Category: Songwriting

Writing Tuneful Songs

4/28/2022

Many composers out there have been offering workshops and training classes online to help people learn to write music. I get the occasional request to help someone write songs. For me, the best "help" I ever got was from my Aunt Janie Thompson. Over the miles on one cross country road trip, she took the time to clue me in on many tips to writing clever lyrics to tuneful songs. She didn't write very many songs herself from scratch (words, melody, and arrangement). She was too busy producing and performing in shows to dedicate time to just songwriting. But, no one who knew her work could say it was less than amazing.

For me, writing tuneful, clever songs is sort of a game of chance. Inspiration plays a huge part for me. Sure, I have had a lot of training, mostly in classical singing and composition. But my true love has always been Musical Theater. I grew up singing the songs of theater greats like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and many others. Because of having classical training, practical "on the job training" in a musical family, and growing up performing a lot of great songs, it helped me understand what goes into creating a good song. That is key. Education comes in many ways, and none should be discounted!

Some songs seem to drop out of the blue for me. Almost like taking dictation, I find it hard when writing to get it all down quick enough while the inspiration lasts. Other times, I just can't seem to get the juices flowing enough to write anything satisfactory. And still other times, I struggle with just a tiny spark of an idea, trying to develop it using all of the tools I have at my command, only to go back and rewrite it a hundred or more times to try to get it right! You just do what you have to do. Having a deadline actually helps me.

Over the years I have written hundreds of songs and arrangements of songs. Some have done very well in context of a show or served their purpose to suit the situation for which they were written. But in my heart of hearts, I always aspired to write a "stand alone" song, one that could live its own life away from the show or situation where it had its beginning. I wonder if I have accomplished that goal in some small way.

Here are a few of my original songs that might fit that aspiration. Please let me know what you think.

"A View from the Highest Mountain" from "Never Cry Wolf"
"As the French Say" from "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse"
"Let Kindness Begin with Me" from "The Adventures of Dick Whittington"
"Over Yonder" from "Stone Soup"
"I Love the City Life" from "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse"
"Good Morning Sunshine" from "The Tale of Chicken Licken"
"Worthy to Admire" from "A Successor to the Throne"

0 Comments

Primitive or Genius

8/31/2021

1 Comment

Over the years I have been quite aware that I haven't been as diligent in my study of Music Theory as I ought. Sure, I passed all of my classes in College, but I confess that my ear is faster than my brain. Where I have learned to write melodies and accompaniments that may use advanced devices, I have not had the patience to analyze these processes according to the formal language of Music Theory. For me, the music just has to sound right. I have been gratified however when I get flattering feedback that my music has genius. The approach may be a bit primitive, but the outcome sounds like I know what I'm doing. Hmm....that's a point to ponder.

Those of you who have studied the works of the Great Masters, do you also remember learning that they just wrote what they liked and many regularly broke the rules as they went along?

What a comforting notion. They wrote what they liked according to their understanding and sensibilities. Or in other words, they created music that sounded good to their ears regardless of what the academics said was correct.

Plenty of the great Masters surely had a wonderful command of the language of Music Theory. Still, some of the best music that has been passed down to us comes through musicians who couldn't personally even write it down. After all, music is a heavenly gift. Musicians have always made music throughout our long history. Music Theory developed along the way as a system to help musicians notate their music and let them communicate their ideas to others as well as preserve it for future generations. Music Theory is a language. It is not the music.

This holds true in the world of Musical Theater, too. Styles and fashions come and go. Composers are always looking for inspiration and who knows where that inspiration will take them.

Take the music of Alan Menken for example. In writing "Pocohantas," he clearly used influences from Native American instruments, motifs and tonalities. For "Beauty and the Beast," "The Little Mermaid," "Tangled," and others, he followed traditional American Musical Theater song forms such as the production number, soliloquy, love duet, novelty song, reprise, and finale to support plot development and resolution. For "Hercules," he used styles of American pop songs through the decades such as Gospel and 1960's rock and roll. That's just one prolific composer. There are so many other examples.

In writing my Children's Musicals, I have tried to hunt for musical inspiration that would best fit the stories. In "Stone Soup" I wanted music that sounded like the 1800's American Westward movement. Both "Momotaro" and "A Successor to the Throne" needed music using Oriental pentatonic tonality. For "Parizade's Quest," it had to have music that evoked ancient Persia. For "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff" I borrowed melodic motifs from Edvard Grieg. I researched Old English Pantomime circa 1600 and typical styles of Renaissance music especially Nursery Rhymes for "The Adventures of Dick Whittington." And, I took a page out of Alan Menken's playbook for "Never Cry Wolf" by using some pop music of the decades for inspiration even though the story is set in ancient Greece.

