Mentor: Pete Luboff
Q: I am a strong instrumentalist, but my songwriting is still a ways behind. When I write and record my ideas on a 4 track, I fall into the same trap. Since my playing is so strong, I put too much solo and complicated musical progressions into it, and the song suffers from it. Can you make suggestions on how I can go from a self indulgent solo-hog to a tasteful arranger and improved songwriter? I imagine a lot of other guitar players would benefit from your suggestions!
A: Insightful question. I can tell from what you've said that you already know the answer. You know it’s more important to create a strong song than display your
chordal cleverness or musical chops. But being a strong musician is an asset. Be very grateful for your ability to add producing to your song writing/marketing arsenal.
Strong musicianship is also a liability, because it can distract you from focusing on the song. A strong musician can make any song sound professional with an ear catching arrangement. A great singer can make a weak song sound heartfelt. Because something sounds good, it’s tempting to believe you can get away with lyrics or melodies that you bumped at when you wrote them, and later just plain got used to. You’ve heard songs like this written by the writer/artist/producer themselves. Hopefully a bump-free song stands the test of different singers and different arrangements. I know you know this, but today great songs are often confused with great productions. Fortunately, part of your dilemma is probably that you’re having fun making music, it sounds good to you every time you hear it. Swear to yourself that you’ll never lose this deep joy in making music. The more fun you have, the longer you’ll keep writing. Part of your dilemma is that you want to make the songs sound different using unexpected and complicated chord progressions. Some of this exploration might very well lead to a catchy "moment." You always want to push yourself by experimenting. But making it sound different for the sake of it leads to unessential and awkward moments. In an interview Pat and I did with Tom Kelly (and Billy Steinberg, of "True Colors," "So Emotional," "I Touch Myself," etc., fame), Tom said he had been hanging out with the David Foster crowd. While he tried to emulate David’s sophisticated chord changes and arranging, Tom’s songs were having no success. He met Billy, who said, "Let’s write rock ‘n roll," which Tom had considered too simple, and they’ve had 15 or more top ten world wide hits.
The general answer to complicating the song musically, and lyrically, is Occam’s razor: less is more. Concentrate the song, make every element communicate its main emotional message; if something isn’t necessary, cut it. Craft and chops are required and respected, but not the bottom line. A song communicates most effectively when its main emotional point is focused and clear. Once the song (by definition, words and melody, not arrangement) is strong, appropriate arranging and masterful licks send it out of the park.
As for solos, I suggest eliminating, or making them very short, for demo purposes. I’m not talking about the opening and between chorus and 2nd verse riffs, or riffs between melody lines in the verses or chorus, etc. The producer will hire Steve Lukather to nail the record.
Pete Luboff's Songwriting Do's and Don'ts:
1. Do: hone down to one or two sentences what the song is about lyrically and choose what feel and musical flavor best support that.
2. Do: experiment to keep the melody and chords interesting and compelling. But keep it direct and simple as possible, even when it’s been done a thousand times before. I, IV, V chord progressions can be made more interesting with the 3rd or 5th or 7th in the bass yet remain simple.
3. Do: rewrite. The initial basic lyric premise and melody could be very solid. After the inspiration comes the sweating out of the details.
4. Do: see if the song works piano or guitar/vocal only. I used to play finished songs on an old Sears Silvertone guitar, with a sticker on it saying "my other guitar is a Martin," and if it sounded good on that, it sounded good on anything.
5. Do: collaborate. Working with another writer will help you focus on the song.
6. Don’t: add chord changes or melodic phrases/intervals, etc., just to be clever or different from everything else you hear. Work hard to find unusual/stand out/memorable melodic and chordal "moments," but don’t try to be different just to separate yourself from the crowd. The song is the thing.
7. Do: Feel free to have fun trying anything lyrically and musically. Great mistakes are often moments of genius.
8. Don’t: judge your creative output as you’re brainstorming. Pick, choose and refine later.
9. Do: If you feel something could be expressed more forcefully, go for it. Push yourself, but not to the point of stopping the creative flow. Use imagery, emotionally charged language, melodies that add emotional attitude to the lyric.
10. Do: learn the craft of writing strong songs. Mastery of the tools helps you keep your message interesting and memorable. You will write a lot of artificial but well crafted songs, consider them exercises, but it’s a necessary part of the process of learning to get to the good stuff. The good stuff comes from the heart and is expressed skillfully. There are a lot of songs saying things people need and want to hear that don’t get listened to because they’re ineffectively expressed. When you really have something moving to say, you’ll know how to say it.
11. Do: grow, change, love, dream, share your vision, learn, grow some more. We’re all teachers sharing what we’ve learned about life through words and music. Write what you want to hear and, as Winston Churchill said: "Never give up, never give up, never give up."
