Sharing
Now that you have a song, the next step is to share it with others.
There are many ways that you can do this: like performing your song live, creating a recording, documenting your song, and/or using a DAW to further produce your track.
Performing
You could perform your song for:
- Another group to get feedback and continue workshopping
- The class
- Another class in a room nearby
- Anyone in the school at a lunchtime gig held in the music room
- The wider public at an external venue/festival
Recording
You can record your song:
- Using the voice memo/notes app on your phone
- Creating a video recording of a live performance
- Using a Digitial Audio Workstation of your choice
Using a USB condenser microphone placed in the centre of the room as you play the song live
By ‘multi-track recording’ each individual part and layering them on top of each-other (see Production)
You can record your song:
- Using the voice memo/notes app on your phone
- Creating a video recording of a live performance
- Using a Digital Audio Workstation of your choice
Using a USB condenser microphone placed in the centre of the room as you play the song live
By ‘multi-track recording’ each individual part and layering them on top of each other.
Watch Yeo perform a cover of Al Parkinson’s song, The One That Got Away.
Documenting
Some ways you could document your song include:
- Writing out the lyrics
- Creating a lead sheet with the lyrics and chords for each section labelled using chord names and/or roman numerals
- Create a lead sheet with the lyrics, chords, and melody line notated using five line staff notation
- Creating a TAB of the guitar and bass parts of your song
- Using piano roll or five line staff notation to represent the melody of your song
Journaling
Reflecting on the process
In a digital or physical workbook answer the following questions about the songwriting process…
Exploring the songwriting process
- What songwriting method did you find most successful (writing lyrics, writing chords, writing a groove or writing a melody)? Why?
- What songwriting method (writing lyrics, writing chords, writing a groove or writing a melody) did you find most challenging? Why?
- What songwriting role (musician, songwriter/lyricist, producer) appeals to you the most and why?
Exploring the collaborative process
- What did you find most challenging about working collaboratively to create a song and why?
- How did you utilise your strengths or change your mindset to overcome these challenges?
- Were there ideas that generated other song ideas through your collaboration?
- Did you learn anything new about someone and did it influence your creative process?
Acknowledging your references/influences
Create a table similar to the one below to acknowledge any references/influences that informed your songwriting:
Analysing your song
In this activity, you will follow a step by step process to help you write a paragraph which analyses your song.
Step 1. Identify the narrative of your song
e.g. My song Walking Alone told the story of a trailblazing activist whose cause remained unheard.
Step 2. Identify a musical element that you feel helped to support/reinforce the narrative
e.g. The harmony of this song helped to reinforce this narrative, in particular the use of minor chords.
Step 3. Write a statement connecting your chosen musical element to the emotions explored in your song/narrative
e.g. The effect of the A minor chord behind the line “the rough places will remain plain” creates a sense of sadness and despair.
Step 4. Put each response together to create a clear paragraph of analysis
e.g. My song Walking Alone told the story of a trailblazing activist whose cause remained unheard. The harmony of this song helped to reinforce this narrative, in particular the use of minor chords. The effect of the A minor chord behind the line “the rough places will remain plain” creates a sense of sadness and despair.
