Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 What has influenced you as a songwriter in the past ... or since the last FIT? * A choir director once told me that we sing vowels, not consonants. I often think of that comment when singing and writing songs, especially when rhyming. It opened me up to the idea that perfect rhyme in spoken word is perhaps not as desirable as imperfect rhyme, such as assonance, in the sung word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oswlek Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 What has influenced you as a songwriter in the past ... or since the last FIT?*A choir director once told me that we sing vowels, not consonants. I often think of that comment when singing and writing songs, especially when rhyming. It opened me up to the idea that perfect rhyme in spoken word is perhaps not as desirable as imperfect rhyme, such as assonance, in the sung word. I've heard that too, but I actually had to go the other way. Unless I pay attention to consonants, it is hard to understand what I am even saying. I've been listening to this band a lot. They use some terrific arrangements to add little bits of flavor throughout. I've learned a lot about transitions and layering. [YOUTUBE]1FC0Vrr_Oqo&feature=related[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]jhvC3NCitq8&feature=related[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]IhKgnCQxrrw[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 My new Godin has been most inspirational the last two weeks. It feels like an old friend already and I'm doing stuff with I've never done before. Seems silly, I know, but it's true. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted July 9, 2010 Moderators Share Posted July 9, 2010 I've been on a Bach kick for months. Years, actually. Best money I ever spend is toward Bach. I never tire of it. Lately this Concerto for violin and oboe is killing me. The key for to listening to Bach is to identify the main motif, then dig on how he plays with that simple melody in a multitude of ways... not unlike Miles, or God. With Bach, repeated listening pays off! [YOUTUBE]tUf5pEUmBew[/YOUTUBE] Bach listening tip. Don't hear the trapping of classical music. Don't think white powder in wigs and churches and chambers and {censored}. Think music. Then, you hear Bach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 I'm with you on Bach, Lee. I've been on a kick with him lately, too. A bit of the Cello Suites (just read Siblin's book), but mainly the vocal music. I've got the Bach Edition Box Set (155 CDs for around $100), and it's crazy how much vocal music he wrote -- something like a 100 CDs worth of vocal music, almost all of it for religious reasons. He could have written opera (which was the ticket to fame in his day and partly why he wasn't as well known during his lifetime, though he was known as a virtuoso but not so much for composing), but he wrote religious oratorio instead. Bach's also a great example of recycling your own good stuff. He puts parts of this into parts of that all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 My new Godin has been most inspirational the last two weeks. It feels like an old friend already and I'm doing stuff with I've never done before. Seems silly, I know, but it's true. EG not silly at all speaking of silly, this video from the early 90s is pretty silly or maybe just weird. Either way its awesome [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] here is Ben Folds Five doing the same song [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] I got asked to play in another country/folksy project and this is one of the songs they do. Fun one to learn. I like the jazzier approach to the chords from the Ben Folds Five version. Chicken pickin on a Maj7 FTW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 I learned this one for the band: If any of you chuckleheads posted this lyric (below), I'd have torn it apart. The central metaphor (a horse race) barely gets a mention in either verse. The G.D. chorus doesn't even make sense unless the listener can see that True Love, Heartache, and so on are capitalized, implying that those are the names of horses. And why does the winner lose all? The narrator didn't win, did he? Did he put his money on Heartache? What the H is going on here, exactly. But it works. Go figure. I feel tears wellin' upCold and deep insideLike my heart's sprung a big breakAnd a stab of lonliness sharp and painfulThat I may never shakeYou might say that I was takin' it hardOh, she wrote me off with a callBut don't you wager that I'll hide the sorrowWhen I break right down and bawl Chorus:Well, the race is onAnd here comes pride up the backstretchHeartaches are goin' to the insideMy tears are holdin' backThey're tryin' not to fallMy heart's out of the runnin'True love's scratched for another's sakeThe race is on and it looks like heartacheAnd the winner loses all One day I ventured in loveNever once