Songwriting Challenge Megathread
- This topic has 146 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 1 week, 2 days ago by
.
-
Songwriting Challenge #26
Guideline:
Write a Song in F
(F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, Edim)Bonus:
Write a song about “Spice”
Include what inspired your song
Include a F Augmented ChordSuggested Chord Progression:
I vi IV V
F Dm Bb CUU Team Deadline: March 4th
Member’s Deadline: March 11thThis was a fun one: “Rosemary, it’s Thyme” by Chris and Sue.
When we first played the augmented F chord, it made us think of the Beatles “Oh Darling.” But, the chord progression screamed 50s Doo Wop, so that’s what we did. You asked for spices so YOU GOT SPICES! Our daughters said the lyrics are “painful” 😜
We recorded several tracks in Garage Band: Baritone and Low G Tenor; High G Tenor; Vocals; and Background Vocals.
Here’s the link to the song on Google Drive:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ShZeNgVkPiwNvcRSdmAcRh4TBqZYsISg/view?usp=sharing
ENJOY.
This little ditty is quite typical of how I work on music. I’ll come up with some grand idea that could take several musicians and audio engineers many hours to complete to any degree of mastery. Then I’ll mess around with it on my own for days, annoying any collaborators, gradually worsening it by adding too much to the mix and get to the point where the song is beyond repair. It then either gets scrapped or a deadline comes along, I throw the whole initial idea out the window and record something entirely different.
Last week, during the podcast, when the extension to this songwriting challenge was announced, I thought I’d be efficient by combining the weekly video challenge I’m already part of on the old forum with this challenge of a song in the key of F. The optional chord progression of I-vi-IV-V made this even more exciting for me as that was the very first chord progression I learned independent of any particular song. That progression in the key of F on a uke uses the same fingerings as a guitar playing in C (C-Am-F-G). I was a teenager when I learned it, and the story of how, when and where that happened could be the basis of a song itself. Now, how could I combine that with Week 475 of the Seasons of the Ukulele contest to kill two birds with one song?
I could sing it in a Hawaiian style! Aldrine talked in this week’s podcast about how Hawaiian music started off as rhythmic chants that tell a story. I had a story to tell. Along with that, I’ve noticed when listening to some contemporary Hawaiian songs a lot of the same themes. They often sing of family, food, relaxation, lifestyle and the making of the music itself. I could work those into my story, no problem.
The process described in the first paragraph is what happens next. Essentially, there is a very powerful “Spice” to the I-vi-IV-V that seemed to overpower any of my attempts to make it sound more “island style”. They don’t call it “the 50’s progression” for nothing!
Last night, knowing today was the deadline, I decided to turn to plan B and just start over. I was, however, able to combine the writing with something else (I’d already done something else for Week 475). One of my students was there (I’m an English teacher in Mandalay, Myanmar) and I taught him some lyric-writing basics by rhyming words in his language to English words and we used the “fruits and vegetables” flash cards we’d been using to come up with the main song elements. We randomly picked papaya and carrots from the deck.
I’m not a ukulele teacher – I was lost on how to help him handle the Dm-Bb chord change which he was struggling mightily with. So, I asked him if he’d like to try playing the U-bass. He took to it like carrots on papaya.Unfortunately, the video wasn’t rolling when we recorded this ditty that just runs with the natural SPICE of the 50’s progression.
In my progress as a student, I’m working on week 2 of Ukulele 102 – arpeggios. The inside-out plucking technique is a beast. The 3rd instrument you hear is an attempt to add arpeggios.Songwriting Challenge #27
This week’s challenge is a little different. We’re doing it Mad Libs style, so you can pick one of the prompts, and fill in the (Blanks) with whatever you want.
Prompts:
Chords:
(Blank) V I
I vi (Blank) VPhrase (can be used as lyrics or inspiration):
My Dog Has (Blank)You can choose whichever prompts or combination of prompts you want, and if anybody has questions about chords, scales or keys, I would be happy to try and help.
Aloha,
-KahaiP.S.
These printouts should help with chord families:
https://ukuleleunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/All-Musical-Notes-and-Scales1.pdf
https://ukuleleunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Circle-of-Fifths-1-and-2.pdfI’d like to make my comment a Mad Lib,…
Please click here to complete
- https://sites.google.com/view/sotu410/home/27
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.