Focus On Text

Singer/songwriters often will spend a lot of time on the hook of a melody and ignore such important aspects like text.

Some of this is understandable; the market demands a hook in order to capture the listeners' attention. No A&R rep is going to listen to text alone.

So, as singers, how do we make the text more exciting and alive for our listeners?

1. Music Dictionary:
   Introduce yourself to a music dictionary again. Inside are literally dozens of musical terms for composers to use to help describe of the mood of a song (ie. dolce = sweetly).


2. Dynamics:
   Think about dynamics. Most instrumentalists have been taught through formal lessons that if the melodic line moves up, one adds a crescendo and likewise a decrescendo as the line moves down.
   
   If you're the composer, think about what the words are doing at that point? Is something special happening in that part of the song? Look at the song with its dynamics...does it start out quiet (piano) and build up over several verses to a loud (forte) finish? What is the pace of the song and how does it match up with the dynamics?
   
   There are other types of dynamics: loud, soft, slowing down, speeding up, pausing. All these things can add interest to your music and take it from the merely good to the outstanding.
   
   If you are performing a song, you need to understand what the composer is trying to do. Pay attention to the dynamic markings, decide on the flavour of the song (sad, exuberant, ironic). How are you going to get that across to the listeners?


3. Musical Interlude:
   If you have an interlude, think about why you're putting it in. Is it genuinely needed or is it a resting place for the singer? Is this a place to prepare emotionally for the next verse?


4. Punctuation:
   Pay attention to the punctuation of the text. Typically, singers will take a breath after every period. It is accepted that a period completes a thought and this is a good place to stop very briefly.
   
   With a comma, a singer needs to pause. Timing is important as composers do not generally allow room for breath in their music. One has to make the last note before the comma into a staccato (detached or short) note and this will stop the tone. One's body will then take an involuntary breath.