruMOURS were TRUE.  And in the second verse, she does it again in the second line;  to read it you would see "it was NOTHing to be ALways LEFT beHIND".  But her emphasis is "it was noTHING to be ALways LEFT beHIND", putting the emphasis on the last syllable of the word 'nothing' instead of where it naturally occurs.

Now, many times when I've heard something by a newer songwriter where there is an incorrect stress in a word, I've heard it as a mistake.  With Sarah's song, I don't.  Why is that?  My guess is that she does it on purpose and likes to play around with the stresses of words like that, and this has become her distinctive style.  So she doesn't sound like a "newbie", instead she has created a sound for herself that makes her songs and her singing stand out.

And that is what we're all trying to do, isn't it?  Find a voice that can be easily identified as ours and ours alone.  Sarah Harmer may not be a massive, money making music star, but she has a following and continues to write great songs.

So what is the lesson here?  Same as always;  learn the rules, and then break 'em :-).  Have a listen to "Late Bloomer" and consider buying one of Sarah's albums if you like it.  The lyrics are below:

Oh late bloomer the rumours were true
You know I checked your ID when you left the room
I didn’t want to see it coming, I showed off my heart
Now there’s a scar in the shape of a question mark
Oh late bloomer the rumours were true
Scattered leaves are all that’s left of you

I never thought I’d be the marrying kind
It was nothing to be always left behind
From the ship that would sail with everyone on it
I said ‘give me the land, I know what I want and where I’m wanted’
But you came in whistling ‘I’ll go if you’ll go’
And I was waiting around to play like an old piano

And honey I couldn’t see the trouble sleeping down deep
Where these lights won’t go
I couldn’t see the trouble underneath
I set my sights on what was alright
My will didn’t know, where these lights won’t go
I couldn’t see the trouble underneath

Who knew it would be you through the wall
Listening in to a voice on a call
And hearing the strings and a shoot ‘em up show
Little did I know then what little did I know
Long before listening forever
Was shot down before it was ever delivered

And honey I couldn’t see the trouble sleeping down deep
Where these lights won’t go
I couldn’t see the trouble underneath
I set my sights on what was alright
My will didn’t know, where these lights won’t go
I couldn’t see the trouble underneath

Oh late bloomer the rumours were true
You know I checked your ID what was it I knew?
I didn’t want to see it coming, I showed off my heart
Now there’s a scar in the shape of a question mark
Oh late bloomer the rumours were true
Scattered leaves are all that’s left of you

Released: 08-28-2010

IJ

Songs I Like - Seven Day Fool

Etta James passed away recently, which brought a lot of attention to her music, of course, as it has for Whitney Houston and as it does for every other artist who passes away.  Etta was probably best known for the song "At Last", which I don't just like, I love.

What I didn't know was that she was also the first to release today's pick, "Seven Day Fool", in 1961.  It was written by Billy Davis, and is essentially from a female perspective, proclaiming her love in the form of everything she does for him because she loves him.  Now that might have a bit of a sexist lean, but I think the way it's sung both by Etta James and Jully Black, a Canadian artist, gives it a no-nonsense and still passionate, declarative feel.  In other words, these ladies are committed to their men, but they ain't no pushovers!

It's a real belter, especially when she hollers "And I'll be!"  The 2007 version that Jully Black recorded pays homage in every way to the original, both in her delivery of it, and in the instrumentation and production.  That's what I love about it.  In fact, when I first heard it (remember, I didn't know there was an Etta James version), I thought it was a contemporary song made to "sound" like the 60's.  That has been happening a lot lately...my Christmas blog entry "Everything Old is New Again" refers to this phenomenon in the way new artists have been writing and recording in old, but updated styles.  I love it!

This is a classic form of songwriting, using the days of the week as a reference to the idea that every day the singer is slaving away for the one she loves:

And on a Monday, 

I'm gonna love ya

And on a Tuesday, 

I'm gonna hug ya

And on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 

Gonna love ya

I work for you baby, work my hand to the bone

Care for you, baby, when you get home

Do for you, baby, for the love that I seek

Slave for you, baby, every day of the week

(And on a Monday)

Scrub your dirty floor

(On a Tuesday) 

I do a whole lot more

(On a Wednesday) 

I wash your dirty clothes

To have a little lovin' 'fore the weekend goes

CHORUS:

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

Only because I really love you

(And on a Thursday) I'll treat you oh so kind

(And on a Friday) I'll take you out to dine

(And on a Saturday) I'll work double time

If you'll only say you're be mine

(repeat CHORUS)

(On a Monday) ya I'm gonna love ya

(Tuesday) oh I'm gonna hug ya

(Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Yeah give me all of that love

(And on a Monday) I scrub your dirty floor

(On a Tuesday) I do a whole lot more

(On a Wednesday) I wash your dirty clothes

To have a little lovin' 'fore the weekend goes

(repeat CHORUS) 

I really love you

I really love you

I'm just a seven day fool

I really love you

Oh on a Monday, I'm gonna love ya

And on a Tuesday I'm gonna hug ya

On a (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) gonna love ya

A seven day fool

Not only that, but it's a mover...you can't stop bopping to it!  Have a listen to it in the video below.  Definitely a contemporary remake of an old classic that I Like :-).

