Music Composition/Songwriting How To 6

I'm certain Mariah Carey's songwriters know this stuff. You should too.

You can break these rules but you'll want to know that you ARE breaking them and better yet why you're breaking them and that it will probably reduce the sellability of your material if you do.

A related point is that if the chorus starts on the first note of the scale and the first beat of the first measure then the verse shouldn't do either. For variety's sake you should start the verse on a different note and a different rhythmic starting point.

This is the main thing amateur composers miss. I've heard it on all of the songwriter/composition forums I've belonged to. 95% of the stuff people are posting for review aren't taking advantage if this basic strategy.

Every section sounds like its supposed to be a chorus if they all start on the downbeat and on the first note of the scale. The effect is usually boredom.

To recap, the Chorus starts on the downbeat and on the first note of the scale.

The verse doesn't start on the downbeat (perhaps on the "and" of 1 or on beat 2 or before the downbeat) and on some other note of the scale such as the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 2nd, 6th or 4th in that order.

If your chorus started on the 5th which is a slightly weaker note then you probably don't want to start the verse on the 1st note of the scale because it's a stronger note and you'll be relegated to choosing from the 7th, 2nd, 6th or 4th.

The fourth is actually a dissonant interval which is why it's placed last and most tunes don't start with it so if you feel like you need to narrow your choices feel free to drop it from your available options especially if you're a beginner and aren't sure how to treat it.

Now, what are you going to put in those sections? A better question is how are you going to put it in?

Did you know that most sections of popular music have at least two melodic phrases? And you have to write the first one to sound like it's not finished so that people will be expecting the second one?

There are two ways to accomplish that. The first way is where it ends and the second way is what not it ends on.

In a 4 measure phrase if you end on beat one of the 4th measure it will be a strong ending position. The phrase will sound finished.

If you also end on the first note of the scale or the root of the chord that's playing then it may even sound like the end of the whole tune.

Obviously you don't want to end in that position or on that note if there's more music coming. So don't. End somewhere else and end on any other note, preferably not the one you started on either.

Again I've never seen this advice anywhere except in the Berklee book. Not even in books on classical composition. It's very specific and advice that's easy to accomplish.

Music Composition/Songwriting How To 5

You probably want between 13 and 16 tunes on there. It's best to shoot for the higher number of songs so that if you have to throw out one or two that aren't up to snuff then you still have enough to satisfy their appetite for new and good music.

For my next album I've created a scheme with a variety of forms for the first 10. In pop music the A section is the verse the B section is the chorus the C section is the bridge. I also use T for transition and R for Rise which is also known as a prechorus.

The schemes are; ABACDCABA, ABABCAB, ABCDABCDABCD, ABCABCABC, ABTABTCAB, ABABTCAB, ABTABCAB, ARBTARBTCARB, ARBARBTCARB, ARBTARBCARB.

There's variety and it's in the complexity ball park. Also, each one of these songs should either start on a different note, be in a different key or use a different kind of scale.

For now you can just randomly assign keys either just going up the scale as in; the first tune starts on C the second tune is in D the third tune is in E etc... Or you can use dice to decide which tune starts on what note.

The only comment I can make here is not to put the climax of your album in the key of D if you're a solo guitarist unless you can play it with the E string tuned down to D or otherwise you won't have the guitar's beautiful low register to give the tune some oomph.

We're starting to close in on the details. What are you going to do with those sections of music?

Usually the chorus starts on the downbeat and on an important note of the key/scale. That's usually the 1st note/tonic but may also be the 3rd or 5th in that order.

I haven't seen any books cover this point except the Berklee book on Popular Melody Writing. Period. Finished. It's the only one and I've read A LOT.