Songwriter - AVOID THE 1!

Pin It Have you ever felt BLAH about a song you were writing? You like the message of your song. You like your lyric... But the music is just BLAH! It's not interesting. It's predictable. It's mediocre.

Don't let You music be BLAH!

You need to try something new! Very often as we write music, especially if we write often, we will get into a rut musically. (I've found it's a lot easier for my musical ideas to get into a rut than my lyrical ideas and themes.) Here is a simple solution for you to check out!

The 1! 

Do the various sections of your song (Verse, Chorus, Prechorus, Bridge, etc...) start on the 1 chord?

What do I mean by 1 Chord? If your song is in the key of C, C is the 1 Chord.  If your song is in the key of F#, F# is the 1 Chord.   If your song is in the key of Gm, Gm is the 1 Chord.  In other words the 1 Chord is the most fundamental chord you can have in any key. It is also known as "The Root" Chord.

Because the 1 Chord is so fundamental, it will become... BLAH!

Does your melody start on the 1 note? If you are in the key of C and your Melody starts on the C note and you are already playing a C chord... that becomes DOUBLE BLAH.  It's completely predictable and can easily become a habit.  You have to break that habit!

Overusing the 1 Chord is like a painting overusing the primary colors... You stand back and you say... "That's a lot of blue..." 

Instead of "What a nice painting!"

Try taking your BLAH song and starting the verse on a different chord? A 2minor, 3minor, 4major, 5major, 6 minor... Anything other than a 1 Chord!  Also try to make your melody not start (or end) on the 1 note.

This is an easy way to improve your song and banish the BLAH. It doesn't mean you aren't allowed to use the 1 chord at the beginning of a section... it just means to try to do it sparingly.

It is important to critique your work. How else will we grow in our craft if we don't take a hard look at our craft and try to improve it?