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Jeff Walker Jeff Walker’s vibrant voice can be heard singing jingles for McDonalds and Oldsmobile. His humor and personality are reflected in his singing, and those feelings, energy, and attitude are able to be captured in the recording studio. He understands how to affect people with a song and can relate those heart-felt feelings to the listener. Through his unique voice, he has the ability to take a listener on a voyage into the lyrical content of a song. After winning several national vocal awards, he earned a Music Business Degree from Elmhurst College and a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music Education from Vandercook College. He now shares his talents with his choral students in Central IL. As an aspiring song writer/performer, Jeff hopes to kick-off his own career. (ASCAP Member) |
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Michael Droste Song Writer. Audio Engineer. Teacher and Musician. These are a few of the hats worn by Chicago-native Michael Droste. Having earned a Bachelors and Masters Degrees, his song writing is the perfect mix of musical craft and sparkling creativity. As a teacher of Audio/MIDI and composition, his passion for music thrives. His main song writing goals are to “write a great melody” and “paint a clear picture in the listener’s mind.” No matter the subject, Mike’s ability to fuse melody and lyrics makes his songs stand out in a crowd. Mike can currently be found recording original music in his home studio in the Western suburbs of Chicago. (NSAI and BMI Member) |
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These and other songs are available to those in the music industry for review. Please contact us below for a CD Demo.
If you have been around Nashville you know the stuff below and should skip it. A newbie might glean some new ideas ;) 1) Music Row Song Melody 2) Listening to what's coming out of Nashville and Music Row 3) Popular Chord Changes used in Music Row Songs 4) Popular song forms in Music Row Songs 5) Music Row Songs tell a story 6) Songwriting materials and books to enhance your Music Row Song 7) Publishing your Music Row Song 8) Resources in Nashville and in or around Music Row 9) Recording your songs for Music Row 10) Self promotion? or the Nashville / Music Row route?
1) Music Row Song Melody Probably the most important aspect of your songwriting is the melody. Your song needs to have a catchy hook and/or something that can attract the attention of a record producer, record company or music industry contact in Nashville or on music row. The melody should be singable, memorable, and unique. Think of your favorite songs, what about them do you like? Often times it's the melody, combined with the lyrics that make such a strong connection in our mind.
2) Listening to what's coming out of Nashville and Music Row What's going on in the music industry? What kinds of songs are coming out of music row and Nashville? These are questions you need to consider when composing your music row song. You'll want to listen to everything you can, all musical styles and forms. Consider purchasing popular songbooks (pop and country) and analyze the chord structure and musical form. What kinds of chords are used in a music row song verse? What kinds of chords are used in the chorus? Be sure to check out the transition chords in a Nashville styled music row song also.
3) Popular Chord Changes used in Music Row Songs Popular chord changes used in a Nashville music row song, can include the famous ;) 1 chord, 5 chord and of course the 4 chord. In a C major scale the 1 chord is c, e, g, the 5 chord is g, b, d, and the 4 chord is f, a, c. Often times a Nashville song will use chord substitution. Chord substitution is a nice way to break up a tune and add a different flavor to a verse, or chorus of a music row song. This is very common in all songwriting - not exclusive to Nashville or music row. For example: instead of using a 4 chord f, a, c, on could substitute a 2 chord which is d, f, a. As you can see, the common note of the 2 and 4 chord are f and a. The only difference is, the 4 chord has the c, and the 2 chord has the d. This substitution adds a nice little change in the Nashville music row song and draws in the listener.
4) Popular song forms in Music Row Songs One of the most popular song forms in Nashville (and most pop songs) is:
Intro A Verse B Chorus A Verse B Chorus C Bridge B Chorus Ending
Sometimes an added transition section or second half of the verse is made as a type of introduction or lead in to the chorus. (very popular music row song format) Experiment with starting with the chorus, or trying unique and different things to make your song stand out amongst the other writers in Nashville.
