Pure Heavy Dyno Pocket Book! Songwriter’s Workbook + Cheatsheet Episode I: Chords Welcome! Whether you are on the start of your songwriting journey or in search for some inspiration for your next big hit, this wee workbook will serve as a source of inspiration for ideas as well as a point of reference for useful musical concepts ***********. To get the most out of this book try filling some of the pages in! ***********. I hope whoever you are you can get something meaningful from this exercise - Joe Miskimmins Index 4. Useful tools 6. Chords of the major scale 8. Open chords of the major scale 10. Creating Chord Progressions 12. Advanced Chord progressions 14. Lyrics-writing philosophy 16. 6-word stories 18. 2 word stories 20. Double-entendre exercise 22. Arguments 23. If/Then/opposites 24. Filling out a full song worth of lyrics Useful Tools The most accurate, free guitar tuner with tuning visualiser. Also includes Uke and Bass! Look for these logos *These are not endorsed products Guitar Tuna Free access your lyrics anytime anywhere from any device! Google Docs Get out there and find songwriting, performance, tutorial groups on Facebook, Instagram, and in IRL! Your community Great almost-free recording software for making full versions of your songs. Free access to full version. Reaper Express yourself! Remember to not stress out too much, music should be fun. Tell a joke, a story or allow yourself to reflect on whatever you’re feeling... But remember to record it to see how you’ve progressed! The Major Scale in G Chords of the Major Scale in G ● Instances of a key are numbered in order using roman numerals. ● To change a key simply move this set of chords up or down the neck. ● The 1st, 4rth, 5th are major chords. ● The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th are minor chords. ● A minor chord is a major chord with a flat 3rd and is displayed lower-case. ● Chord progressions begin on the 1st chord. ● To make a song feel more “sad”, start your chord progression on the 6th instead of the 1st. This is called the minor key. ● The 7th chord is neither major of minor diminished. Open Chords in G ● Open chords differ from bar chords in the way they utilize open strings ● Every note played in a barre chord AND open chords consists of a 1st, 3rd and 5th of the scale relative to the instance it sits on. ● Getting used to the barre chord version can take a little handstrngth but will be beneficial as you will never need a capo! ● Barre chords can be moved up and down the neck, open chords generally cant. This will be useful for choosing a key that suits your voice! Writing Chord progressions ● Chord progressions start on 1 or vi of the scale. ● Use VI or V as your last chord before returning to 1. This is called cadence. ● This sequence of chords will usually be 4 chords long and can include repeats. ● Chord progressions can be lengthened by having a second sequence beginning on vi. My Chord Progressions Using the advice, fill in some chord progressions - then try them out on your guitar! Example: I - VI - vii - IV Ex: I - ii - V - V - vi - IV - V - V Advanced tips: ● 7th chords can be used to strengthen the interaction of chords if followed by a chord which is 5 instances of the scale away. Remember: the pattern of chords loops around on itself. Example: I- vi7 - VI - V7 ● This concept is called using dominant and secondary dominant chords. The most common interaction of a dominant chords is moving from a V7 and returning to I. Example: I - IV - V - V7 ● The dissonant chord called bVI7 can be used when returning to I. This chord is a semitone down the fretboard from vi and is played as a major 7th chord. Example: I - ii - vi - bVI7 ● To add drama to a chord progression ending in IV returning to I, a minor chord can be played in the same position as IV following IV before returning to I. This is called minor plegal cadence. Example: I - vi - IV - iv ● Try write the chords with the bassline and then apply the chords after you have the progression completed. Notes Any adjustments to be made to your progressions? Lyrics What do you want to say? Got a good story? Been moved by politics? Got rejected by dog? Capture a time in place? Exploiting linguistics for jokes? Want to rock and roll all night? The theory of why we enjoy lyrics is vast and interesting. Through listening to a singer we can address an area of our own personalities. When we listen to music we experiment with our own identities by putting ourself in the shoes of a singer and lyricist. We can either enjoy a song which reflects out desired identity, form a new identity to fit the beliefs of the singer, or be unappealied to through lyrics. Who is your favourite singer? Do they seem like themselves and why do you like being around them? A pertinent question is: What is your own identity, and how do you want to express it? 6 word stories Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a 6 word story: For sale: Babies shoes, never worn This format makes for great line length for music and makes lines concise Try a few yourself! Tip: Center-aligning your text in a word document can make it look more poetic My 6 word story Examples So then she never danced alone. He kept his badge and gun The ring then split in half 2 word stories While you are ona roll, try for 2-word stories. If you can make this relate to your 6 word story, then well done - you now have a title for a song! Tip: One way to write these is by using words that identify a person's profession, position, or state and follow it with a contradictory term. Tip: Try to imply a third concept Two Word Stories Example: Earth, Yet? Acrobat Trips Takes Placebo Stop that! It’s Alive! Tested positive/Time’s Up. The Darwin Deez method Darwin Deez is an American songwriter who uses and interesting concept in his lyrics. Listen to Redshift from the album Songs For Imaginative People. Write down words in Redshift that relate to Outer Space This technical jargon is used as punsto discuss an unrelated concept. This strategy can be manipulated to make interesting poetry. Choose one of the following categories and write down technical words: Space exploration, Sea Exploration, Kitchen/cooking, Technology, Internet, Marketing, Politics, Slang