There is a recurring misunderstanding in what we mean by song. Are some chords a song? A melody or part of it, some verses with some rhyme, a whistle that has occurred to us we can’t get out of our heads, … are they songs or not?
To clear up all these doubts, we are going to examine the music and the texts of the songs until we understand what is the minimum we need to call anything we have written a song.
Lyrics, music or…
Good. Suppose we write some verses, show our feelings and emotions in them or expose a certain situation. With them we put together a verbal structure, some rhymes, a sense, a message, a meaning of some kind for the whole. The result is a kind of poem, more or less strict in its meter and rhyme, which can be recited and could even be sung but has no definite musical information. Can we consider a text like this a song? Perhaps it is clear what we are going to sing but how are we going to do it exactly, with what notes, how? Another common situation. Suppose we are playing the guitar or a musical keyboard and we play a couple of chords, or three or four. We listen to them, repeat them over and over and decide to write them down or record them on audio recording software or any device. What did we just do? Without a doubt, we can hear music, rhythm, some kind of harmony, a whole series of details and musical sound information, but… where is the song? The truth, in this case, is that it is nowhere, there is no song as we have understood it since ancient times. Because what are we going to sing? That rhythm, some random note of each chord or the highest of each of them, for example? No. We don’t have something specific enough to call it a song, although along the way we have found an important feature to talk about songs: singing.
melody and lyrics
Yes, singing, being able to sing a musical sequence with our voice, is proof that there is something defined and recognizable, that we can memorize, repeat, share, etc… Something unique, up to a certain point, that probably has a title, a development music, a structure, a beginning and an end. And what we can sing, hum, whistle is, neither more nor less, our beloved melody. Therefore, a melody is essential for us to call a work a song. But is that enough? What is the minimum expression of a song? Well, really, no. There is not enough with a melody. As we well know, there are countless musical pieces and compositions of all kinds that have a defined melody but we do not necessarily perceive them as a song. The vast majority of instrumental works usually have melodic passages played by various musical instruments, or even by voices, but not without the other essential element that we recognize in 99.9% of songs: the lyrics. The lyrics in the songs or a part of them are, many times, what is recorded in our heads. The chorus or chorus of a song is usually designed to give the most memorable moment of the composition to the audience and its lyrics, very often, include the title and the synthesis of the story that is explained in it. Therefore, melody and lyrics, lyrics and melody, songs.
Musical versions and covers
Proof that this is so would be the existence of covers or musical versions. Each one of them, each version, sounds more or less different from the others, but it is the same song. The melody is the same or similar, but is usually recognized as the same. And if there are doubts, there is the letter to clear up any controversy, since this one is usually identical or has minimal variations with respect to what we consider to be the “original”. A song can be interpreted in many different ways: by soloists, small groups, big bands or symphony orchestras and even with digital instruments and sound machines of all kinds. A song can even change languages and adapt to indigenous dialects and verb forms, include variants, additions and more. And, despite everything, to be recognized as a single composition. In fact, every time a song is performed live, we could say that we are listening to a version of it, never identical, always with something different no matter how small. That is the incredible strength and resistance that songs have shown throughout history, which can only be overcome by oblivion itself.
Conclusions
In short, a song is or can be many things at the same time. The sample of a moment or a period of our lives, a stylized idea, a deposit of rancor, a message to the universe, … so many different songs. But when we want to understand what a song is like, its mechanisms, its compositional technique, its requirements so that, when we listen to it or see it in a score, we automatically think of a song, at that moment we must find the melody and the lyrics as indispensable elements. . In short, it is no coincidence that, when you want to register a song in an intellectual property registry, it asks you, at least, for the sheet music of the melody and the lyrics. this combo, this couple, this informative duet is enough to identify a song as such and, to some extent, distinguish them from the others. Writing songs, therefore, is something simple. If you write lyrics, put a melody to them. If you write melodies, write some verses for them or find someone to do it for you. Sing a letter with a definite melody and you will have a song. Anyone will recognize it like that. They will be able to learn and reproduce it in their own way, they will be able to interpret it with any musical group, they will be able to join the thousands and thousands of songs that have accompanied all of humanity for centuries. Make songs and sing them. We need them. #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_column_with_background { padding: 10px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph { line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_segment_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_radio_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_list_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_label { display: block; font-weight: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_month, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_day, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_year, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date { display: block; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea { width: 200px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_submit { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_divider { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading { width: 30px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading > span { width: 5px; height: 5px; background-color: #5b5b5b; }#mailpoet_form_3{border: 1px solid #fcb900;border-radius: 40px;text-align: center;}#mailpoet_form_3 form.mailpoet_form {padding: 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3{width: 70%;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message {margin : 0; padding: 0 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph.last {margin-bottom: 0} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 {background-image: none;}} @media (min-width: 500px) { #mailpoet_form_3 .last .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:last-child .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} Please leave this field emptyDo you write songs or would you like to?
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