5) Music Row Songs tell a story Most music row songs tell a story. The country song on music row has to be truthful and authentic. Tell the story of an event that happened - try creating conflict - resolution. Perhaps you want to create a problem (conflict) found in the verse, then resolve, or fix the problem in the chorus. Music row songs are highly competitive and most great songs truly tell amazing stories. Nashville and Music row are filled with extremely talented storytellers and your song and story need to stand out. As you explain and tell your story, use verbal imagery. Let people 'see' and experience in their minds, the taste, the smell, and the sounds of the places you visit in your story. This is what will make your song stand out from others in Nashville and the row.
6) Songwriting materials and books to enhance your Music Row Song Every songwriter on music row has the following arsenal in their hands - whether in book form or through songwriting software. They have a Dictionary, Thesaurus, Rhyming Dictionary and/or Cliche Phrase Books. Get these books and go through them - and use them in your music row songs. Also try contradictory or turn around statements: ie I never thought it would hurt so bad, or that it would turn out to be oh so good.
7) Publishing your Music Row Song There are literally hundreds of music publishing companies and other outlets available to you, to get song published in music row in Nashville. Guides to the names and addresses should be found in the songwriter’s market book and other book sources. Quite honestly some online web lists are totally fake. You might simply be wasting your money sending out demos and materials to companies that don't exist. Make the necessary phone calls to the secretary at a music row company, be business like, polite, and get to the point. Understand and appreciate that their time is valuable. Get to know them over time, and introduce yourself on your phone calls. Nashville and music row are in the music business and need to be treated as a business.
8) Resources in Nashville and in or around Music Row Go to the Bluebird Cafe. In Nashville, this is premiere outlet where singer songwriters and big name acts go to showcase upcoming songs and work. This is a must do activity. You'll probably drive right by it. It's in a little strip mall, and one can easily miss it. The Bluebird Cafe is a must see place. Of course you'll want to go up and down Music Row also. Houses and small office buildings along the row have been turned into recording studios and offices for music publishers and producers. It really is a fun experience to see all these places. They LOOK very accessible, but they are not. Call ahead to get appointments, get in / out, don't take too much of their time. If you get in, and take too long, they will not let you come back for another visit. Be professional and listen to the critiques. Go in with the CD and a presentable typed lyric sheet. (see my pdf) You may not get a nibble FOR MANY years. If they say you have a good song, great! (only great songs - not good - are considered for the next level.) Ask them if you could submit your future projects and then - follow through - create more songs and keep in touch. There are numerous stories of pros, in the business, (with previous record contracts) not getting their songs under contract or on hold. It takes time and effort. You are competing with the best songwriters in the world, in the row and in Nashville. On music row are the performing rights organizations that include BMI, ASCAP. Research the two and join one. (I am in BMI) You can also visit them on the row and have them critique your songs. NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) is a great place to learn about songwriting. Many cities around the U.S. have NSAI groups you can join, plus NSAI has songwriting conferences, contests and other resources. You can even use their Nashville office as a base when visiting music row. Great resource!
9) Recording your songs for Music Row I highly recommend you get an Apple computer. Whether it is a Macbook, or an Imac you will be completely set up with a stable OS and a stable computer system. I have been on the mac platform since 1992 and never looked back. Purchase Logic Studio Pro (now owned by Apple) and get an Apogee Duet (an audio in/out firewire device). The only thing left to get is a good condenser microphone and the Antares Auto Tune AU plug in. Many have called Nashville the Auto Tune capitol of the world ;) Every notice how the vocals are in PERFECT pitch? That's from Auto Tune. It's on every vocal track. Every Nashville song on music row and most pop songs everywhere else use auto tune or some other form of pitch correction. One should also consider purchasing music songwriting software such as Masterwriter and business software such as Microsoft Office for Mac.
10) Self promotion? or the Nashville / Music Row route? Should one use Music Row and go the Nashville way? Or should one try self-promotion? I say that one should do both. One can use Blogs, Social Networks and Tunecore or CD Baby to self publish and get their music out there for others to hear. It is very gratifying to have people purchase your music. Understand, that unless you are able to get press, radio play, or promoting it aggressively - that you will not sell many songs. But it is nice to see your stuff up on itunes. You should also consider making a music video and putting it up on Istunes through Tunecore. YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, MetaCafe, Ifilm and SpyMac are also places to put up your music video. Copyrighted 2008. MusicRowSongs.com |
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