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| February 2001 Guild Tidings The official Publication of The International Songwriters Guild Volume 6, No. 2 Guild Tidings Russ Robinson 5108 Louvre Ave Orlando, FL 32812 NEXT MEETING: 5:00 P.M. Sunday February 4th 2001 Officers: President/Treasurer Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328 Co-Vice President/ newsletter Susan Foster-Trewick (407) 679-4017 Co-Vice President/ Member Reception Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212 Web Consultant Asli Walker (407) 359-0506 Meetings are held the first Sunday of each month at 5:00 P.M. The location is 3020 E Robinson St., Orlando, Florida. (The American Federation of Musicians Union Building) _____________________________________________________ President's Letter Happy Valentine ! Dear Members, Perhaps some of you have a Valentine song you'd like heard at the meeting? I'm bringing one (Not to be critiqued) I'm delighted with the attendance we're getting at our meetings. We have some real talented writers. Too, after all my years in the Guild I find we all have a closeness and understanding of each others abilities. That to me is important. If we understand each other it's much easier to tell each other what might be better with their songs if a different treatment is made. Rusty Gordon returns Feb 3 (See circular enclosed). Those of you that haven't attended one of her Seminars or Workshops really need to do so. She has great knowledge and you can really learn from her. After the seminar there is to be an informal showcase for past seminar attendees or any ISG members who wish to play a couple of songs. (Details in "Web Chatter" article) I'm looking forward to hearing your latest songs so get busy and have one ready. Be sure to bring lyric sheets. It's lots easier to critique if we can see the words Best ever Russ Robinson ______________________________________________________ Ten Commandments for Songwriters by Russ Robinson 1.THOU SHALT HAVE A GREAT AND CATCHY TITLE: is half the work in writing a great song 2.THOU SHALT HAVE A POWERFUL FRESH ARRESTING AND CATCHY FIRST LINE: "You don't get a second chance to make a first impression." 3.THOU SHALT HAVE A SURPRISE IN THE SONG: Don't write predictable or obvious plots. Where's the surprise? 4.THOU SHALT COVER A THEME, IDEA, OR SUBJECT THE MASSES CAN RELATE TO: this will determine the commercial value of the song. 5.THOU SHALT HAVE A SING-ALONG, EASY TO REMEMBER MELODY: it must be unforgettable 6.THOU SHALT HAVE A HOOK THAT REALLY HOOKS: it must catch and hold attention. 7.THOU SHALT WRITE LYRICS THAT ARE ORIGINAL AND DIFFERENT: not run-of-the-mill copies or borrowed ideas. 8.THOU SHALT HAVE VIVID, ENGAGING IMAGERY TO STIMULATE THE MINDS OF HEARERS: the listener uses imagination as he listens. 9.THOU SHALT WRITE AND REWRITE, WRITE AND REWRITE, ETC.: it takes time to write a great song. 10.THOU SHALT WRITE A SONG THAT IS 100 PERCENT: the song must be finished…. The hearer isn't left hanging. _____________________________________________________ Web Chatter cybertoad2000@yahoo.com Greetings to all those of you out there in Cyberland. I had some good news from Russ the other day. It seems as if the people at "Who's Who" will be listing him in their next issue, so start looking out for this at www. Nationswideswhoswho .com Congrats to you Russ. It's about time!! This is a reminder about the Newsletter website, where we will be posting 2 months worth of "Guild Tidings" at any given time. We hope that those of you that have internet access will start availing yourselves of this feature. Asli Walker is the host (thanks Asli), and her site is http:// borrowedreality. com The link to the ISG is at the top of her home page. We will be sending out e-mails to those folk on our ISG mailing list (Please e-mail us at I_s_g_2000 @ yahoo.com so you can be added to our address book.) I will be sending out an e-mail as soon as the newsletter is ready for viewing (the simple version), and I will include a link to the newsletter in this e-mail, so it is important that you keep me updated if your address should change. I went to the South Florida Folk Festival in Fort Lauderdale a few weeks ago, and was totally impressed by the finalists in the song competition. The overall winner was Dan Pelletier, who reminded me a bit of Billy Joel. Cyd Ward, who played for the Christmas concert at Beardall was one of the finalists, and she was in the company of some fine songwriters