Don't think I ever once worried about Music Theory when writing these songs. My training and study shows, I suppose, but the music just had to sound right. Guess I am more primitive than genius level.

1 Comment

Writing for the Changing Voice

6/21/2021

0 Comments

Sometimes as a writer you have a job to do and you just have jump in and do it. Last week, I needed to write a song for a character in this summer's theater camp. I know the kid that needs the role, and I know that he has hit that magical age where his voice is starting to change. Poor kid. He only has five good notes with a few others higher and lower depending on the day.

Since I decided to model this character on Elvis Presley, I began by listening to some of his early hits like "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" and Don't Be Cruel." Then I listened and played through other 1960's Rock 'n Roll songs. I decided to write a song using a basic Blues Riff. I admit that what I came up with is not terribly original, but how many of those songs are really original anyway?

This kid's voice is most secure right now from Middle C up to G with a few lower notes. I decided that I would write the song in F Major so the main melodic notes would keep in that range. I am just hoping that he'll be able to hit the A flat blue notes above and below Middle C as well. He hasn't started his growth spurt quite yet, so I think I am safe with this plan, at least until the show debuts in 8 weeks.

My own three sons provided quite an education for me about writing for the changing voice.

Son #1 actually sings very well and loved to sing as a child. We sang as a family and I couldn't wait for his voice to drop enough so that he could sing tenor or bass. During the time when he had only five good notes, I eased him in to part singing by having him learn alto or high tenor. The plan was to gradually have him sing music stretching into his lower notes through tenor down to bass. Then one day his voice suddenly dropped an octave. It happened so fast. (He also grew 6 inches in the space of three months.) Over night, he could suddenly sing bass. (I kind of forced him to sing bass because we needed someone to sing bass. But now as an adult, he prefers singing Tenor.)

Son #2 sang melody for a long time, but didn't like to perform in public. (He really hated the older women who came up after the show and squeezed his dimpled cheeks telling him how cute he was.) He had three older sisters who could sing Soprano, Alto, and Tenor, so he figured we could get along without him singing. So, he decided to pick up the guitar. Anyway, he prefers accompanying and he is good at it. When we do get him to sing, he sings bass.

Son #3 has a really great voice. He loved to sing as a child and was very willing to perform. Because he was constantly singing, and had developed a beautiful soprano range, he had very little trouble as his voice dropped. He could still hit the high notes in falcetto as well as sing in his natural baritone range. He did not go through the syndrome at age 12-13 of only having five good notes.

Voice teachers say, and I concur, that if you can get a boy to develop his upper range, he will have fewer problems as his voice drops. The trouble is getting the young boy to develop his high notes. Apparently tough guys don't like to sound like girls. Go figure!

0 Comments

Struggling with a "Bad Guy" Character

6/14/2021

0 Comments

The last time I did a Summer Camp production of "The Tale of Chicken Licken" most of the kids were under 10 years old. They were practically all unknown to me and most had no previous acting experience. This Summer's Theater Camp is different. There are a few kids who have grown up doing my summer theater camps and they have proven themselves. They have good stage presence, can sing well, and deserve a featured role with a good song. I can accommodate the girls, but I don't have a challenging enough role or song for one boy.

The trouble is that the only character that could be developed more is the bad guy, Foxy Loxy. In keeping with the light, comic nature of this show, I need to make him a cool dude, and minimize his evil intentions. I have decided to model him after Elvis Presley and the "Fonz" from "Happy Days" with the manic physical comedy of Danny Kaye. A tall order!

So, once again I find myself rewriting my own show and adding at least one new song. I want Foxy Loxy to do a rock 'n roll song, play a guitar solo and have the Bluebirds girl trio characters as back-up singers.

It can be done, right? Wish me well!

0 Comments

Christmas Musical Offering

12/1/2020

0 Comments

Sometimes we find ourselves doing things that come as a complete surprise. Just a month ago, I wouldn't have even contemplated the idea of doing a Music Video. Just before Halloween, my sister breezed into my house saying that I needed to make a music video of one of my Christmas songs for the Church's Virtual Christmas Concerts sponsored by Temple Square Performance Events.
She had heard from friends about this opportunity and took it upon herself to talk me into making it happen.

This posed several problems that I could see.

1. The submission was in three weeks. (Very quick timeline)

2. Even if we used just the part of our big our family who live nearby, where could we rehearse, record, and film in this time of restrictions due to COVID-19?

3. Where would we find a sound guy and a videographer on short notice who would brave the COVID-19 restrictions to help us?

Well, amazingly, we pulled it off and got it turned by November 15th, 2020.

"On a Sacred Still and Silent Night" - performed by the Bailey/Lee Family Singers conducted by Betsy Lee Bailey with Amy Gabbitas (piano), Bev Kellersberger (violin) and Matthew Bailey (guitar)

Thanks to the efforts of daughter Cami and niece Amy, we were able to find the videographer and sound technician. And thanks to a large, talented family and a brother with a big living room with a Steinway grand piano, we were able to get a nice audio recording done.

After meeting with the videographer, we came up with a filming plan that included a lot of our youngest kids in a Nativity Pageant. We had also planned to film outside as a choir (25+) on a hillside, but decided against it due to a snowstorm. Plan B found us madly rearranging all the furniture in my house to create a warm, Christmasy venue for our video. (Plus, we had to make room for the massive lights the camera guys brought!) We decided that for the video, a cozy family gathering for Christmas Eve was all right, too.

Yes, we pretty much ignored the restrictions of no gatherings of more than 10 people inside. It was wonderful to rehearse and prepare a performance in this time where hardly anyone is allowed to sing praises. We had a glorious few moments singing our testimonies of the Savior to pass on to you this Christmas season. Enjoy!

Christmas Nativity Pageant - short script for families

"On a Sacred, Still and Silent Night" - sheet music

0 Comments

Because They Were Already There

3/13/2020

1 Comment

While watching a podcast the other day by Shoo Rayner, a popular British children's author and illustrator, I heard him answer an audience question. "How do you decide what to draw in an illustration? What goes on in your mind?"

In order to address that question, he told about his journey to how he got to becoming an illustrator and later, an author. He said that first off, he always loved to draw. From the time he was a child, he also used his drawing to tell stories. He said that he created his first book when he was just 5 years old. But as he was growing up and planning his life, he tried lots of jobs -- print design and set up being one of the formative ones. However, in college, he thought that he should be a scientist. But, he found out that he just wasn't good enough in math. His professor suggested that since he was always drawing, he should transfer to the art department. After trying so many jobs and failing at most of them, being in the art program was liberating. (He could get a job doing what he was good at and actually interested in? What a concept!) What caught my attention, though, was how he admitted that having those early experiences gave him a broader knowledge of life and a better base for understanding people and telling stories. An illustrator is ultimately a storyteller.

He also told about how he goes about planning the pictures for a story book. Because he grew up with television and movies, he said he thinks cinematically. As the story goes along in his head, he "sees" what is happening in pictures in his mind. (Where an author uses words to paint the picture for the reader, an author/illustrator uses pictures to paint the scene without needing to use words. In fact, using so many words on the page that say what the picture portrays is redundant and boringly unnecessary.) So, as he is planning the story, he is already visualizing the action in his head, and then, when it comes time to draw the illustrations, they are already there.

I have been thinking about how I have gone about writing scripts and songs for Children's Theater. After thinking about the STORY, SETTING and CHARACTERS for some time, and contemplating the children who might be in the cast, the limitations of my "stage," costumes, sets, props, choreography, and so on, the SCRIPT and SONGS almost came by dictation --- because they were already there.

One show in particular came about this way, "Parizade's Quest." I saw in my mind (mostly in visions through the night) the scenes, actors, costumes, and dances, then worked madly by day to put what I had already visualized onto paper. And just like an illustrator uses pictures to economize words, I could use songs instead of dialogue to move the plot along. Inspiration is miraculous!

1 Comment

Love Songs and Show Tunes

2/11/2020

2 Comments

Last night I went with members of my family to entertain the residents at a group home for the elderly. Our aunt works there and asks us to come several times a year as a favor to her. Since this week is Valentine's Day, we decided to sing a program of Love Songs and Show Tunes.

Choosing the songs was a group effort. We decided that collectively, we as a family of singers, know many, many songs. Because of that fact, we realized that we were not the best judge of which songs would be considered "common knowledge" and would work well in a sing-along. We needed songs that the residents would remember and have a connection to.

