Hi again, Roger.

I didn't take any offence to your writing at all. You made me think and I always appreciate that.

When I read your statement, "So maybe I take less exception with what or how Pat Pattison teaches, and more with the way his methods wind up being applied by many", I smiled because I remembered when I started trying to apply Pat's approaches. The saying 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing' just sprang to mind! That definitely applied to me. I'll explain.

After Pat's first seminar, I was armed with...

  • knowledge of aligning syllable strength with appropriate musical rhythmic strength
  • how to control lyric movement through rhyme and meter
  • how to use sense-based language to engage the listener with 'showing' rather than telling
  • how to augment emotion through use of balanced and unbalanced phrases (musically and lyrically)

What I didn't appreciate though, was that these tools in the hands of a well-practised expert are used very differently than when some novice person like myself tries to use them. Ability and sophistication develop through practice. And that needs time. After my first seminar, this didn't occur to me. I simply felt like I was ready to conquer the songwriting world smile

It's now 13 years after that first Pattison seminar. Up until then, I had no idea at all how to write lyrics and to fit them to music. What Pat gave me was some analytical insight to get started and a belief that I could do it. The reason I kept on returning to his seminars was because every time I heard him speak, I heard things a little differently because as I practised more and gained more experience, I was able to gain increasingly more from his words.

Now when I now look back on my songs from 13 years ago, I usually cringe. At that time, I thought I understood 100% what Pattison was saying. I didn't. In reality, it was just a glimmer of what was to come many years later. As someone once told me, hindsight is always 20/20 vision.

What I am forever grateful to Pattison for is that he taught me how to, and I quote him, "Write Fearlessly!" As he has said at every seminar I've been to, "Never be afraid to write crap. After all, it's the best fertiliser." When I look back now, it's amazing how these two statements of his have been driving forces for me on my songwriting journey.

Thank you again for giving me a heap of the proverbial 'food for thought'!

Regards,
Noel

MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026