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Songwriting
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 223
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OP
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 223 |
I'd like to share a little idea / story that comes from my own experience.
I'm a guitar player. I've been playing since I was a kid, which means about 40 years ago. I'm 50 now. And I've written several hundreds of songs. Songwriting has always been my true passion, even though life took me to other directions other than music. I'm not an english mother tongue by the way, so please forgive my English.
Anyway, I always wrote my songs with a guitar in my hand or - occasionally - with a piano. That's been fine.
But some years ago I discovered the ukulele. That was well before Eddie Vedder's album and ukulele-mania. I loved the uke, right away. And one of the reasons why I loved is that it increased by orders of magnitude my songwriting "productivity", so to speak. I started writing dozens of new songs in a short period of time. Songs I liked. Over time, this "productivity boost" slowed down a bit, of course, but not too much. I am a MUCH more prolific songwriter with a uke than with guitar and piano, even though I am surely a much better guitar player than a uke player.
Why is that?
I am not sure, but here's my theory.
Being a pretty decent guitar player, when I pick up my guitar and try writing a song, I get "carried away" and "concerned" about the guitar arrangement. And that concern sometimes interferes with the pure songwriting process. Sometimes, I tend to think too much about the guitar arrangement, and less about the fundamental elements of songwriting (melody, harmony, lyrics). Also, guitar is a complex instruments, it has a wide range of octaves from bass to highs, it gives you many possibilities, so I get "lost" in that large amounts of possibilities.
A uke, on the other hand, only has 4 strings, as you know. Just 4 strings. No bass. Not many arrangement possibilities (unless you are a virtuoso, which I am not, but even if you are a great uke player, for example, still you don't have the wide range of arrangement possibilities that a guitar or a piano will give you). So, just 4 strings. And 4 srings is JUST enough to play harmony. That's it. Just one chord. A few embellishments maybe, but not much at all. I am OBLIGED to focus on the BASIC elements of the song. I don't get distracted by anything. Pure songwriting. Pure focus on the song. So, the uke seems to put into practice the idea that "less is more", in the songwriting process. Less about arranging, less about tweaking details, more about creating, more about writing THIS song, HERE and NOW. More about pure musical ideas, less about technique. More about honesty, less about hiding behind an instrument.
Then, of course, once the song is finished, I may decide to arrange the song with guitar, or piano, or a full band. It doesn't have to remain just a "uke song" (occasionally it does of course).
So ... what can I say ... try a uke (a tenor uke is easier, if you are a guitar player). Maybe you dont like it as an instrument, and that's absolutely fine. But it may help you to increase your focus on the creative part of songwriting. It did for me.
Cheers!
Last edited by Jon Thomas; 08/06/17 03:15 AM.
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Songwriting
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 728
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 728 |
Interesting article, Jon. I think every new instrument we learn to play has some song ideas built right in, it seems. I played acoustic and electric guitar since I was a kid. But when I was about 22 I took up bluegrass (5string)banjo. The style of playing is VERY structured, so at least initially I was relegated to playing simply. I got tons of great songs ideas. Later, as I got deeper into bluegrass music I took up playing the Dobro. Six strings but a very simple tuning (GBDGBD) and a BAR to make chords and individual note melodies. Even more restrictive than the banjo initially. I got new ideas for songs from the Dobro too. Perhaps each instrument taps into a different portion of the "musical brain" and so makes us think about the music and songs we can create in a different way. Many years later I took up pedal steel guitar, anything but simple: two necks, twenty strings, 8 foot pedals, 5 knee leavers, and...a volume pedal. Goodness gracious it's complicated. But oh what beautiful sounds come out of it. Anyway, I got some new song ideas from the steel too. I think each instrument we learn makes us think differently. And of course you take that thinking back to the other instruments you can play. For example, learning to play banjo with fingerpicks made my acoustic guitar playing SING with extra volume and a more detailed sound. The musical mind is an amazing instrument all on its own. Enjoyed your post. Thanks. Bob 
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Songwriting
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Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 223
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 223 |
I agree 100% with you Bob. The same thing happened to me. For example when I started "playing" (more or less ...) keyboard and piano, years ago. Or, more recently, when I tried the banjolele and the mandolin. A new instrument always brings out new ideas, as you said so well. And complex instruments also work, in that respect.
But I was really surprised about what a really, really simple instrument like a uke, probably the simplest of stringed instruments, did for my creativity. I was amazed. And I think that 4 is the key number here. Having 4 strings allow you to play a wide range of chords, but not too wide (jazz players will disagree with me, I'm sure .:-). 3 strings would be too limiting, I think. And 5 and 6, it would be too "tempting". 4 seems to be just right ... to me. But I still love guitar of course, I still write songs on guitar, it's still "my baby" :-)
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