~ IJ

Using Life Experiences To Write

I was at a funeral for an old acquaintance yesterday and on the way home it occurred to me that there were a lot of lines and phrases spoken by others that I could easily use in a song lyric some time in the future.  Quite often you may have come across the idea of reading or watching TV or seeing a movie to find some inspiration, but the truth is that your very own life is probably a great source if you handle it just right.

Of course, many of you already write about your own life, and many songs you've heard over the years are a reflection of the writer's life, not just fiction.  But instead of writing about the typical things like love, loss, partying (😊) and every other clichéd topic, there are probably events or snippets of conversation happening around you all the time that might make for interesting lyrics.  So any of you out there complaining (and many of you do!) that you don't have anything to write about, maybe you only need to open your ears and eyes a little more.  Almost anything can inspire a song lyric if you know what to do with it.

For instance, one thing that was said yesterday by the brother of the person who passed away was that in losing his brother, he learned something about him,  and he also remembered something that he had forgotten.   The "new" learning came in the form of stories that people told him after his brother died.  The thing he had forgotten was how he had always thought of his brother as his hero.   I could see turning that into an idea for a song.  Another idea that came to me was when the pastor spoke about how we only know a part of a person, and when we get together during such an occasion, the memories others have, when we put them all together, paint a much more complete picture of that person.

Do you see what I mean?  Whatever lyric came out of that wouldn't even have to be about death, only about getting to know someone, or a kind of philosophy of life.

I'm not even afraid to share these ideas with you because I know that if you use them, you would probably write a completely different song than I would :-)  Years ago I used to lead a kind of online songwriting workshop on a songwriting message board I used to hang out on, where I would get everyone to submit a song title.  Then we'd vote on the title and have a week or two to write a song around that title.  Sometimes it wasn't a title, but just a lyric idea.  It was a great exercise, but what it taught me most was how completely different all of the songs were that came out of it.

So take something from my experience above, if you like, or pay more attention to your own experiences and don't be afraid to share them.  You never know where you'll find a new song!

IJ

Songs I Like - Wichita Lineman

I recently saw Glen Campbell perform on the Grammys and was struck by his courage to be out there performing even though he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.  One of the interesting things about the brain is that when you learn music, or a musical instrument, your whole brain is engaged, as opposed to just part of it devoted to something like speech or face recognition.  So Alzheimer's patients will often remember lyrics and melodies to songs (or remember how to play piano for instance), well after they have forgotten who their closest family members are.  It's an interesting aspect of music that I also see with my father who has Alzheimer's.  He still remembers me at this point, but much of his personality has been destroyed by the disease.  Still, he can remember old songs with little or no effort!

But that's not what this post is about :-).  This is about one of my favourite all time songs, Wichita Lineman.  It was written in 1968 by someone who many songwriters consider to be a songwriting guru, Jimmy Webb.  The song became a hit for Glen Campbell on the pop, adult contemporary and country charts that year and certified gold in 1969.

Part of the charm of that version was, of course, Glen Campbell's wonderful voice and guitar playing.  The story behind the song, according to Wikipedia, goes as follows: "Jimmy Webb's inspiration for the lyrics came while driving through Washita County in rural northern Oklahoma. At that time, many telephone companies were county-owned utilities and their linemen were, in fact, county employees. Heading westward on a straight road into the setting sun, Webb was driving through an endless litany of telephone poles, each looking exactly the same as the last. Then, in the distance, he noticed the silhouette of a solitary lineman atop a pole. He described it as "the picture of loneliness." Webb then "put himself atop that pole and put that phone in his hand" as he considered what the lineman was saying into the receiver. Glen Campbell added in a statement to the Dallas Observer that Webb wrote the song about his first love affair with a woman who married someone else."

As a songwriter, one of the interesting aspects for me is that the song has no chorus, although it does have a repeating phrase "the Wichita lineman is still on the line."  The music is dotted with minor 7th and major 7th chords, the latter of which give it that plaintive, bitter sweet feel.  Recently, when I went to see James Taylor live in my city, I was over the top when he started to perform his version of Wichita Lineman, and it has, indeed, been recorded by many artists over the years.  In fact, I'm think I might like to do a recording of it myself some day!  

Have a listen to the song in the video below, and here are the lyrics:

I am a lineman for the county 
And I drive the main road 
Searchin' in the sun for another overload 

I hear you singin' in the wire, 
I can hear you through the whine 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

I know I need a small vacation 
But it don't look like rain 
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

It just gets me every time :-)

~ IJ