aka Welcoming help
<Tuesday, Sept 27>
Twiddled thumbs for an hour or so after work waiting for rush-hour to subside. Incidentally, rush hour could use a new name since it spans 3:00 to 6:30 in the Toronto area. Finally hopped on the motorcycle at 6:34 only to abandon the cherry-red glow of the expressway parking lot shortly thereafter. Wove my way through alternate routes and somehow managed to arrive just a couple minutes late for my first NSAI local meeting in Brampton. Hooray for motorcycles.
NSAI stands for Nashville Songwriters Association International. I’ve only been a member for a few months yet, but it’s already been worth it. Got some great advice over the phone from the friendly folks at HQ, and there are plenty of great resources on the website: blogs, webcast libraries, articles, recommended reading lists, all sorts of good stuff. I’m really looking forward to meeting the Nashville gang in December and highly recommend you join if you’re an aspiring songwriter.
Meanwhile, back in Brampton... a small and friendly group of writers welcomed me to the fold. First part of the meeting recapped topics from a recent webcast. Then they asked what I was up to and what I hoped to get out of the whole experience. They’ve all been to Nashville, and a couple have regular cowriters there, so it was nice to get their insight.
Then we took turns playing new songs and getting feedback. Everyone else just played guitar, so I felt a bit funny playing the full-on demo CD, but they welcomed it and the mix got great reviews!
When it was done, everyone had a go at something they liked and something they didn’t quite get about it. Karl said he was caught off guard by a lyric in the bridge. So we talked about an alternate line I had for the first verse, and they all agreed that would be a better setup of the song and the bridge. This was great, since I’d been thinking the same thing myself and it was encouraging to hear other people say that I was on the right track with the edits.
Then, something I wasn’t expecting at all: Gayle asked, “What’s a v twin?” I told her “It’s a kind of engine. The song’s a motorcycle metaphor.” Lights when on for her. “Oh, a motorcycle! You should really say that in the lyrics.”
Shut up and listen
NSAI stands for Nashville Songwriters Association International. I’ve only been a member for a few months yet, but it’s already been worth it. Got some great advice over the phone from the friendly folks at HQ, and there are plenty of great resources on the website: blogs, webcast libraries, articles, recommended reading lists, all sorts of good stuff. I’m really looking forward to meeting the Nashville gang in December and highly recommend you join if you’re an aspiring songwriter.
Meanwhile, back in Brampton... a small and friendly group of writers welcomed me to the fold. First part of the meeting recapped topics from a recent webcast. Then they asked what I was up to and what I hoped to get out of the whole experience. They’ve all been to Nashville, and a couple have regular cowriters there, so it was nice to get their insight.
Then we took turns playing new songs and getting feedback. Everyone else just played guitar, so I felt a bit funny playing the full-on demo CD, but they welcomed it and the mix got great reviews!
When it was done, everyone had a go at something they liked and something they didn’t quite get about it. Karl said he was caught off guard by a lyric in the bridge. So we talked about an alternate line I had for the first verse, and they all agreed that would be a better setup of the song and the bridge. This was great, since I’d been thinking the same thing myself and it was encouraging to hear other people say that I was on the right track with the edits.
Then, something I wasn’t expecting at all: Gayle asked, “What’s a v twin?” I told her “It’s a kind of engine. The song’s a motorcycle metaphor.” Lights when on for her. “Oh, a motorcycle! You should really say that in the lyrics.”
Shut up and listen
I kind of shrugged this off, thinking the audience I wrote it for would know their engines. What a dumb thing to say or even think. I wasn’t a jerk about it (at least I sure hope I wasn’t), but I definitely could’ve been more openly accepting of the comment instead of trying to justify why the existing lyrics made sense. Because, hey, if it wasn’t clear to a fresh set of ears, then it just wasn't clear. Thankfully, I ended up taking a step back when I got home and seeing her point. Made a nice little edit that really ties the whole song together much more tightly now. Lessons learned: don't narrow your audience with an esoteric lyric; and shut up and listen.
Thank you, Gayle.
Another good suggestion came from Dan. My chorus ended on the 5 chord of the scale, so it felt to him like it was left hanging at the end and needed to resolve. In my head, it did resolve because the chorus was followed by a guitar break that started on the 1 chord. But, again, to an objective listener, the resolve wasn’t really there in the lyric.
Shaun built on Dan's comment and noted that I didn’t have the exact song title in the chorus, or anywhere in the song for that matter. This, I’m learning, is a rather large faux pas in country music, especially if you want a song to have commercial appeal. He said, “Let’s say people hear it and like it. They’ll never know what to ask for on a radio request line!” Pretty solid point there.
So I stewed on that for a while and decided to add a bar to the end of the chorus and write a new lyric that resolved the concept, with a final note that resolved the melody. And, wouldn’t you know it, the song is much better now for it.
What's even more interesting about chorus fix is that I'd recently finished another song and done all the same stuff on my own without thinking about it. So, it's good to know that I do have the right instincts. Also good to learn that I should always go back and try to make every song better -- especially the ones I think are fine as-is.
By the time I brought this song to the NSAI meeting, it’d been pretty much ‘complete’ for several weeks. Even though I wanted honest, constructive feedback, perhaps I didn’t really expect them to find any cracks in the dam. Silly me, standing in a puddle.
Dare I say it's water-tight now?
Maybe one day you’ll hear it on your local station. And, if you want to phone in a request, don’t worry, the title's in the chorus where it belongs.
Thank you, Gayle.
Another good suggestion came from Dan. My chorus ended on the 5 chord of the scale, so it felt to him like it was left hanging at the end and needed to resolve. In my head, it did resolve because the chorus was followed by a guitar break that started on the 1 chord. But, again, to an objective listener, the resolve wasn’t really there in the lyric.
Shaun built on Dan's comment and noted that I didn’t have the exact song title in the chorus, or anywhere in the song for that matter. This, I’m learning, is a rather large faux pas in country music, especially if you want a song to have commercial appeal. He said, “Let’s say people hear it and like it. They’ll never know what to ask for on a radio request line!” Pretty solid point there.
So I stewed on that for a while and decided to add a bar to the end of the chorus and write a new lyric that resolved the concept, with a final note that resolved the melody. And, wouldn’t you know it, the song is much better now for it.
What's even more interesting about chorus fix is that I'd recently finished another song and done all the same stuff on my own without thinking about it. So, it's good to know that I do have the right instincts. Also good to learn that I should always go back and try to make every song better -- especially the ones I think are fine as-is.
By the time I brought this song to the NSAI meeting, it’d been pretty much ‘complete’ for several weeks. Even though I wanted honest, constructive feedback, perhaps I didn’t really expect them to find any cracks in the dam. Silly me, standing in a puddle.
Dare I say it's water-tight now?
Maybe one day you’ll hear it on your local station. And, if you want to phone in a request, don’t worry, the title's in the chorus where it belongs.
I'll totally request it when I hear it. What was it called again?
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