Hey everyone! Just wanted to start off our blog with a little insight into how Ella and I create our music. Practicing and finalizing new repertoire has been a big part of our Independent Study time so far, as putting together songs requires hours and patience that we normally just don’t have time for. Here is a summary of how we transform a tune into a finished piece!
All of our songs go through three phases; super-new, practiced, and solidly performance ready. Since Ella and I write songs separately most of the time, in order to get a new song started, we have to get together and perform the song for each other. After that, we let the song sit for a little bit. Learning another person’s music is always difficult, and it is especially hard to convert songs from piano to ukulele as it involves finding the right chords and notes. Once we get the music part down, the song is on its way. Although both of us mainly compose alone, sometimes we write lyrics together. It’s fun to create music in the moment, and usually songs we write spur of the moment end up being the most unique and spontaneous. More often, though, we just help each other out with writing verses and make little additions to each other’s work.
After learning the chords to a song, I start into the harmonies. Although tedious work, I love creating harmonies and usually the final product is well worth the time put in. A strong harmony line in the chorus can really bring a song together and give it a little punch. Learning harmonies, however, is a long process. If you’re used to singing the melody, teaching your brain to switch to the harmony line is difficult. I usually create a harmony line by playing the two lines together on the piano, and then singing it alone with Ella recording on her phone. Since the harmony sounds strange by itself, it can be hard to remember so having a backup to listen to is always a good plan. Ella writes many of our songs, so I usually sing the harmony line. Over the years I’ve gotten a lot better at finding and remembering harmonies, and I can usually join into a song in harmony without too much effort. However, I do need to practice harmonies with slightly dissonant or hard-to-find notes, so I need a good amount of time to feel comfortable with the harmonies of a new song.
When all of the parts of the song come together, the only way to make it performance ready is to practice. The songs I feel most comfortable singing are our oldest songs: the longer we’ve played it, the more locked-in we are. I’ve found that after busking on Church Street last summer, I became much more comfortable playing songs. The constant pressure to be on top of it, ready to sing, and correct mistakes on the fly brought our repertoire together and landed us with a good set of completely practiced and performance ready pieces. For now, we’re getting back in the studio and perfecting all those winter melodies that were written and forgotten about. The goal by the end of our Study is to have at least three new songs, ready to perform for Radio Bean!
All of our songs go through three phases; super-new, practiced, and solidly performance ready. Since Ella and I write songs separately most of the time, in order to get a new song started, we have to get together and perform the song for each other. After that, we let the song sit for a little bit. Learning another person’s music is always difficult, and it is especially hard to convert songs from piano to ukulele as it involves finding the right chords and notes. Once we get the music part down, the song is on its way. Although both of us mainly compose alone, sometimes we write lyrics together. It’s fun to create music in the moment, and usually songs we write spur of the moment end up being the most unique and spontaneous. More often, though, we just help each other out with writing verses and make little additions to each other’s work.
After learning the chords to a song, I start into the harmonies. Although tedious work, I love creating harmonies and usually the final product is well worth the time put in. A strong harmony line in the chorus can really bring a song together and give it a little punch. Learning harmonies, however, is a long process. If you’re used to singing the melody, teaching your brain to switch to the harmony line is difficult. I usually create a harmony line by playing the two lines together on the piano, and then singing it alone with Ella recording on her phone. Since the harmony sounds strange by itself, it can be hard to remember so having a backup to listen to is always a good plan. Ella writes many of our songs, so I usually sing the harmony line. Over the years I’ve gotten a lot better at finding and remembering harmonies, and I can usually join into a song in harmony without too much effort. However, I do need to practice harmonies with slightly dissonant or hard-to-find notes, so I need a good amount of time to feel comfortable with the harmonies of a new song.
When all of the parts of the song come together, the only way to make it performance ready is to practice. The songs I feel most comfortable singing are our oldest songs: the longer we’ve played it, the more locked-in we are. I’ve found that after busking on Church Street last summer, I became much more comfortable playing songs. The constant pressure to be on top of it, ready to sing, and correct mistakes on the fly brought our repertoire together and landed us with a good set of completely practiced and performance ready pieces. For now, we’re getting back in the studio and perfecting all those winter melodies that were written and forgotten about. The goal by the end of our Study is to have at least three new songs, ready to perform for Radio Bean!