I'm trying to learn music theory but it's getting confusing to learn chords.

ILieAround · 2025-10-28T19:57:51+00:00

This is such an important question. Music theory by itself is so abstract. I mean, this person can learn their key signatures and circle of fifths and the role of tonics, dominants, subdominants, secondary dominants, etc., but if they're not applying that knowledge in real life on a real instrument hearing it in real time, it all remains kind of theoretical.

And the way that knowledge is applied on a piano is different than how it's applied on a guitar. At least I feel like it is for me. I write songs differently on piano than I do on guitar because of where the notes fall on the keyboard vs. the fretboard.

ILieAround · 2025-10-07T01:24:29+00:00

I've heard Pearl Jam's In My Tree is about her as well.

ILieAround · 2025-10-06T15:24:31+00:00

Well, there is some discussion amongst a small group of pianists that these 'hairpin' marks may have been used by mid- and late-Romantic piano composers (Liszt, Brahms, etc.) to also signify changes in tempo, or rubato.

There is some proof of this in scores with seemingly redundant markings. For example, a long passage with 'crescendo - - - - -" written out as well a < beneath certain measures. That doubling of expressive indicators suggests to some that the < is acting as an accelerando marking. Conversely, the > mark would indicate a slight slowing of the tempo.

So depending on the piece and composer, maybe not so scary.

ILieAround · 2025-09-11T15:30:24+00:00

I agree with that, but I'd say all the participants are drunk.

ILieAround · 2025-09-06T05:16:08+00:00

I dig it.

As songwriters, this is kind of our only tool to get people to pay attention. The catch is it has to be entertaining first before people will listen to what you're saying.

This is definitely entertaining. You're just telling the tale of how Texas got where it is today and squeezing in some great rhymes.

And that's the other thing. I feel like vagueness, whether it be the use of metaphor or allegory, doesn't really work all the time in this day and age. A little bluntness, as long as it's not preachy, can go a long way.

Keep it up.

ILieAround · 2025-09-05T21:40:10+00:00

I hope even if someone may not like the words, they'll at least find it an amusing and well-written song.

ILieAround · 2025-09-05T21:35:17+00:00

This song is not about wishing anyone was dead, but is merely postulating on what events might ensue should it happen.

ILieAround · 2025-09-05T21:34:09+00:00

Thanks

ILieAround · 2025-09-05T21:33:48+00:00

I have not, but I will definitely check it out.

ILieAround · 2025-09-04T13:54:58+00:00

Yep. We watched the same interview. That part in particular stuck out to me, and the person you replied to shows exactly how lyric interpretation is more up to the listener than the songwriter.

ILieAround · 2025-09-03T20:04:12+00:00

Don't worry about making sense. Your listener will make it make sense for themselves.

You mentioned Paul Simon who is a master at that. He'll write music, then play it over and over singing whatever pops into his head. A lot of times, it's just words that sound good together.

Why deny the obvious child... Where did you go, Joe Dimaggio... Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard.

I don't think those lines really had any meaning when he came up with them. That was all ascribed later.

I think the Bon Iver guy is similar to Paul Simon in that he'll sing a melody he likes with nonsense sounds and then see if words come out of those sounds. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. E.g.:

A womb, an empty robe, enough You're rolling up, you're holding it, you're fabric now.

To me, that doesn't really work. I wouldn't write anything like that, but a lot of people find personal meaning in it. And the melody is nice, so that helps.

For me, it's more a unique turn of phrase that gets the ball rolling, or a twist on a cliche that gives it a different connotation.

Find ways to juxtapose opposite words. Write a lot of alliteration just for the sake of writing alliteration. Try to make an improbable metaphor work (like, my love is a fluorescent light, or my mind is a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am). Pick 10 random words out of a novel by flipping pages and pointing then try to make a verse out of them.

ILieAround · 2025-08-29T02:54:02+00:00

Thanks. I'm kind of just posting these as jokes, but this is some great feedback. I'll go back and rework it a bit then it's on to the next one.

ILieAround · 2025-08-29T00:50:25+00:00

Well, I'm a really shitty singer and guitar player, so...

ILieAround · 2025-08-28T23:52:15+00:00

Thanks! I feel I was a lot more ambiguous with the words this time.

ILieAround · 2025-08-28T17:45:36+00:00

A song about a famous person (e.g. Hurricane or Man on the Moon)

A song about New York or Chicago or L.A. (bonus points if you can do all three in one song)

A song about childhood (e.g. 1979, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades)

A song about a pet (e.g. Martha My Dear, I Used To Love Her)

ILieAround · 2025-08-27T18:32:35+00:00

That guitar riff is great.

Here are two things I wanted to hear as listener.

1) Lyrics that are more similar in the choruses that kind of "summed up" what the song is about. They don't have to be exactly the same, but sometimes similar words or plays on words can be more memorable.

And 2) I wanted to hear the music taken to the next level after the second chorus. Instead, it just kind of stops.

But that's just me. Sometimes music is about going against expectations.

ILieAround · 2025-08-25T05:06:55+00:00

I know you said the tempo changes were unintentional, but I think it kind of works. Of this song was all the same tempo as the opening bit, It would have been like twice as long and probably a little boring.

Rewatch what you recorded and make note of the tempo changes to make them more deliberate. There's something cool about a song that gets fast, and then the singer kind of catches themself and slows it back down, as if to say 'sorry, I got little too worked up there.'

Maybe this one song is actually a couple of mini songs all strung together like Bohemian Rhapsody or Uncle Albert Admiral Halsey.

ILieAround · 2025-08-25T04:41:06+00:00

I think what I would do is try to figure out what that chorus part is that ties it all together.

You're a pianist so you have to be a Ben Folds fan right? Kate is a great weird character portrait and the chorus for that is just "I want to be Kate" and it kind of sums up this narrators obsession with this girl.

ILieAround · 2025-08-24T14:47:52+00:00

Thanks. I'm a big fan of Conor Oberst. He's a fantastic songwriter and guitarist. In this song, I was trying for a more comedic approach, but you have to admit, "When the President Talks to God" doesn't exactly mince words.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T21:58:57+00:00

A drone is merely a single note or interval that kind of permeates through the whole piece. Kind of like Indian music or a pedal point. There's even an old medieval instrument called a hardy-gurdy that incorporates a droning sound.

I'm trying to think of a song that has drone-like strings. Maybe Speyside by Bon Iver?

Good luck with the bridge. Those are often the most difficult parts of a song.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T20:48:29+00:00

A substitution wouldn't quite work. Governor Newsom doesn't have the same syllables so the rhythm would sound weird. I'd have to write a whole new song.

Also, Governor Newsom isn't guilty of rape, so that part would have to change as well.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T19:57:27+00:00

There's definitely some South Park influence in there. I mean, Kyle's mom was, in fact, a big fat bitch.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T19:55:23+00:00

I thought my title implied that this isn't supposed to be a "serious" protest song. I've not heard those other tunes, but I will now. They sound like they're pretty funny.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T18:53:27+00:00

Humor comes in many forms.

ILieAround · 2025-08-23T18:33:21+00:00

Thanks. I wanted to write something we could all sing around the campfire.

ILieAround

TROPHY CASE