indeed. Maybe next year some of you should think of entering the contest. ____________________________________________________ ISG 200 Song Contest We'd like to invite the first place winners of the monthly evaluations to submit their songs for the yearly song contest. Please submit your tape/CD and typed lyric sheet to me as soon as possible. We're still waiting for submissions from the following: Feb: "We Belong" by Bill Frank, Mar: "When Can I See You Again" by Susan Mathis, May: "My Friend Jesus" by John Fales, Sep: "Sunday" by Lisa Firestone, Nov: "High Maintenance" by Bill Frank, Dec: "When you Remember me" by Susan Mathis. I will be putting the songs on a CD for submittal to Rusty Gordon, publisher, Rustron music, so please forward your tapes to me at: Susan Foster-Trewick, 9525 Handley Court, Orlando, FL, 32817-2779, or bring them with you to the Sunday meeting. ____________________________________________________ Using Minor Keys Part 2 by Matt Griffin Last month we started a discussion on minor-key music. This time we're going to take a look at a few techniques for harmonizing in minor keys. The most important point of last month's discussion, in my view, is the notion that notes and chords from any of the various minor keys can be combined in a single song. This is even true of those scales, like the melodic minor, which aren't typically used as the "base" key of any modern song. This yields, for one thing, a pretty large number of potential chords for a song in "A-minor" or any minor key. Just how large is a little out of the scope of this small article; check out the Minor-Key Harmony chapter in Jai Josefs' "Writing Music for Hit Songs" for more detail. A fun, easy technique you can use in your harmonies (and maybe already have, even if you didn't know it's name) is called a Dorian vamp. In the vamp, the music rocks back and forth between the root minor chord and either the second or fourth chord of the Dorian minor scale (either triad or seventh). So a song in A-minor would oscillate between an Am and any of these four chords: Bm, Bm7, D, or D7. The technique is very common in popular songwriting; it was a favorite of the Doors and is a part of many of their hits. Let's talk briefly about minor-key modulation. A key change can, of course, provide a welcome break in any song. But according to Josefs, modulation is much more prevalent in minor-key songs than major key ones. Perhaps the modulation provide some relief from the downbeat tone typical of minor keys. Two good choices for a new key are the relative major and the parallel major (that is, from A-minor to either C or A-major, respectively). Since the relative major has the same key signature and most of the same chords, that kind of key change provides an especially subtle and natural sound. In like manner, you may want to consider modulating in a major-key song to its relative or parallel minor. So give it a shot. Here's hoping we'll hear some minor-key songs in our upcoming ISG critique sessions! __________________________________________________ Welcome New members: Laura Peters and Barbara Ross Gig schedule Lisa Firestone will be performing at Lost and Found with her band on Wednesday Jan 31st at 7:00pm. The club is on 17-92, just south of 434, behind the Wendy's. This concert is one in the series of Songwriter's Showcase of America. http:// www. ssa.cc SusieCool will be performing at Millie's Caribbean Restaurant on alternating Saturdays from 7:00 to 8:30pm. Millie's is at 9318 East Colonial Dr, call ahead (407) 658-9266 to see when she's performing. Where's your next gig? -Please Let us know, so we can be there Please feel free to contribute articles to the Newsletter If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Susan Foster-Trewick at the meetings, or you can E-mail her at cybertoad2000@yahoo.com. Please keep your articles brief. Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing in the ISG. For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please call Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328, or e-mail: i_s_g_2000@yahoo.com ______________________________________________________ January TOP FIVE WINNERS Of last month's Evaluation Session (Members only) 1st Place: Where do you live? Matt Griffin 2nd Place: Royal Parade Jeff Mason 3rd Place: United we stand Sharon Conway/Penny Roberts 4th Place: The Rainbow Song Susan Foster-Trewick 5th Place: Rainbow Paradise Julie Berger |
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