ARITRO GHOSH
Music: From Lyrics to Tune
Nowadays the stature of music is such that
it is arguably one of the most important
factors in a human being's life. The fact
is enough to say that almost each person
has a taste for something or the other, and
there are many options to choose from.
But how are they written? How is it made,
such that a person is able to find a liking
to at least one genre out of the many?
Well its due the magic done by those who
put it from mind to paper. Songwriters
however have their own individual
styles, either bringing words from the
tune, or going traditional and creating
a tune that suits the writing.
There are many individual things
fascinating about both, but there's one
thing that is common: lyrical madness.
The songwriter's first preference usually
is to write a piece, then find solace once
we've located the perfect tune. This has
been done many times over, as admitted
by names like Michael Jackson and John
Lennon. Sometimes the lyrics flowed in
first, while other times, they have said that
they found the feeling first in their search
for inspiration. In doing so, the nature of
its genre is born, and then the words.
Although, while I deem one as primary, it is
needless to say that both are used primarily
as per their own right. A musician sitting
down with his guitar to write a new song,
tries to find the melody and catch first. He
listens to various tunes and recordings to
see what blend he can create and get some
new aspect to hit him in the head. This
wouldnt be so for someone who writes a
poem, then morphs and matches it into
lyrical dialogue with rhyme and flow.
Many of the songwriters of today prefer to
focus on the music first, before jumping to the
lyrics. One such example is "All of me" singer
and songwriter John Legend. A reason for
this is because when doing something well,
one usually focuses on the most important
part, more or less the seed. The seed of a
song is not in the words, but in its hook. The
words are one of the main granular sections
but the hook binds every word together. Its
all about knowing what you want to talk
about. Sometimes the story is in the beats,
while sometimes it can be in the tone of the
instrumental. An example of this, is the
famous song "My heart will go on" from the
movie Titanic. The tune and score is much
more iconic than the lyrics. The melody and
harmony are the main key elements that
adjoin the power of every instrument and
depicts that which makes it still a classic
billboard hit. The words in such cases become
the ideal backup, or in special cases, the
foundation. As a writer, who has tried writing
a few songs and prefers going for the words
first, I can honestly say that the writing isnt
usually secondary. For the person sitting
with his guitar hence, it's important to know
that for this song, which is he planning
to be first, the writer or the musician.
The rhyme is the key rope tying the melody
and tune, with the core writing, some
musicians believe. Hence the depth they
put becomes structured very differently.
Many believe its here where you get what
can be called "good songs" and "bad songs".
However its very subjective; as Conor Oberst
says: "You can't manufacture inspiration".
Truthfully, in music, it either comes or it
doesn't. There's no clear method to it.
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
21