Musicianship and songwriting – Do you want a diminished ninth with that?

A weekly column by Inside Songwriting contributor, Michael J Roberts.

One question that keeps popping up over the journey, in regards to writing, is what level of musicianship is required in order to write a great song?  That’s something I wanted to address in this weeks column and it’s also something I look at in detail in my upcoming book, How To Become a Great Songwriter, which will be published as an e-book in the next few weeks. The short answer is, perhaps not surprisingly, how long is a piece of string? Many songwriters can produce engaging and compelling work with a minimum of musicianship (three chords and the truth?) and others will load their work with many complex aspects that speak to a high level of virtuosity.

The divide between the differing approaches is rammed home to me every week lately, at the original songwriter sessions that Karl runs every Tuesday night in a club at a beachside Sydney suburb. It’s usually an entertaining and informative night that never fails to produce music of great worth, sometimes from surprising quarters. It’s an open night so the writer-performers who attend come from all age groups and all walks of life. What is amazing is how accepting the audiences are of every type of composition that gets offered in a smorgasbord of song that covers a large gamut of genre and style. The various approaches have one thing in common, all the writer-performers are trying to express their individuality and use what level of musicality they possess to underpin and enhance that communication.

“The kid” wins

Two examples, which speak volumes as to the spectrum we encounter, range from one young lad who has barely played any public gigs, yet already has a style and manner that is very individualistic and idiosyncratic, to a stage veteran who has been playing for nearly 25 years. The young lad is still finding his way on the guitar and tends to naïve progressions, making choices that more ‘seasoned’ writers would not in terms of construction, but crucially he makes them work and makes them his own. The veteran tends to overload his progressions with all manner of passing chords and elaborate changes and it’s questionable as to the worth of this strategy in enhancing the songs or cluttering them up.

It’s no secret that a song can work at many levels; it can have elements that are complex or merely be straightforward and simplicity itself, or even mix and match. A song can have fiendishly difficult riffs or runs, yet be juxtaposed against simple and repetitive lyrics. A simple two or three chord progression can back a lyrical treatise that might make Bob Dylan blush in its prolix scribbling. Again, there are no rules for this, merely what works and what doesn’t. Problems arise when a musician imposes his musicality on a song in areas that don’t need it, and this is a common problem for some musicians once they attain a level of virtuosity.

Tail wagging the dog

Some genres are more friendly and welcoming to higher levels of musical complexity, one immediately thinks of Jazz or Classical music, but equally any Bluegrass musician or Baroque Pop writer needs to be very musically literate to express themselves effectively at the highest level. Of course some Country, Folk and Pop music thrives on the simplest of approaches and does not rely on complex changes and harmonies. A writer needs to be conscious of not overlaying their hand, literally in this case, as any level of musicality that feels imposed or artificial will diminish the songs capacity to communicate clearly. While virtuosity can oftentimes be thrilling when employed appropriately, when it’s done to cover the lack of substance in the song it merely becomes distracting.

The paradox here is any writer that has a high degree of skill as a musician needs to have a quiet voice in their ear constantly urging restraint in terms of writing and remember the two things are not necessarily related. Like the old Roman emperors or generals who were granted a ‘triumph’, a huge parade through Rome to glorify their victories, they were also accompanied by a slave who repeated into their ear, “Sic gloria transit” (all glory is fleeting), so that they kept their achievements in perspective. A virtuoso player needs to keep their musicianship in perspective and not let it overwhelm the writing, or it’s the ‘tail wagging the dog’, and we all know that what often lies beneath a dogs tail is smelly, squishy and best avoided.

Showing off your chops

Whether you’re trying to write a ‘standard’ or merely trying to put something coherent together that speaks at a simpler level it’s important to recognise both the limits and the worth of your own musicianship. It may be counter intuitive to ponder the idea that musicianship can damage song writing, but it can and does, history is littered with examples. Many a band has become entranced by the results of endless noodling and jamming and quite a few have passed off the results as ‘songs’, which misses the point altogether. A song is a song and a jam is a jam, trouble arises when the two are confused. Looking for that clever diminished ninth chord may satisfy your ego, or let you show off your chops, but does it work? If it does, happy days, if not then have the balls to throw it out.

A great song is not merely a collection of melodies and words thrown together, as any good writer will tell you it is far more mystical than that, as John Lennon said it’s “trying to shovel smoke with a pitchfork in the wind”.

Happy shovelling.

MJR

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