Song critiques

[Marshal]

I went to Old Town School of Folk Music monthly song critique circle last night. Small group because of the snow, I guess. Those of us there did 2 tunes each. I got a great idea from the critique of the tune I posted last month; Stories in a Song. Already working out the revision in my head. That should be a definite improvement.

 

And I confirmed a perceived problem (pointed out by youse guys here too) on the "Devil's in teh Details" song that I'm not sure how to fix. I'ts that concluding phrase. My most common problem in songwriting is starting with an end point in mind. But when I flesh the thing out, other juicy things pop up that often mean I have to wrestle the thing back to the concluding premise. At that point it's probably better to let go of the alligator and let it swim where it wants. But sometimes that's hard when the rhyming and the build come to a point; the wrong point; but a point I'm mentally invested in from the start.

[Oswlek]

That happens to me all the time. Definitely a struggle, though I have to admit I typically hold onto the tail and see if I can change the other stuff.

[blue2blue]

I went to Old Town School of Folk Music monthly song critique circle last night. Small group because of the snow, I guess. Those of us there did 2 tunes each. I got a great idea from the critique of the tune I posted last month; Stories in a Song. Already working out the revision in my head. That should be a definite improvement. And I confirmed a perceived problem (pointed out by youse guys here too) on the "Devil's in teh Details" song that I'm not sure how to fix. I'ts that concluding phrase. My most common problem in songwriting is starting with an end point in mind. But when I flesh the thing out , other juicy things pop up that often mean I have to wrestle the thing back to the concluding premise. At that point it's probably better to let go of the alligator and let it swim where it wants. But sometimes that's hard when the rhyming and the build come to a point; the wrong point; but a point I'm mentally invested in from the start.

On an occasion or two when that's happened to me, I've taken the conclusion out of the song that sparked off where I thought I was headed, finished the song as it seems to want to be finished and then tried to work with the now orphaned 'conclusion' in another song it will fit better in.