HOW TO WRITE A KILLER SONG - THE ULTIMATE SONGWRITING HANDBOOK (INDUSTRY SAMPLE)
The ultimate songwriting handbook | Teaches the key knowledge using real songs | Practical tips to improve your writing | 75 easy-to-understand modules | www.howtowriteakillersong.com The ultimate songwriting handbook | Teaches the key knowledge using real songs | Practical tips to improve your writing | 75 easy-to-understand modules | www.howtowriteakillersong.com
#23 SAVING A VOCAL HOOK FOR THE PAY-OFFIf you’ve written a chorus melody which is not elevating the song as much as you would like, or perhapshave a catchy one that is disrupting flow, you can place your melodic focus at the end of the song. A good2 example of this approach is Coldplay’s Talk, which employs, in a sense, two different choruses, a subtlerwhich flows well within the song, then a second, anthemic one which fits best at the end.Coldplay - Talk(excerpt)Chorus 1q= 60& b b Eb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bb4œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j œ œ ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ‰‹&‹b&‹bYou can take a pic-tureof some-thingyou see.œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ œ œbEb Gm Bb Eb Gm BbIn the fu - ture where will I be? You canœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ≈ œ RbEb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bbclimb alad - der up to the sun. Or&‹bœ œ œ œ œ œ œbEb Gm Bbwrite a song no - bo - dy had sung, or doœœœœ190& b b Ebœ‹œsomeFœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ- thing that's ne - ver been done.
&‹bContinued: climbColdplay a lad - der Talk up to the sun. Or&‹bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œj ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ≈ œ RbEb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bbœ œ œ œ œ œ œbEb Gm Bbwrite a song no - bo - dy had sung, or doœœœœ& b b Ebœ‹œFœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ3some- thing that's ne - ver been done.& b b 4‹&‹b&‹bSo you don'tknowwhere you're go -ing,but you wan-natalk. And youfeel like you're go-ingwhere you've been be - fore.You tellaChorus 2Eb- ny-onewho'll lis - ten but you feel ig - nored.Gm Bb Eb Gm Bbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ œ œbEb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ œ œbEb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ‰&‹bbEb Gm Bbbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œNo - thing's real - ly ma - king a - ny sense at all. Let'sEb F Eb F Gmœ191
- Page 145 and 146: Voicings primarily have three funct
- Page 147 and 148: 2Power chords often occur in chord-
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- Page 151 and 152: Even at your best, the creative mom
- Page 153 and 154: An example of this is Weezer's Than
- Page 155 and 156: Another song which famously uses in
- Page 157 and 158: Chord ProgressionChord Progressionw
- Page 159 and 160: Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe(excerpt)q= 8
- Page 161 and 162: Chord ProgressionsVerseFrank Sinatr
- Page 163 and 164: Great songs aren’t written, they
- Page 165 and 166: 22On Gold On The Ceiling, the Black
- Page 167 and 168: 3The Black Keys - Gold On The Ceili
- Page 169 and 170: Rihanna - Umbrella(excerpt)q= 76& b
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- Page 173 and 174: Van Halen - Jump(excerpt)Voiceq= 12
- Page 175 and 176: 2Accompanying HooksHookBob Dylan Li
- Page 177 and 178: U2 - With or Without You(excerpt)Vo
- Page 179 and 180: Pixies - Where Is My Mind?(excerpt)
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- Page 185 and 186: 2Continued: Stevie Wonder - Superst
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- Page 199 and 200: Continued: Coldplay - LowChorus 2h=
- Page 201 and 202: Chord ProgressionsChorus 1 Chorus 2
- Page 203 and 204: U2 songs that use Eb tuning are:Son
- Page 205 and 206: 2There are, however, many alternati
- Page 207 and 208: Rage Against The Machine - Fistful
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- Page 211 and 212: Weezer - Buddy Holly (excerpt)q= 12
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- Page 215 and 216: Don’t let your dreams be dreams.(
- Page 217 and 218: Sneaker Pimps - Small Town Witch(ex
- Page 219 and 220: Chord ProgressionsVerseChorusDepech
- Page 221 and 222: Since the song is written in E majo
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- Page 225 and 226: Continued: Nirvana - Lithium# & # 4
- Page 227 and 228: 2TIPVerseq= 70shuffle DNine Inch Na
- Page 229 and 230: The Beatles - While My Guitar Gentl
- Page 231 and 232: Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Ag
- Page 233 and 234: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance Wit
- Page 235 and 236: Madonna - Hollywoodq= 120& # # 4Ver
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- Page 239 and 240: Taylor Swift - Paper Rings(excerpt)
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#23 SAVING A VOCAL HOOK FOR THE PAY-OFF
If you’ve written a chorus melody which is not elevating the song as much as you would like, or perhaps
have a catchy one that is disrupting flow, you can place your melodic focus at the end of the song. A good
2 example of this approach is Coldplay’s Talk, which employs, in a sense, two different choruses, a subtler
which flows well within the song, then a second, anthemic one which fits best at the end.
Coldplay - Talk
(excerpt)
Chorus 1
q= 60
& b b Eb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bb
4
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ j œ œ ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ‰
‹
&
‹
b
&
‹
b
You can take a pic-ture
of some-thing
you see.
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
j ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ œ œ
b
Eb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bb
In the fu - ture where will I be? You can
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
j ‰ Ó ‰ ‰ ≈ œ R
b
Eb Gm Bb Eb Gm Bb
climb a
lad - der up to the sun. Or
&
‹
b
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
b
Eb Gm Bb
write a song no - bo - dy had sung, or do
œ
œ
œ
œ
190
& b b Eb
œ
‹
œ
some
F
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
- thing that's ne - ver been done.
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