suspectin'What the final result would beHow I lived in fear of wakin' up each mornin'And thinkin' that you're gone from meThere's ache and pain in my heartFor today was the one I hated to faceSomebody new came up to win herI came out in second place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Your youtube box is white. CM, I used to play that song all time in a Grateful Dead cover band. Fun stuff. Oh, and I guess it's a good thing George Jones never posted here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Fixed. I never really dug the Dead's version, but I did learn it to get the Deadheads off my back. We're going all in this week and learning "Dire Wolf", though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Please, don't murder me. Cool song with some interesting changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Please, don't murder me. Cool song with some interesting changes. F'real. I think it's catchy enough to engage the singalong-inclined drunkards, the lyrics is a true pleasure to sing, the jacked-up chord progression and structure ensure it's not overdone, and the Deadheads would soil their undershorts if they weren't in the dirty laundry duffel back in the van. I'm basing that last predicion on the reaction my last band got to Jackaroe, which is a plodding, minor-key dirge with 16 verses and no chorus, but pulled some filthy dancers every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 It's a been a while since I've played Jackaroe -- you could also get in El Paso and make 'em happy. Good times. If you really want the dancers, two-chord Fire On The Mountain will do it, and Franklin's Tower will crowd the floor. Estimated Prophet will get them groovin' in 7/4. And could you play other covers Good Lovin', Not Fade Away, Iko Iko. GD had some pretty good covers in their sets. You could probably build a whole GD set with just covers they did. Some of the best & most appreciative & responsive crowds I've ever played in front of are Dead Heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 We're a two-piece, so the extended jams are pretty much off the table. We're doing a lot of Tin Pan Alley stuff, classic country, and some of our own tunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 I don't get how you can't do extended jams as a two-piece? Of course, I do so many one-man solo shows that having someone else play with me would open up so many options. What Great American Songbook tunes are you doing? I love that stuff and do a bunch in my sets. One of my favorites, though it's not as well-known by some, is September Song. Kurt Weill represent! I do plenty of Duke Ellington: Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me, It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), A Train (haven't done this in a while). My first chord-melody solo was Satin Doll. I'm thinking that I need to add Mood Indigo. Such a lovely tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 We're going a bit more broad--All of Me, Ain't Misbehavin' (lifted off a recent set list of yours), Sin to Tell a Lie, Fly Me to the Moon, and a few others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Another good Fats Waller is Honeysuckle Rose -- and you can play it for the Willie Nelson fans. Makin' Whoopee covers a lot of bases, too -- and the chords are real straight ahead. Do y'all do any Disney? I'm doing "I Wanna Be Just Like You" from Jungle Book in a version that borrows from the film and from Los Lobos with Django's Minor Swing as an intro. Wondering if I should do some others? Classic Disney, not the Lion King stuff. I can't recall if you also play uke or mando. If so, do you use them in your duo. What's your duo set up instrumentation-wise? Just looked at Mood Indigo. Man, it's got a lot going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 9, 2010 Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Another good Fats Waller is Honeysuckle Rose -- and you can play it for the Willie Nelson fans. Makin' Whoopee covers a lot of bases, too -- and the chords are real straight ahead. Do y'all do any Disney? I'm doing "I Wanna Be Just Like You" from Jungle Book in a version that borrows from the film and from Los Lobos with Django's Minor Swing as an intro. Wondering if I should do some others? Classic Disney, not the Lion King stuff. I can't recall if you also play uke or mando. If so, do you use them in your duo. What's your duo set up instrumentation-wise? Just looked at Mood Indigo. Man, it's got a lot going on. I'm pushing for relatively simple songs, at least until we're done learning a half-dozen a week to get 4 sets together. IRT Disney, the other guy just heard someone do "Wanna Be Like You" at an open mic last week, and I know a few other folks who are doing it, so I'm trying to avoid it. I've been meaning to learn "When I See an Elephant Fly" for the past 6 months, but haven't sat down with it. It's easily my favorite classic Disney song, not counting the Robin