The Western term for music comes from the Greeks. The ancient Greeks thought that the arts were inspired by a collection of nine gods called the Muses.
This is understandable, because when a songwriter creates a song, it can feel as if it has come from an outside source. However, it has really come from the intuitive part of the songwriter’s brain.
The idea in mythology was that the Muses channeled creative ideas to singers and instrumental performers, and they in turn created their art.
On the other hand, some cultures lack an equivalent word for music. For instance, in some parts of the world the word for singing remains the same as the word for praying.
For most of the world’s history, songs have been about more than just entertainment. It helped pull people together and bind them as a community. It would be hard to imagine a church service, sporting event, or school rally without songs.
Songs have often had important roles in life cycle events: births, deaths, seasonal songs, coming of age, work songs, and holidays.
Composers and songwriters sculpt sound into compositions. In Western culture, we usually view it as entertainment. This mostly likely results from the structure of free market societies, which always looks for ways to monetize products and services.
The Music Archive includes posts on different ways of learning to sing, play instruments, and compose. However, the list below focuses on songwriting posts.
Songwriting Posts on Melody and Harmony Composition:
See the posts below for full descriptions.
– Geoffrey Keith
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
Do you want your song to be catchy? If people can’t remember your song, you’ve got a problem. Therefore, you need know how humans remember things. Read more to understand the connection between memory and songwriting. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you have a problem with mis-accented syllables in your lyrics? Learning about prosody will help you deal with the issue. Read more to understand prosody in your songwriting.
Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
Do you have lyrics but need a melody? Starting with the text’s rhythm helps you create the melody you need. Read more to learn how to extract a melody from your lyrics. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Do you have writer’s block? Have you run out of melody ideas? “Ten Ways to Spice Up Your Melodies with Melodic Variation” gives you the tools to multiply your songwriting ideas. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Have you ever wondered what you could do to better sing in tune? Knowledge is power. Read more to find out how vibrato impacts singing in tune. (Also, the post uses a video of Bohemian Rhapsody to illustrate the main point.) Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Have you ever had students who don’t hold their notes long enough? This remains a very common problem with all students, not just with ADD, LD, and special needs students. Read more to find out how color coded note head extenders can help your students to read rhythm better. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
What are sharps and flats, where did they come from, and how can we make it easier to read them? Read more to learn how to color code key signatures. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Have you always wanted to sight sing music, but found it too hard? Shape notes can help. Also, last post centered on singing melodies with a specially tuned synth-organ sound. Namely, we focused on harmonic tuning. This week we will look at the same melodies, but from the angle of melodic tuning. Most of the examples have sing-along sound tracks, but the last example is a shape note sight singing quiz. Read more to experience shape note sight singing success. Estimated reading time 6 minutes.
Feel embarrassed about singing out of tune? “Singing Exercises with Harmony’s” sing-along song tracks makes it easy to learn how to harmonize. The post also talks about what to listen for when harmonizing.
Have you ever had a piano student who couldn’t tell the treble from the bass clef? Learn how to color code the clefs for LD students. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.