My newest writing work in progress
is unlike anything I’ve done before.
I am writing lyrics for the traditional English folk song, Greensleeves. I heard four variations of the song in December and January,
including, What Child is This, and I
know there are many more.
I sang, The Cherry Tree Carol, at a Christmas Eve service. If you know the song, you will be aware
that Joseph comes off badly. I
think he gets too little respect so I added two verses that redeemed him. The song is so simple and repetitive
that writing verses was no problem at all.
When my choir director/singing
coached asked me to consider what I wanted to sing next, I decided to see if I
could write new verses to Greensleeves that
would reflect the season of Lent.
The structure of the song is not
complicated, which allows relatively easy adaptation of alternative
lyrics. One verse contains a
sequence of two tunes, which use many of the same notes and rhythms. That’s handy, but I had trouble at
times identifying exactly where I was in the song. The time signature is the meter of the piece. Each bar has the same number of beats, expressed
in variable notes and rests.
Whatever the bar looks like, it has to fit the pattern of beats, making
checking what I wrote easier.
I had a “plot” in mind before I
started. Rhyming was not difficult
although I had to stay flexible because of all the elements that came into
play. In addition to making sense
and having grammatical accuracy, one of the more difficult aspects of writing
lyrics for me was insuring the natural musical stresses fell on important
words. "Of" "the" and "a" often popped up
in the wrong places.
My singing coach was immensely
helpful with all musical aspects of writing lyrics. I could not have done it without
his help. He talked about,
“painting a picture using notes and words.” That was a familiar concept.
Like with my writing, I did not
count the hours or the number of versions I composed. My idea is to work until the piece takes a shape that I am
willing to share it with others.
What have you been working on
lately?
PS Happy Friday the Thirteenth
Years ago I wrote several songs that a quartet I was singing with performed. I've also written a setting of the Kyrie sung by a church choir as an introit -- it was great fun to hear my piece performed.
ReplyDeleteAs for what I am working on? I'm promoting Ant Farm's nomination in the Kindle Scout program while working on the next in the series, .
~ Jim
Revising, revising, revising...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWarren, I'm impressed by what you're doing. Writing lyrics to a song is much like poetry only with music. I am a great lover of music, especially folk songs which tell so many stories like what you're doing. Maybe eventually you can put your song with you singing it up on You Tube so we can listen to it.
Writing song lyrics is a very specialized skill, Warren. I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I doing right now? Finishing the first draft of a new novel.
Warren, this is so cool! I hope you will share the finished product with us. What a wonderful challenge you have set for yourself.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on query letters to agents (probably the least joyful kind of writing, especially for a New Englander who was taught that it is bad manners to talk about yourself) and a short story called "Dog Number Four."
It sounds like everyone at WWK is working. Last night I registered the lyrics with the UC copyright office.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great project, Warren! Totally outside my skill set.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm revising a new novel, not part of my series. I don't know if it's going anywhere or not. I had to do a fair amount of research on the foster child system. And here I thought I knew a lot! (I've been a foster parent, giving respite care in a home for court-adjudicated teenage boys) Wrong!
I'm also working on short stories when I need a break from the novel.
The 6th in my series is in rough draft form, and I'm letting it stew on the back burner for a little while.
I've got the first in my series, Steeled for Murder, on sale for 99 cents for the ebook version for 10 days, to see if I can stir up a little interest in the series.
And, of course, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. That calls for a bottle of wine, a nice steak, some good homemade bread, and an evening away from writing!
I tend to write instrumental music mostly, but I've done a few songs with words. They're very fun!
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm deep in Fat Cat books and wading in my Neanderthal #2.