Noel Gallagher

[oolceeoo]

I never used to like Oasis or the Gallagher brothers, but I've recently got into Oasis and I find many of their songs brilliant and well written. I know Noel has a huge ego, but he seems to be a good songwriter.

 

I was wondering if there was any info on how he writes his songs and any lessons I could pick up about writing the kind of music he writes. I searched the web and I didn't see any lessons on songwriting of the sort.

[blue2blue]

Best way is to listen to his songs, study the lyrics you find on the web or in the liner sheets to their albums. (Watch out for rogue lyrics sites that have pop ups or try to get you to install software that is likely malware.)

 

Pay attention to the way he puts together chords -- a lot of times a writer's musical signature is in the way he diverges from the 'normal' chords in a progression, and the ways that affects the melodies available against those changes.

 

When you're studying a writer's lyrics, look at the way he tells a story, the way he uses images and description, and the way he uses metaphors, word play, and rhyme.

 

Watch for internal rhyming, half-rhymes, alliteration, slant rhymes, and the like -- they have a real impact on a song, although their influence may at first appear subtle.

 

 

___________

 

 

Not sure I've seen you around much before, let me give you the standard welcome:

 

Welcome to the Songwriting Forum.

 

The basic mission of the forum is the discussion of the art and craft of songwriting and offering assistance with feedback and constructive criticism on new songs and other works in progress. Of course, giving thoughtful comment requires some time and energy.

 

Like so much in life -- what you get out of it will likely depend on what you put in...

 

I hope you'll share your insight with others when they're looking for critiques -- it's a great way to let people get to know you. And the more that people know you as someone who is willing to help out, the more eager they'll be to help you when you're looking for some good ol' constructive crit.

 

 

blue2blue

moderator, songwriting forum

 

And you might want to check out the SW Forum Guidelines and Resources.

 

(One thing: we try to avoid discussion threads that focus on only one writer or artist. The reason is more practical than anything else: if we didn't have that rule, we would soon be over-run with street-teamers, promo interns, and other "guerrilla marketing types" -- ie, spammers -- bend on disguising promo as discussion.)

[Blakemore Effects]

Check out the top left guitar on my guitar wall. I think it's obvious I'm a fan.

 

 

As far as Noel's songwriting though, I know he got a TON of "inspiration" from the Beatles, so like Blue said, listen to lots of Oasis, but listen to the Beatles a lot too. Noel pretty much tried to mimic the Beatles' songs completely in a lot of ways, so listening to both bands could be very beneficial.

[blue2blue]

Yeah, always a good idea to study multiple sources so you don't end up with something like this buried in every song feedback: "Gee, has anyone ever told you that you remind them of Oasis and Noel Gallagher?"

 

[rsadasiv]

I've always dug the strong iamb and internal rhyme he uses to start and end alternating lines in Wonderwall and the way that rhythm gets reflected in the bass/treble strumming pattern.

 

Today is gonna be the day

That they're gonna throw it back to you

By now you should've somehow

Realized what you gotta do

 

Backbeat the word was on the street

That the fire in your heart is out

I'm sure you've heard it all before

But you never really had a doubt

[Matximus]

 

I never used to like Oasis or the Gallagher brothers, but I've recently got into Oasis and I find many of their songs brilliant and well written. I know Noel has a huge ego, but he seems to be a good songwriter. I was wondering if there was any info on how he writes his songs and any lessons I could pick up about writing the kind of music he writes. I searched the web and I didn't see any lessons on songwriting of the sort.

 

 

I'm a big fan of Noel's. He's the first to admit that his writing has fallen off in quality dramatically since he was 22. Pretty much wrote all of his best stuff before then, but he seems at peace with that. But he was bloody brilliant when he first burst out.

 

I understand he writes most of his stuff on the acoustic. He has a strong allegience to pop/rock history, hence the name of that album "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants." He is a MAJOR MAJOR songwriting thief - words, riffs, melody - but he cops to that too. He's shameless. He cribbed the intro to Imagine for "Don't Look Back in Anger." The start to "Some Might Say" Is T-Rex's "Bang of Gong." He even cribbed the melody from a Coca Cola Jingle for "Shaker Maker" on Definitely Maybe. I think he got sued for that, actually.

 

But the basic philosophy of his music is that songs should be life affirming and catchy, and strongly informed by the greats of the past. He favors simplicity and melody, with the rhythm section leaning heavily on barre chords and root notes. The arrangements are also rather straightforward, although he tends to favor loud and compressed mixes. If you want to write like him, study the classic Brit Rockers: The Who, The Jam, Beatles, Stones, the Kinks.

[Matximus]

Noel Talks: Youtube others....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZPw05nFiPA

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thc4Sdt6oD8