{ Lick That Riff! }

Hello everyone and back to another post in the Songwriting Guide. Hope you enjoyed my last one.

I have had a few emails about the last post with some readers tips on songwriting. I will probably post these in the last issue so feel free to keep your own tips coming. Just email them to lickthatriff@googlemail.com

So this weeks Guide is going to be on Key and Time Signature. Two of the biggest things when writing a song.

Key

This is another are where you can significantly change the feel of your song. Without being too muso – E is for bluesy rock, G gets folky, A is for poprock, C means country and D, being the first and easiest chord to learn, is for punk. The other keys are for those clever types and jazzers. So always remember to check your singers vocal range before writing in the key of C#.

How A Song Works – Chord Progressions and The Roman Numeral System

The majority of songs just use a handful of chords to create a chord progression. The Police’s, Every Breath You Take, and Ben E.Kings, Stand By Me, For example, both use the same simple progression (I-VI-IV-V) as well as hundreds of classic songs. These often work to a formula, which is described using the Roman Numeral System. As chords are built from the seven notes contained within a scale, the first seven Roman Numerals are used – I II III IV V VI VII – The chords created this way will create a mixture of major and minor chords.

Using the C major scale (C D E F G A B) to illustrate the use of the Roman Numeral system, the chords available would be – C Dm Em F G Am Bmb5. Remember, this ordering of chord types (maj, min, min, maj, min, minb5) will remain the same whenever major key you’er in, be it E Major or A Major. So to help you out, we’ve given you the five common major keys guitarists use with each chord within it named.You’ll find the fretboxes for each key illustrated throughout this feature.

Once you get to grips with this ordering, you can create your own progressions. A rock styled I IV V in C major? Thats C F G. A jazzy II V I in E major? That’s F#m B E. The pop progression of I VI IV V in D major? That’s D Bm G A. Now use the Roman Numeral system for your own chord progressions – you may surprise yourself.

In the Key Of E:

Examples of Songs in E Major:
I-IV-V: Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen
I-V-VI-III-IV-I-V: Basketcase – Green Day
I-V-IV: Today – Smashing Pumpkins
I-V-II-IV: Can You Dig It – The Mock Turtles

In The Key Of G and A

Examples Of Songs In G Major:
I-V-II-IV-V: Live Forever – Oasis
I-IV-I-V: Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
I-IV-VI-V: More Than A Feeling – Boston
I-V-IV: Knockin’ On Heavens Door – Guns ‘n’ Roses

Examples Of Songs In A Major:
I-VI-IV-V: Stand By Me – Ben E.King
I-V-VI-V-I: Someday – The Strokes
I-VI-IV-I-IV: Fake Plastic Trees – Radiohead
I-VI-IV-V: Every Breath You Take – The Police

In The Key Of C and D

Examples Of Songs In C Major:
I-III-VI-V: Please Forgive Me – David Gray
I-VI-IV-I: One – U2
I-III-VI-IV-I-V-IV-V-VI-IV-I-V-I: Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis

Examples Of Songs In D Major:
IV-I-V: Lucky Man – The Verve
I-IV-V: Twist and Shout – The Beatles
I-VI-IV-V: Twisting The Night Away – Sam Cooke

Make It Anthemic!

Remember you don’t always have to start you chorus on Chord I (the Home chord) In fact, some of the best choruses don’t include the home chord at all, and establish tension simply by alternating between chords IV and V (Remember the cool “People They Don’t Understand” line in The Strokes song Last Nite? That’s a classic IV-V progression) Other powerful chord IV choruses include Sonnet by The Verve and Angels Of Harlem by U2.

Try this: Imagine you’ve written a verse using the chords D, A and G. Resist the temptation to revert back to D for the chorus, and stay on the G – you’ll be surprised how powerful it sounds.

Time Signature

The time signature defines how many beats there are to the bar. Annoy your friends by working it out on a tabletop. It will most likely come in at two or four to the bar, unless your writing a shanty or a jazz odyssey (and let’s not limit ourselves here) Although more complicated time signatures will find yourself writing a Kid A – And you will probably end up replacing your drummer with a machine.

So that’s Today’s post on Songwriting, hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to check back next week to find out more tips on the Beginners Guide to Songwriting.

Other Posts in the Series:

• Melody, rhythm and tempo

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