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To find a place in the hearts and minds of your listeners, it's important to write melodies and hooks that are memorable and stay with them long after the song has finished playing. There are many techniques to help you with this critical element of songwriting. You can use techniques like repetition, manipulating rhythmic and tonal stability and instability, and melodic placement to create strong and memorable melodies. But where do you begin?
The Way of the Samurai Songwriter is to study the Masters. What's the greatest benchmark of a memorable melody? Time. While songs on the charts today might pass the test of being memorable, who's to say that they'll be remembered in the hearts and minds of the masses 10 years from now. The greatest examples of memorable melodies will have been written decades ago.
Take a look at the songwriting catalogue of The Beatles. Considered some of the greatest songwriters of our time, their melodies are a treasure trove of inspiration and examples of excellence. Take a song like "Hey Jude" and analyze it from every possible angle. What elements are repeated? What scales and intervals are used? How many phrases are there and how long are they?
Armed with the information you gained from this exercise, write a melody just like it. You can write a melody simply using the principles you uncovered or you can try to rewrite their melody using different melody notes or keeping the notes but changing the rhythm. There's no telling what you will end up with, but the exercise is its own reward. You will learn what works and what doesn't. You will probably end up breaking things that worked before but you just might end up doing something that you believe improves the original.
Exercises like this can potentially give you new material to work with in your own songwriting. They can also give you insight into the minds of the Masters. At the very least, you will have more melodic experience than you had before. And experience leads to wisdom. This is the Way of the Samurai Songwriter.
Write More Songs Faster
Become a prolific songwriter and create your songwriting legacy...
Write Better Songs
Touch people with your words and music...
Write Interesting Songs
Become more memorable so your songs will touch people for years to come...
Improve Your Creativity
Generate more song ideas and never experience writer's block again...
Start a Songwriting Career
You can earn a lot of money publishing your own music...
Improve What You Already Know
Make each song better than the one before...
Change The World
Your voice is powerful and needs to be heard...
How To Become a Samurai Songwriter
Begin by committing a large part of yourself to writing songs. Then, do whatever it takes to sharpen your songwriting skills. Finally, never quit.
Samurai Songwriting Downloads
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Samurai Songwriting CDs
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To learn more about how you can become a Samurai Songwriter, click here.
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Here's what our subscribers have to say...
I am a total amateur when it comes to songwriting, but after Samurai Songwriting issue 1 and the recent John Lennon teleseminar, I'm already quickly developing song ideas. The Samurai Songwriting 'Songwriting Tool Table' is such a valuable tool for breaking down the structure of songs and giving you insight as to how the masters came up with such great hits that stand the test of time.
- Rich
I have received lessons 1 and 2 and am quite happy with the contents; the audio, the pdfs and the spreadsheet file. One of the things that aspiring songwriters hear all of the time is to analyze other well written songs, but there is no instruction on how to do that. The Songwriting Tool Table provides the means to do that, and the example given with the lesson shows exactly how to use it to get the most benefit. I also like that there is no long term commitment, so, although I am quite satisfied with the program now, I am free to stop if my situation changes or I feel that I am not getting value from the program. Thanks, and keep 'em coming.
- "Famous" Patrick
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