We decided to choose songs that would have been popular or at least written in the 1950's and early 1960's when these elderly people would have been young adults. We started looking through collections of popular songs during those years. The love songs we gravitated towards turned out to be mostly show tunes from Broadway Musicals that had been made into movies like Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma," and "State Fair." We also opted for pop songs made famous by entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And, we included a few perennial favorites that were just plain fun to sing like "A" You're Adorable," "You Are My Sunshine," and "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

As the piano player, my job was to figure out SINGABLE KEYS so that most people could join in comfortably. As a singing family, we don't really care what key the melody range falls into because we can all sing harmony. But, most people just sing the MELODY. (What a strange concept!)

I am always astonished that so many songs published in these Song Collections are written in UN-SINGABLE KEYS and have really uninspiring piano accompaniments! The pianists out there must appreciate playing in the keys of C, D, G, B flat or F with few sharps or flats, but really? What may be easier for the pianist can be so uncomfortable for the singers. The TESSITURA of these songs lays just too high or too low for a normal singer. Since I was in no mood to have to transpose the entire program of songs, I made the final cuts. I culled 10 songs from our longer list, using those that had the most moderate ranges, then transposed a few of the simpler ones into better keys.

Another astonishing aspect of the evening was comparing the melody as written in the "published" version to the melody sung according to the group's collective memory. Sometimes a melody polished "by committee" is much better. It was a revelation!

Our evening of Love Songs and Show Tunes went very well. The residents seemed to enjoy singing with us some of the love songs they remembered from their youth.

2 Comments

Program Music

8/26/2019

0 Comments

During the Romantic Period of Music (late 1800's through early 1900's), a form of composition became popular called the Tone Poem or Program Music. The music played by the orchestra told a story. Usually, the poem or story was also published in the program notes so that concert goers could have it to refer to while listening to the piece. One very famous example of Program Music is "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (1897) by Paul Dukas (1865-1935) which breathes life into a poem by German poet Goethe (1797). The music tells the story of the old Sorcerer who leaves his young apprentice alone to do some chores. The apprentice remembers just enough magic to get himself into trouble. He repeats the conjuration he heard and causes the broom to carry pails of water to fill a large container. He just can't remember how to make it stop. You know the rest, undoubtedly because this once modestly successful piece for orchestra was later included in Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940). From that springboard, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" motives and themes have been used to underscore hundreds of theatrical shows, cartoons, commercials, and even a live action film by the same name. It is now considered wildly successful.

I admire composers who have such a command of the colors and sounds of the orchestral instruments that they can arrange and use them in their musical compositions to conjure up images for us in our minds. I also admire artists and animators who are especially equipped to use their imaginations and skill to give the listening and viewing public unique visual interpretations of classical Program Music. In fact, those artists can take almost any music and use it to tell some kind of visually appealing story. Musical underscoring helps move the plot along in a story or theatrical production. Directors of plays have long used the music of the classical Masters (Program Music or not) to "up" the theatrical appeal of their shows.

It's all Show Biz. We like to be entertained. And we like best what we know. We like to have the music used to underscore movies and theater be what will carry us away into the world of the story. It may be heroic and action packed. It might be spooky and suspenseful. It may transport us to exotic locations. It may reflect the popular music of the day. It may also educate us about music of a certain historic period. Modern composers may want to find their unique voices when composing scores today, but they also want to build upon the fantastic examples from the past. Even the legendary film score composer John Williams (b. 1932) used themes for "Star Wars" (1977) that sound like they are heavily influenced by Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." It's all right. Composers "borrow" ideas from each other all the time.

In my own small way, I wanted to give a salute to the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) when I wrote the mini-musical "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." He wrote incidental music for a play by Henrik Ibsen in 1876. These short musical pieces vary in style and help illustrate the moods and activities of the protagonist "Peer Gynt." I used little snippets of some of these pieces to add flavor to the songs from my little mini-musical. Perhaps you will recognize them. Enjoy.

0 Comments

Which Comes First --- the Words or the Music?

8/17/2019

0 Comments

Often I am asked which comes first when writing a new song -- the lyrics or the melody? I usually say that the INSPIRATION comes first. Inspiration can come from an idea, a feeling, a title, a scripture, a picture, a famous quote, a poem, an intriguing rhythm, a melodic "worm," a nugget from other music, ---almost anything can become an inspiration for a song.

When I was young, I liked to take long walks around my neighborhood. There were many interesting streets of houses and green spaces as well as a trail along a canal bank. I loved watching the trees as they changed through the seasons. I loved to hear the water rushing by. I enjoyed the views looking up to the mountains as well as looking down towards the valley. As I walked, I sang to myself. I sang lots of songs that I knew, but I also made up all sorts of songs. I guess I didn't need much to entertain myself.

(Curiously, even now, I find that going on a walk helps me think. Sometimes, I go out walking and if I am trying to come up with an idea for a song, much of the song can literally write itself by the time I get home.)

During college, I got discouraged by all of the talent I saw around me. The many teachers and students seemed so much more talented than I was. The more I learned about musical elements and poetic devices, the more I guessed that my gift was just being able to sing. Then, after graduation, I ventured out into the real world. There I learned that with the right inspiration, I could produce interesting and worthwhile music, too.

For me, which comes first? Well, I have to say that the music and the words pretty much come at the same time. If I get an idea of something that needs to be said in the lyric, then the words dictate the melodic line and rhythms. If an interesting melody starts forming in my mind, then I play catch up to try to find the words that should fit the music. Some songwriters say that they start with the title. But giving my song a title is usually the crowning detail of my songwriting efforts. I have a hard time naming my songs. The default title often comes from the song's "hook."

If I am writing a song for Musical Theater, I have to immerse myself in the story, the setting, the costumes and set ideas, but mostly I need to get into the "heads" of the characters. The words and the style of the song need to organically develop from the characters and situations they are in. One song that I remember very clearly that wrote itself on one of my walks is "I Love the City Life" from The Country Mouse and the City Mouse. As I recall, it was a rather cold blustery day. I was walking briskly through the neighborhood. Because it was a cold day, I started thinking of snow. That started me thinking of an Irving Berlin song from the movie "White Christmas." A very rhythmic melodic snippet from that song would not leave me alone. I decided that if it was harmonically dressed up differently, given a Latin beat, and different words, people would never know where I borrowed the inspiration. So, by the time I got home, I just needed to write down what had come to me on my walk. Enjoy!

0 Comments

In the Time Before Remembering

8/5/2019

0 Comments

Kazhira, the Weeping Queen from "Parizade's Quest"

Recently, I heard this line from my daughter as she was attempting to explain to her children some important events that happened previous to when they joined the family. She began, "In the time before remembering..." Now that line is every bit as good as "Once upon a time..." or "Long ago and far away..." don't you think? It sets the tone for a timeless tale. Don't know if it has been borrowed from some fantasy novel or not, but I intend to use it sometime, somewhere for some title. It is THAT good!

Don't we all feel as we go through life, that we have forgotten key elements of our history. My teachers always told me that I should keep a journal of the important events in my day to day life. My problem was that as I was living those events, I couldn't tell if what I was going through was an important event or not. And then, after time went by, I didn't really remember the details of the events as I became aware that they were actually very important. Seems that only with hindsight do we discover the meaning we should attach to events in our day to day lives. And then those days truly become "the times before remembering."

Fortunately, for me at least, I have family and friends who share enough of my life to help fill in the gaps when I forget details of the past. My sister has a good memory for people, places, and events and somehow remembers random facts from my life, too. And then, I tend to leave "breadcrumbs" strewn behind me. You know, the scribbles in notebooks or margins of papers that provide dates of past appointments, rehearsal times and locations, performances, etc. to help me remember what I was doing back then and when I did them. Eventually, when I get around to emptying out my purse, the excavations reveal a lot of archaeological evidences and clues to historical dates. If I was wise, I could make a record from those sources. I also do enough work on the computer to document many of the things I do and the computer furnishes a date for most of those activities.

But, no matter the mixed-up details of my own life, the line "In the time before remembering..." seems to open up a timeless tale. At this time, however, I just don't remember what that tale might be.

A song from "Parizade's Quest" comes to mind, though. It is sung by the weeping Queen Kazhira as she remembers the loss of her three beautiful babies. "By Morning's Light" is probably the saddest song I ever wrote for a Children's Musical. But it sets up the story of how a Family is reunited and all ends well. The Queen wishes she had something happy to remember. It is a time before her current reality, "in the time before remembering..."

0 Comments

<<Previous

Writing Tuneful Songs

Primitive or Genius

Writing for the Changing Voice

Struggling with a "Bad Guy" Character

Christmas Musical Offering

Because They Were Already There

Love Songs and Show Tunes

Program Music

Which Comes First --- the Words or the Music?

In the Time Before Remembering

Author

Archives

Categories