Lara Jai

Once you have a story for your song, and have said what you want to say, you need accompaniment.

Music is emotive. That's why we love it. But if you don't match the “emotion” or feel of your lyrics to the feel of your music, it will confuse listeners. A happy song needs perky, peppy phrasing, while a sad song needs slower pacing with pauses. An angry song should feel angry, intense and probably loud.

Read through your lyrics a few times. See if any rhythms are suggested. Can you hear the down beat notes, or accent notes? Keep a recorder with you so you can sing or play the musical ideas into it. Otherwise you may forget them. In fact, I recommend carrying some type of recorder with you everywhere, so you can capture ideas as they come.

Another way to stimulate musical ideas is to doodle! Play around on your instrument, scat with your voice, play with your silver ware at lunch! If this is a happy song, fiddle around on your instrument or with your voice, until you come up with things that sound happy and seem like they might work for part of the song. Record them! Keep coming back to the feeling you want the song to emit, or the feeling of your character in the song. What sounds match that feeling? You can, again, imagine the song as a movie. Would you hear short, choppy music here? Or sustained, dramatic music? Or something else?

The key your song is in will influence how it sounds, too. A minor key sounds more negative, sad or angry, while a major key usually sounds more upbeat and positive. If you are new to playing your instrument, you may want to choose a key with chords that you can easily play. Then, based on these chords, find a way to incorporate the feeling and style of your lyrics. Get creative! If you usually just play chords on the guitar, try finger picking the chorus. Or if you are a harpist, add an interesting baseline. The more you can allow yourself to goof around without judgement, the faster you will come up with innovative, original music. Just keep returning to the source feeling to make sure that it remains consistent with the lyrics or story. Remember, if you come up with amazing music that doesn't match your original feeling or lyrical rhythm, you can always alter your lyrical content or rhythm to get them to match the music. 

Now it's play time!

What's your favorite way to come up with music? (Leave comments below!)

So, you've got an idea for a song. You know the “feel” of the song and have some images, sounds, and tastes in mind that fit with it. What now?

Pretend your song is a movie. Sit quietly and look over your list. Do any connections come to mind? Can you”see” any characters that may express the feeling that the song is about? What happened to your character that generated this feeling? How are they dealing with it? Take a few minutes to sit and visualize what is happening in your song. Feel the feelings associated with it, hear the sounds that you would hear if your song was a movie. You'll begin to see/hear/feel it unfold.

Sometimes it's easier to start with the chorus, because this is where you emphasize the main point or feeling of the song. What do you most want to get across through this song? Find words that match that attitude. Remember- you don't have to include every detail of the character's “movie” to get your point across! Carefully chosen words can convey a lot.

Have a notebook handy and jot down all your ideas, lyrics and story lines that come to mind. Then you can begin the process of constructing a coherent story. Keep in mind the rhythm that feels most appropriate for this type of song. For example, a happy song is often faster with shorter lyric lines. A ballad may allow for more flexibility in line lengths and rhythms. A thesaurus and rhyming dictionary can come in very handy here!

If you're like me, you may also hear musical phrases that come along with the words. Make sure you have a recorder of some kind on hand to grab these pieces as they emerge! They usually don't hang around, and once they're gone … they're gone.

There is no “right” way to do this, and you'll be surprised how you can make irregular lyric lines work, if you are creative with the music. Play with the lyrics until you feel you have a compelling story that makes the point –or emits the feeling- that you set out to. 

Next: making music that fits your lyrics.

How is your song-movie looking? Leave your comments below!

Where does inspiration come from? I believe inspiration comes from connecting with something greater than ourselves. I am most often inspired when I am in a natural landscape- usually, walking in a forest. I like to carefully observe the way the trees move, how the water flows, the sounds around me, and most importantly for me, the feeling of being there. Often, I feel a sense of wonder and connection, openness and Ok-ness. These feelings are always available to us, but sometimes they are easier to access in a natural setting, where there are no distractions and no judgements. Another good example: I have a friend who is a railroad engineer. She tells me that her best ideas and insights come when she is driving the train in some remote area.

 It's interesting to note that “inspire” also means to inhale, or breathe. I am often struck with inspiration when I am walking or doing physical work, and thus breathing more. Meditation and breathing exercises are also great sources of inspiration. They are tricky, though. You can't be thinking about writing a song and really meditate- that's just indulging the“monkey mind.” Somehow, letting go of our normal thoughts makes space for thoughts and ideas to come in from the Universal Mind. So, maybe, like the expansion of breath, the letting go and expansion of thought is a good way to define inspiration!

It's helpful to set an intention for ideas or inspiration. You can do this by affirming to yourself that you are open to experiences that will inspire you. Then, look for them! You will undoubtably find them.

Next time: ideas for coming up with music that fits your song and your style.

Where do YOU find inspiration? Leave a message in the comments below!

People often ask me, "How do you start a song?"  They want to know if I write the words or the music first.  They are often surprised by my answer:  Neither.  For me, song writing starts with a feeling.  This feeling often bubbles up as I write in my journal.  This almost daily practice of journaling helps me sort my thoughts, discard stuff that is getting in my way, and clear the "clutter of my mind."  It's also helps me uncover valuable insights.  

So, when I want to write a song, I'll often sit down and ask myself, "what feeling do I want to emit?"  Because, let's face it, no matter how brilliant your music and how clever your lyrics, if you don't generate an emotional response in your listeners, they won't care if they hear your song again.

When I have a feeling in mind, (or in solar plexus!!) I focus on that feeling. I might even jot down words that I associate with it. For example, if the feeling is love, well, there are a lot of different kinds of love. Is this love for the land, love for ice cream, or love for my nearest and dearest? Lets say it's love for the land. I may jot down things I appreciate and love about the land: the beauty of trees, how the river nourishes us, how we can plant a tiny seed and produce food, how we are surprised and delighted by ever-changing sunsets, any words and images that encompass my feeling of love for the land. In this case, it would be great to bring in other senses as well, like the smell of wild flowers or fresh-cut hay, the taste of honey, and the warmth of the sun on my skin. These images and ideas help me later to develop the lyrics and music.

I'll describe how they do that in part 3 and 4.

But what if you are not a kinesthetic, touchy-feely person? What if you are more auditory or visual? Well, there are many sources of inspiration for song writing. In part 2 of this series, I'll give you some ideas for how to find inspiration in different ways.

Until then, you might consider spending a few minutes each day writing about how you feel about various aspects of your life. You may be surprised- the things that come out on the page can be much more revealing than your normal day to day thoughts. Even writing about frustration with not being able to write a song can generate...a song!

Questions? Leave a comment below- I'll get back to you! 

I think I have invented a new pidgin notation system for playing harp. It's like having my own secret code...which isn't all that convenient when I want to play with other musicians, since I am the only one that can understand it. ;)  Fortunately for me, I usually play with brilliant people who can jump right in.  And then there's always the option of writing it out in good, old fashioned notation...  

I love the fall when the tomatoes all ripen at once and there are piles of squash, chard, and apples! This is when I can tomatoes.  In a few months, it will be like opening a can of summer on a cold winter day.

I've just finished a new song called 'Harvest Time' -just in time for, well, harvest time! It celebrates this wonderful, gluttonous time of the year.  I hope to let you hear some of it soon!

I was lucky to wake up to the moon setting just as the sun was coming up.  Ahhhhh  :)