|
I have a few ambitious students who would like to become songwriters, so this post is dedicated to them.
First, a disclaimer: I am not a songwriter. That being said, I have lots of friends who are composers, and there seems to be a general path for how to become a songwriter. 1) Get some good music theory textbooks, or take a few courses in music theory. While most of these courses are geared to classical composition, all serious songwriters of any genre need to understand the basics of how music works, how to analyze compositions etc... 2) Once you have achieved competency in music theory, start buying sheet music of your favorite songwriters/composers and analyzing how their pieces work. Whether the composer is Mozart, Gershwin, or U2, each composer has their own unique style and tendencies that you can learn from and copy. 3) Start composing! It is okay if your first works sound very similar to your favorite artists; you learn first by imitating. Over time, you should develop your own style and know when and how you can break the rules. DWS One of the chief problems facing classical music (of any sort - orchestral or vocal) is what I term the 'Scholarization' of Classical Music. While classical music has never been mass media like pop music, it was not too long ago that most people knew something about classical music and recognized a few opera stars, such as Placido Domingo, Beverly Sills, and Maria Callas, or perhaps new a famous conductor like Leonard Bernstein.
Today, if you ask random people if they know an opera star, it is most likely a dead one - Luciano Pavarotti. Even people who might show a taste for classical music, such as people who enjoy jazz, attend musical or other staged works, or follow film music, have little awareness of the classical repertoire. I personally believe that classical music has become entrapped by universities. At school, a general culture of classical music as SERIOUS music, and not easily ACCESSIBLE, is taken for granted. Serious and accessible are basically code words for "classical music is for serious, cultured people who have a certain intelligence." This is a LIE. If you look at most classical composers of the past, their music was not aimed at a certain class. Mozart did not make an opera about a half-man, half-bird to appeal to the prince of Austria. Beethoven did not write an opera about a revolutionary woman who seeks to free her husband from the state prison to make amends with his royal patrons. Opera, and classical music in general, is an artform that appeals across race, class, and language. While we shouldn't expect EVERYONE to love classical music, it is amazing how many people accept and enjoy classical music once they are exposed to it in a comfortable, easy manner. I do not claim to be a marketing genius. I know there are business people in the classical world who are brilliant and addressing these issues right now. But every classical musician needs to contribute by being great ambassadors for the genre. Similar to American citizens visiting foreign countries, we must be on our behavior lest people take a moment of arrogance, boorishness, or standoffish as representative of classical music. DWS If you have any been part of a choir, I'm sure the choral director made some reference to getting rid of your "Texan" accent.
As someone who has lived in Texas most of his life (I moved here as soon as I could!), I love a good Texan/Southern accent. That being said, a Southern drawl is very detrimental in most genres of music. A Texan accent is characterized by a fairly tight jaw, tendency to spread the mouth on 'ee' and 'a' vowels, and a vocal production that is fairly tight and low. If you have taken any voice lessons or sung, you know these habits are not conducive to good singing. The good news is that removing your accent (Texan, New York etc...) from your singing voice is relatively easy and also works toward better vocal production. A lot of work is done by simply watching your mouth and jaw in the mirror, ensuring that the correct motions are occurring for singing. These include, but are not limited to, dropping the jaw vertically, reshaping certain vowels with the tongue, and conceiving of a new vocal tone quality for yourself. DWS |
Archives
March 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed