Can you become possessed to write music? I've been asked recently to work on a song collaboration with one of my friends. The goal is to produce Indie Dance music, but this will be a story for another day. What this has done however, has lead me on a quest to learn music theory and grasp the tools I need to make an ideal song in my eyes. I set out to write a song for myself, to develop new understandings.

Pixabay

Starting a Song From the Ground Up

I used to make all of my songs by starting melody/lyrics first, then building a harmony around what I felt was the main idea of the song. If I was to be working with another person, this song would need a consistent structure, without going on a tangent. I didn't know where to begin honestly, so I pulled up the first song that I ever made, and used it's 4 chord progression as a foundation.

The Progression is Everything

Even if the chords were something that I had previously made and didn't have to look them up, I wanted my first song in a long while to have a stronger dimension to it. How did I want my listener to feel?

I decided that I would start by looking up different chord progressions used in music that I liked. I wanted to start building my song with an emotion and style already in mind, not to mention it would make the production process faster if I knew what I was working with.

I came across an interesting video that aimed to dissect why KPOP music always turned out so beautiful, pulling on all of the heart's strings. A Youtuber by the name of smrr00 has taken an interest in this genre and has years worth of piano covers learning to play by ear. She deduced after all of her listening that the most emotional KPOP music all had the vi - IV - I - V progression; also known as 6145.

I lost it. There was no way that this arrangement of chords was the difference between Eastern and Western music. Then I remembered about a musical comedy sketch done by Axis of Awesome, where they concluded that all pop music can be played with the I-V-iv-IV, or the 1564 progression. Something cliked, taking the first and third chord and shifting them over, they were essentially the same thing—but as you can tell, they sound so different.

I decided to use the 6145, and added it next to my original composition. Then I made a new progression to see if I could tie them together. I transposed it down a few keys, and it all fit together. I thought to myself okay cool, I now have a solid progression that can change throughout my new song. Even if I didn't know what the melody would be, or what it was about, by having a solid harmony I would at least make something nice... And part of it being inspired by Kpop love songs, not too common in American music.

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Ledger Note

Emotions Behind The Key Signature

It wasn't enough to have something that sounded good, if I couldn't mold an atmosphere that I wanted listeners to hear. But before I knew it, I was able to write a first verse and chorus that sounded good with all of the chords I put together. Something was wrong. The feeling and lyrics I thought the song might be about were nowhere to be found, even after making sure that it would at least in part would resemble a romantic piece. I took down the names of every note I used to then figure out what overall key the song was in.

Each key, has more or less a type of feel and emotions associated with it. What was I feeling when I felt so compelled to suddenly spill words out from thin air?

Fortunately, Ledger Note had compiled a list of the different key signatures and the meaning/ feelings associated with them. I had found out earlier that the song's chords were in A Major and found that it meant;

Innocent Love, Satisfaction with the current state of affairs. Optimistic. Belief in Heaven and reuniting with lost loved ones. Youthful and cheerful. Trusting in the spirit of the divine.

But why then, I wondered... Would I become so compelled to write a happy song that spilled so painfully? Something didn't sit right with me on this. Although this is a great set of emotions to feel from a song, it felt off. I felt almost possessed as I sat there, playing my chord arrangement non-stop for an hour—when suddenly a melody began to hum itself from under my breath. Almost as quickly as this came, so did words... I scribbled them as quickly as I could, then opened Audacity to sing it down before the entire experience slipped from memory.

Music Written From the Soul

What got me started in making music was that as an art form, I could sit in it for days and weeks, and eventually, something would emerge from within myself. Oftentimes, it was something subconscious that I wasn't seeing. Composing is more than a hobby to me, it's a way that I found that could teach me more about myself.

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OHMS Music

One Note Can Make All The Difference

A Major
A B C# D E F# G#

D Major
D E F# G A B C#

What I thought would turn into a beautifully written ballad, turned out to be something else entirely. I never knew that one note could make a critical difference to what kind of song will be made. I was mistaken, and my song was written in the key of D major, not A major. I began to think, this feels more like the song is writing me at this point. I looked up what this meant. I couldn't understand the type of music that could possibly resemble this.

Screaming hallelujah's, rejoicing in conquering obstacles. War marches, holiday songs, invitations to join the winning team.

The song I had written so far called "Rectify" sounded far from any type of victory being indicated. But before I decided to write off emotional connections to key as complete B.S., curiosity got the better of me. What kind of songs are actually made in such a strange key?

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Song Lookup Surprise

The first song I found that I recognized was One Republic — Counting Stars

I found a second song that I liked a lot, Avicii — Wake Me Up

This made me shake with intuition. There is a lot of similarity in these songs, and I started to see this connection that had been staring me in the face for such a long time. I looked up another song, and just as I had suspected, it was also in the key of D major.

Fallout Boy — Immortals

Lyrical Meaning and Depth

Do you know what these songs have in common? One thing I pay attention to in music is not only how it makes me feel, but what kind of story the song is telling. Many popular songs talk about love, or heartbreak, but in the lyrics in each of these songs there's something more.

There is talk of the past and future, and an immersion of the journeys they've had—including what they've learned from their naivety. In each story, they are going through a personal long-term struggle after a goal that drives them to continue on. It must be amazing what they are after, to be beyond the point where they should have given up, still hopeful... instead of jaded.

That's a powerful type of song, full of feelings that aren't one-sided in happiness or sadness but reaching so hard for something that each person believed in. I re-examined my lyrics and realized that this is exactly the type of song that my soul felt compelled to express. I'm terrified of what I'll learn, or to see what I want to finally reveal to myself.

As always, thank you for stopping by my blog today. There are many different things to think about when writing a song, and the variables that determine what song you write may seem like minor details, but they make all the difference.

What is the meaning behind your song?