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"
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"
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