Discussion Questions

[LamarPecorino]

During my month long break from almost everything music related, I took the time to evaluate my musical journey thus far. Here are some questions that I thought might be interesting for discussion:

Which songwriter(s) served as your initial inspiration to become a songwriter?
What aspects of their songs drew you in?
How have you incorporated those influences into your writing?
If you were starting out today, which songwriter(s) would serve in that same capacity?
What aspects of their songs draw you in?
How are you incorporating those influences into your writing?

Looking forward to hearing from others.

[Paulie]

Great questions Lamar.

I'm not a songwriter (yet), I focus almost exclusively on instrumentals. When I do try song forms I lean on my commercial piano player influences: Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Ben Folds, Alicia Keys, as well as great writers like David Foster and John Williams. To me I try to capture emotion when writing and I often think about the great ballad writers. (sidebar: does ANYONE write ballads anymore?). The way I assimilate these influences is by studying them. The best way to learn how to write like those you want to is to transcribe/learn the music. I have a growing notebook of song transcriptions where i chart out the entire song in form and chord changes, plus notes about instrumentation, form, etc. I study like crazy the genres I want to write. Sometimes it's hard (have you listened to hip hop today?), but to be successful you have to remain current.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks Paulie. Your answers were great. I hope that others will share their influences from the beginning until now.

[funsongs]

My answers can't be so specific or brief, so I'll paint with a bigger brush:

When ideas for songs (began to) wanna come out of me, of course I want to hear & listen to them at the same level and caliber as the artists I like to listen to. Most of the time, save for some simpler ones, that means that I have to find pro musos who can manage to capture that idea as I want to (have to!) hear it in order to be able to say: "that's it!". Influences and inspiration, therefore, varies widely depending on the genre the song's character is aimed at, and so the list is quite long.

Aspects of songs, in general that are attractive (to me) are those that have a melody that is easy to catch, and is always pleasant
(and untiring) to listen to. Bands that had/have great vocal harmonies
are at the top of the list: i.e. Beatles, Beach Boys, Eagles, Bee Gees, Simon & Garfunkel were earliest ones that fit that description.

Specifically penning lyrics? Word play & humor are what stand out in any song... and hopefully likewise, those that are my own.
Funny & fun thing about that is: people tend to remember and learn jokes and anecdotes quite easily. Why not incorporate that sensibility into good melody & harmony?

When someone asked me "what kind of songs do you (like to) write?".
"Fun songs" was the reply that fell out.
Simply put: music & creativity are fun, and make for good partners.
And: it's something you can enjoy as being ageless... and for a lifetime.

(I wonder how many times Sir Paul has played his first hit songs.)

Cheers.

[mojobone]

During my month long break from almost everything music related, I took the time to evaluate my musical journey thus far. Here are some questions that I thought might be interesting for discussion:

Which songwriter(s) served as your initial inspiration to become a songwriter?
What aspects of their songs drew you in?
How have you incorporated those influences into your writing?
If you were starting out today, which songwriter(s) would serve in that same capacity?
What aspects of their songs draw you in?
How are you incorporating those influences into your writing?

Looking forward to hearing from others.

I've been influenced by everything from Spaghetti Westerns to 70s porn soundtracks to Danny Elfman, and inspired by Motown, The Beatles, the Beach Boys and all the timeless 60s stuff that was still on oldies radio, growing up. (and I'm still Myspace friends with Ennio Morricone; I hope he's as jazzed about his finally working with Tarantino as I am) I also got a real good dose of Honkytonk, Western Swing and classic country, growing up rural in Indiana. But as a seventies kid, Bob Seger, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen were direct influences that all featured a sax player in their bands, in the age of disco and singer-songwriters. I also dug the Troubador scene: your Carole Kings, James Taylors, Jackson Brownes CSN& sometimesY and just about everyone in the Eagles' circles, including especially Rickie Lee Jones and studio cats like Steve Gadd, Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, Kootch Korchmar and a whole raft of just-as-stellar sidemen who appeared on Steely Dan records.

That's not even an exhaustive list, but if I were starting out today? Well, I AM starting out today, but it's the principles I learned hearing all this stuff from the golden age of analog that guide and drive everything I do. If you have a good song and a great arrangement, contemporary sounds and to a lesser extent production techniques are really all that's standing in the way, IMO





ADDENDUM: I guess the initial push probably came from Saturday morning cartoons, and the Monkees. The Jackson Five and the Osmonds had lead singers my age, and were already so succesful they had cartoon versions of themselves out there making money while they were still in bed.

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks for sharing, Peter. Out of curiosity, do you go back and revisit the music of your early influences? I can certainly understand the allure of the great vocals/harmonies.

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks for writing, Mojo. I too have a myriad of influences. It has been a great benefit to my performance career.

[funsongs]

Thanks for sharing, Peter. Out of curiosity, do you go back and revisit the music of your early influences? I can certainly understand the allure of the great vocals/harmonies.

I pick up my guitar and notebook of old favorites and play them often...
"Mr. Moonlight", for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DkfeL2Rt8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YfWQG5 ... YfWQG5gI4A

[LamarPecorino]

Thanks Peter. I do similar things. I listen to favorite recordings and work on parts that were played on them. Often, I find myself asking why did they pick that part to play. One think is for sure, we grew up in an era of great music and great productions.

[burpo]

I realize that even though my listening list may include jazz standards, western swing, ska, 50-90s rock, classical, etc ...
I really hear only two influences in my songwriting:

70s AM radio singles and Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (My first memories of any kind were of listening to the "Ye Me Le" album
by the christmas tree.)

Whenever I write, all the stuff I try to remember seems to fall out and my songs still sound like they come from a
kid who listened to 70s AM radio and Sergio all day.

Although this wasn't part of the question, I feel like I fall in line with (stylistically) Marshall Crenshaw or Tom Petty.

Ta-daaaa!!