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The Overlooked Songwriting Element Needed For Accurate Musical Expression The Overlooked Songwriting Element Needed For Accurate Musical Expression by Ryan Buckner In order to become great at expressing yourself through music (in the most accurate way possible), you must continually ‘practice’ songwriting in the same way as you would practice a musical instrument. This means not only writing songs on a consistent basis, but learning how to integrate different musical elements together with your ideas to get creative results. With that being said, a major reason why many musicians take a long time to become better songwriters is they ignore one or more important elements in music. In this article, I will discuss one of the most overlooked musical elements, why most musicians ignore it and how you can use it to better express yourself in music. The musical element I will cover is the element of dynamics. NOTICE: If you are currently thinking: “Dynamics? I already know about that... it only means making music louder and softer, that’s all.” ... Then you have already begun to overlook the unique creative qualities of this musical element (this is the same mistake that most musicians make). You see, many songwriters overlook the element of dynamics while thinking of things like which chords to use, how to write a melody or what song lyrics to write. As a result, they miss out on one of the most effective musical tools for powerful self-expression. The following list contains some of the great uses for dynamics that will help make your music more musically expressive. When you fully utilize dynamics in your music, you will: * You will be able to make everything you write sound better without even changing a single note. * You will have the power to quickly change how ‘tense’ or ‘relaxed’ the parts of your songs feel * You will add a new level to your songs that was previously unavailable… just like watching a three dimensional version of a movie. The Fundamentals Of Musical Dynamics When it comes to dynamics most people understand this to describe the general volume level of a song. However, dynamics refers to both overall volume of the music as well as the individual parts that make up the music as a whole. Whenever you read a piece of music, you will see various letters that are used to display the dynamics. These have been developed and changed over a span of centuries until arriving at the letters we have today. Here are a few examples: How To Utilize Contrasting Dynamics For Musical Expression By using contrasting dynamics you can quickly grab the attention of anyone listening to your music. For example, think about the common songwriting formula used in rock ballads. For the most part, the song will consist of softly played acoustic guitar and vocal parts. Many times, the introduction (and beginning verse and chorus) will contain no percussion whatsoever. Then, to provide contrast, the drums will begin playing during the second verse. As an even bigger contrast, the songwriter may even include a solo/break section with electric guitar (only to return to the soft, acoustic guitar parts once the section has ended). This simple formula is highly effective at gaining the attention of the listener due to its contrasting dynamics. You can also use this concept in your music to contrast not only entire song sections, but different notes within a single melody or musical idea. How To Emphasize Dynamics By Surprising Your Listener With Silence One of the most creative ways to enhance the effect of dynamics in your songs is to use ‘silence’ as a tool for creating musical tension and getting the listener’s attention. To illustrate this, think about a time when you were listening to loud music in your car when all of a sudden your friend in the passenger seat presses pause on the stereo. Most likely, you would immediately think to yourself something like “Hey, what’s going on?!” This exact reaction came be recreated when you use silence in your music to catch the listener off guard and ‘force’ them to concentrate on the music. To do this, take a part for a song that you have already written and replace various notes with silence. You will find that by doing this you alter the feel of the rhythm and (for longer periods of silence) build up a sense of anticipation. However, also note that silence can easily be overused, so do not overwhelm your listeners or the feeling of surprise that they feel will quickly wear off. How To Use Dynamics To Accent A Single Melody To make any melody stick out, emphasize it by using varying dynamics. For instance, begin the melody “loud” and gradually reduce the volume until the notes are “soft”. This technique is known as a “decrescendo”. Additionally, alter the volume level of different notes within a melody to make them contrast with each other and stick out. This is especially useful for adding interest to repeating musical parts in your songs. This will give you the power to express yourself in different ways without altering any of the actual pitches in your melody. Make your melodies sound more creative by using the concepts in this songwriter techniques improvement guide (it’s free). Common Situations Where Dynamics Are Effectively Used For Musical Expression A very underestimated approach that can help you learn how to better express yourself in music is to study the scores of your favorite movies. I don’t mean you need to purchase the actual score itself and read the music… but instead simply observe the way the music is arranged with different scenes throughout the film. This will help you equate the emotions expressed by the actors along with the music and build your ability to express yourself better in your songwriting. Here are some common examples: Example One: Using rests/silence to enhance dynamics and add a sense of mystery. For this scene, visualize a horror setting with a character walking around in the basement of a dark, abandoned mansion by himself with quiet/eerie music playing in the background. The power is out and the character needs to find the circuit breaker to turn it back on. He finds his way to the basement, opens the door and slowly makes his way down the basement steps. As he walks down the decrepit wooden steps, they creek and bend under his feet. In this moment, man senses that he is not alone. “Is anyone there?” he whispers (the music of the scene quickly escalates from quiet to very loud). The man quickly turns his head and looks behind him (music goes silent) … Nothing there. He continues down the stairs and moves his hands along the wall until he finally comes across the finds the circuit breaker. He reaches into his pocket for his lighter. Hands shaking, he fumbles to get it to light and nervously drops it to the floor. Bending down to pick it up, he hears a creek on the stairs. “Who’s there?” he says, now in a frightened, demanding tone. After several seconds, the silence in the room is broken as he hears a low incomprehensible growl. The man’s eyes glaze over as his adrenaline sky rockets and fear pumps through his veins. The growl gets slowly closer and closer (as the music gets louder, building tension) until suddenly… a horrific scream! Then… silence. Example Two: Using dynamics to express an increase or decrease in emotional tension Think of a romantic scene where a couple is brought together at the airport. First, there is a lot of doubt on both sides about whether the relationship will work out or not (with very soft music playing in the background). After the couple talks for a little bit, they finally come to the decision that they must go their separate ways. Both the man and woman walk off and the scene cuts to the man walking out of the airport thinking of past memories of his lover. Inside the airport, the woman sits with her face in her hands, wondering what will become of her life without the presence of the man she cared for so much. Suddenly, they both have the realization that they were wrong... they will find a way to make things work. They both get up and start running to find one another (the music begins building in volume). They run frantically through the airport, trying to regain the last spec of hope that the other person hasn’t left yet, and is looking for them too (music continues becoming louder and louder). Then across a crowd, they lock eyes, run toward each other and embrace! In response, the music climaxes here and is playing at its loudest... Example Three: Dynamics being used to surprise the listener. Imagine a scene with a man standing on the corner of a busy street in a large city getting ready to cross (with up tempo music played quietly in the background). The man looks up at the skyscrapers and different sites as he waits for the “walk” sign to turn on. The sign turns on and everyone else on the street corner begins moving toward the other side of the street. He scrambles to make it across the intersection to the other side when someone abruptly bumps into him, causing him to drop his suitcase. He drops to the ground, stuffing all the papers and documents that fell out back into his suitcase. Nervously, he looks down at his cell phone and realizes he is 15 minutes late for work. As he gets all of his belongings back in order, he raises to his feet. Suddenly he looks up as a car screeches to a sudden halt in front of him. The driver honks his horn several times. “Get out of the road!” the driver yells. At this moment in the scene, how do you think the tension would be resolved musically? A common technique used in this case would be for the music to quickly build up to a loud accent before becoming silent (to emphasize the same feeling of surprise in the scene). As you have read through this article you have discovered different ways to express yourself through music using dynamics. Keep in mind that dynamics are not only a great tool of expression in movies, but in any musical situation. As you focus on dynamics in your songwriting, remember to use balance in order to create a powerful sensation of tension and release that will keep your listeners on the edge of their seats. Read this free songwriter techniques eBook to find more ways to use dynamics and other musical elements to enhance your songs.
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