Hood soundtrack. I do play uke and mando. I just put a home-rigged piezo on the mandolin, and am working out the kinks there, but I do play the uke with the band, which is me and an upright bassist/singer/songwriter/whistler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 9, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 9, 2010 Upright bassist! You lucky dog, you. I hear ya about simplicity. About a year or two ago, I reharmonized a bunch of the standards in my sets. So many jazzbreaux think that you have to "jazz up" reharmonizations by adding 13ths, alt doms, and tritone subs and other aspects of Chinese algebra, but reharmonization can go the other way, too. I got sick of the Real Book changes -- they just sounded like changes for noodling, not for singing -- so I said WTF it's not like I'm a real jazz musician anyway. For example, you can play I Got Rhythm without using the Rhythm Changes in the A section. I often just use the I and V chords during the verses, and then when I take a solo I play the crazy changes from teh Realz Book. I sing it in G ... (G7) I got (D7) rhythm (G7) I got (D7) music (G7) I got (D7) my gal Who could (G7) ask for (D7) anything (G7) more (D7+) Give it a little Django goose pump and it'll swing. Like I said, I went through a bunch of tunes and did this. Some worked, some didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marshal Posted July 10, 2010 Members Share Posted July 10, 2010 OK. Somebody that I found on the net (Popped up on a Pandora Channel I have) is Dan Reeder. I just love is 'Havana Burning" song. He made his own guitar. It's funky cross between a real guitar and an amoeba. Sounds sort of like Stella. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTMR_jRWG_Y[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTMR_jRWG_Y[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members junkyard bennie Posted July 10, 2010 Members Share Posted July 10, 2010 just my imagination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rockinrobby Posted July 10, 2010 Members Share Posted July 10, 2010 What has influenced my music? Love and tragedy which are two sides of the same coin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted July 12, 2010 Moderators Share Posted July 12, 2010 I love the Race is On. George Jones is the one for me too. His rapid fire - hell bent reading rocks just right. I always told myself I'd learn that to bust out at parties. Thanks for the reminder CM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted July 12, 2010 Members Share Posted July 12, 2010 Another good Fats Waller is Honeysuckle Rose -- and you can play it for the Willie Nelson fans. Makin' Whoopee covers a lot of bases, too -- and the chords are real straight ahead. Do y'all do any Disney? I'm doing "I Wanna Be Just Like You" from Jungle Book in a version that borrows from the film and from Los Lobos with Django's Minor Swing as an intro. Wondering if I should do some others? Classic Disney, not the Lion King stuff. I can't recall if you also play uke or mando. If so, do you use them in your duo. What's your duo set up instrumentation-wise? Just looked at Mood Indigo. Man, it's got a lot going on. This one always kills [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhino55 Posted July 12, 2010 Members Share Posted July 12, 2010 I love the Race is On. George Jones is the one for me too. His rapid fire - hell bent reading rocks just right. I always told myself I'd learn that to bust out at parties. Thanks for the reminder CM! Sadly, George Jones is one of those guys I just havent spent a whole lot of time with. Interestingly enough, we had a gig last night in Laffayette, Sunday night gigs are always fun, and on the way back, one of the guys insisted on listening to George Jones. I worked in my yard for ~4 hours (even took down a tree that I've been needing to bring down for a while), played a good 2 hour set an hour and half from home, and didnt have to drive so was able to drink a little comped whiskey at the club. I have to say George Jones made for a good ride home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted July 12, 2010 Members Share Posted July 12, 2010 Sadly, George Jones is one of those guys I just havent spent a whole lot of time with. Interestingly enough, we had a gig last night in Laffayette, Sunday night gigs are always fun, and on the way back, one of the guys insisted on listening to George Jones. I worked in my yard for ~4 hours (even took down a tree that I've been needing to bring down for a while), played a good 2 hour set an hour and half from home, and didnt have to drive so was able to drink a little comped whiskey at the club. I have to say George Jones made for a good ride home. He's got a nearly Beatlesque range in his material from the early rockabilly stuff to the later countrypolitan stuff. There's gems throughout, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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