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Do artists really write their own songs? | Think Like A Musician - Video học tiếng Anh
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Do artists really write their own songs? | Think Like A Musician
Do artists really write their own songs? | Think Like A Musician
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0:00
I don’t think you have to have any kind of formal training at all
0:03
to be a songwriter.
0:04
Again, I work with people,
0:06
brilliant people with huge hits all the time that don't play an instrument.
0:10
So don't let that dissuade you.
0:13
Hey, you! Yes, you. Is there music inside of you?
0:17
We’ve recruited working musicians from throughout the industry
0:20
to help you hear it, hold it, and share it with this wild and wonderful world.
0:28
I think growing up, I assumed, like many people,
0:31
that the artists that I loved and listened to wrote all of their own music.
0:34
I didn't realize that there were other people behind the scenes,
0:37
and that it really takes a village to write a song.
0:40
Some artists write everything themselves, but most of the artists that you hear
0:44
are a collaboration.
0:45
The first artist that I was aware of that wrote songs for themselves
0:48
and also wrote songs for other people, was Carole King.
0:50
And then I heard that she had had a whole career before she was an artist
0:54
of writing songs for other people.
0:56
That was kind of like a light bulb went off for me where I was like,
0:59
that can be a job? That’s something that you can actually do?
1:02
When it comes to making a song,
1:03
and people realizing their favorite artist did not write that song,
1:07
that’s sometimes the job of a songwriter,
1:10
is to make sure that it feels like it came from your favorite artist.
1:15
And that is songwriting at its best.
1:18
It's to make sure that it's authentic.
1:20
There's two different ways of going.
1:22
Whether you’re pitching a song, meaning you’re selling it,
1:25
just randomly and doing that,
1:27
or whether you're getting in and taking a really collaborative effort together.
1:32
So there are two ways that in pop music that songs,
1:36
let’s call it getting placed.
1:38
The first way is you are in a room with an artist.
1:41
It’s a producer or two, or a songwriter or two,
1:44
and an artist— only one.
1:46
And you're making that piece of music with the artist
1:49
and you are collaborating with them.
1:51
You are basically helping, bringing their vision to life.
1:55
Sometimes artists come in and they know exactly what they want to say
1:58
and they don't need any help.
1:59
And you’re kind of like artwork or you’re just supportive.
2:02
And sometimes they come in and they don't know what to say
2:05
and you are helping them figure that out.
2:07
So that's the first way.
2:08
The second way is what’s called a pitch song,
2:11
where you and a group of other writers and producers,
2:14
just a group of musicians get together and you write a song.
2:17
And then that song then gets pitched to an artist or multiple artists
2:23
to see if it is something that they would like to sing themselves
2:27
and hopefully release.
2:30
When you go in to do a pitch song,
2:32
which is a song that you write without the artist in the room,
2:35
you take the brand of the artist into consideration,
2:38
you take the genre into consideration.
2:40
Oftentimes, the label will send you a brief,
2:42
and that is sort of details of themes that the artist wants to explore.
2:47
Placing a pitch song,
2:49
it’s kind of like going in your closet, regardless of your shape, size, and style
2:55
and pulling out a suit,
2:57
and then you hand it to this artist and you go, I hope this fits you perfectly.
3:02
Start to think about the key of the song.
3:04
You start to think about the vocal range of this artist.
3:08
Are they the type of artist that singing all the runs,
3:10
and are they the vocalists of our time,
3:12
or is it giving a different kind of vocal style?
3:15
If I do a little bit of research on an artist
3:17
and I see that they’re going through a breakup
3:19
or they came from a certain kind of a background,
3:23
I try to find things that I have in common with the artists
3:26
so that I can write from an authentic place for me.
3:30
Let’s just say they’re in the room— we’ll pick that adventure.
3:33
The next question becomes, how's your day?
3:35
Starts off with another conversation:
3:37
where are we right now in this moment?
3:40
For me, I like to get an idea of what is your idea of success as an artist?
3:45
Because a hit song is very, very different based off of the artist, right?
3:49
A Billboard Hot 100 hit song or a Grammy nomination.
3:52
Two different forms of success— both very successful.
3:55
So let's say the artist is more concerned with popularity
4:00
and having the hottest record on the Billboard Hot 100,
4:03
because that’s all that that means—
4:05
if he goes to number 1, this is the most popular song in the world.
4:09
I say, okay, well, I know it needs to be catchy,
4:12
I know it needs to be relatable,
4:15
and I know that it needs to be straight to the point.
4:17
That also gives me a lot of reference on whether we're going to have a bridge
4:21
on this song or not.
4:23
It also gives me some perspective as to how relatable it needs to be.
4:28
You’re more likely to connect to typical kind of pop chords
4:32
that we kind of hear over and over and over again.
4:34
We've listened to the same chords for however many years.
4:39
However, how you put them together is what makes something feel familiar enough
4:44
to resonate with people,
4:45
but not familiar enough that you’re in a lawsuit.
4:48
Versus the person who is wanting to make an artistic statement.
4:51
And they might go a little bit weird,
4:53
like some of our jazz artists or our punk artists.
4:57
There’s very different intentions as an artist, right?
5:00
And I think that it’s very important for songwriters specifically
5:03
to have all of these things going through their mind
5:07
because that's how we make it work.
5:10
Most of the times I start off with the melody.
5:13
However, there's some times where I come in and I'm like, this is the lyric.
5:18
And that might have started because of a conversation.
5:21
So each one is different.
5:23
But for me, melody is king and then lyrics come later.
5:27
A lot of my early songwriting experiences in the industry
5:31
were in rooms where someone would play a track.
5:34
And then, the writers in the room will all go into the booth
5:38
and freestyle a bunch of melodies, and then you build the song from there.
5:42
But the last five years now I've been living in Nashville,
5:46
where the songwriting process is the exact opposite,
5:48
where you come in with a title and a concept for the song,
5:53
and then you build the song more from a lyrical and conceptual perspective.
5:58
And then almost try to retrofit some of those lyrics
6:02
to melodies that might be able to house them,
6:04
because the lyric is most important here in Nashville.
6:08
If you want to get into songwriting,
6:10
I think it's important to listen to a lot of music and to study the structure
6:14
and think about rhyme scheme and dynamics between the different parts,
6:18
and just notice what the songs that you like are doing.
6:22
And leave your ego at the door.
6:24
Do what's best for the art.
6:26
Nobody’s going to know who wrote what in the room.
6:29
Nobody’s going to know who came up with this and who came up with that.
6:32
Nobody cares.
6:33
The point is, if somebody in the room has a better idea than you— great!
6:38
You get to be a part of that and you get to learn from that.
6:41
So, I think the most important thing is to learn how to collaborate,
6:45
know your strengths, know your weaknesses,
6:48
and try to find people that can sort of fill in the gap for you.
6:52
So if you're not super strong on melody,
6:54
find somebody who’s strong on melody.
6:55
And the two of you together can make something great.
6:58
My advice for anybody that wants a career as a songwriter or a producer
7:02
would be to work very, very, very hard at it.
7:05
Just keep on working.
7:06
Just keep on going, keep on writing songs.
7:09
When you write that song that you think is your best song,
7:11
I promise you, you’ve got better; just keep on doing it.
7:15
It is a sport and it’s a muscle and it needs to be exercised, and keep on going,
7:19
and you will end up in a place musically
7:22
that you probably didn’t even know existed.
