How To Write A Song In 5 Minutes Or Less

Nice re-familiarization of song structure lesson. I had forgotton about the 2nd, 3rd & 6th being the subdominant minor. It got me in discussion with my wife about the perfect 4th and perfect 5th and we ended up bringing out the keyboard. thanks!

VERY GOOD NOW I CAN TRY TO MAKE SONG ON MY SHEET MUISIC THANK YOU

Griff, That 2nd video was great! Where did you get it from?

Thanks,
Tom from Atlanta with a cain

GRIFF, write a song in 5 minutes was great. thanks will give it a go.

Hey, Griff
Great stuff. I've been tinkering with theory
and harmonic structure for many years
but you are a master at cutting right to the
chase.keep up the good work.

There's a great song by Neil Young called "Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)" it sums up this way of thinking when it comes to song writing.

You'd find it on an album called "Freedom".

Simply put - well done!

I liked learning to avoid the 7 and the 3 Chords in progressions. 3 is too much like the 1. 7 is hard to use. Knowing what is used a lot and what is hard to use helps us a lot.

However, I like those odd chords like diminished (and sharp and flat 5's, etc). A Brahms waltz I'm decoding has lots of diminished chords and half-step movements. He uses all 12 notes in the melody line yet never seems to jar. They all fit perfectly!

Back to simple, I can get intrigued with simplified classics like by Satie and Schuman only to discover they were using standard Blues chords and movements way back in the early 19th century. Wonderfully beautiful, they turn out to be simple structurally, sometime made out of only two or three chords.

While I'm here, I had a blast recently trying to jam with Lidst's "Sonata in B minor," which is impossibly complex and totally wild. Even accomplished pianists can't do it. But working totally by ear and trying to replicate returning themes, it sort of worked out sometimes! The theory is way beyond me, but the tricks and patterns are sort of accessible if I can stay loose.

Thanks, Griff, for this concise foundation for composing!

(For those wanting this and the more elaborate devices it leads to, I also like Rikky Rooksby's "The Songwriting Sourcebook.")

Griff,
I just gotta say this. I did'nt realize how much we really need this theory,
I mean, anyone trying to play with out it, surly is not going to write and or play at their best.
Dan Denley has good theory courses too, I bought one. but as soon as I get the money together I'm coming after this course from you too(guitar theory made usefull). in case anyone wants to help me get it, that'd be real nice too.
ps. any takers out there for the helping, Griff knows my E-Mail address

Thanks these video lessons you are posting gives the non theoretical muso's a great jump start to what its like to be versed in music. Keep it up its great.
Thanks
David

oh and forgot IM 43 yrs old now so i went 20 yrs not playing and in 7 months u got me back in to shape and a lot better guitar player and still getting better everyday .. thank you .. Tim

I got your blues videos 7 months ago to resharpen my skills i stop playing by age 20 cause of the death of my father it just hurt to bad ... he was a great guitar player and singer by age 14 was on stage with him playing rythem guitar for him and his band... so i got your videos on the blues scales and set down and put them in and clear my mind lik ei had never pick a guitar up and relearn my scales ... and i play everyday now and have wrote some blues songs .. i have tracks on soundcloud.com and i am getting out there again and playing ... thanks to you ... my name on soundcloud is Tim1968 feel free to check them out and listen to your great teaching at work ... thank you ... Tim

Sounded like the chord run was more like E-B-C#-A, in the Axis video.

very funny video gonna try writing my own next hit, thank you for the info. joe

Great question from Andrew Bryan, who should be congratulated on critically thinking about the music theory lesson, and taking it to the next step. And obviously, a great answer, Griff. I very much enjoy the lessons and the comments

Griff, this was really interesting and entertaining at the same time.

Thanks,

Jack

WOW, superb, I felt I had 'over subscribed' to BGU but it just gets better. Many thanx Griff

The boy's are very clever Griff. They do know what they're doing. But you have simplified and given me forward thinking. I thank you.

You clever dude Griff

The attached video really brought home and enforced the lesson.
As with all the lessons this one goes to the library to keep going back and reviewing.

Excellent. i have played guitar on and off for years but never got to grips with the various theoretical aspects which you have a knack of making really easy and enjoyable to learn. Keep it up - look forward to the next lesson.
David

WOW, a lot to this but you make it simpler. I'll study this video more and try it. Thanks...

That's awesome, very helpfull Thanks Griff

Thanks for that really great lesson, short and sweet ! Loved the other video, got a really good laugh with it ! Thanks again
Tom

Both videos were great and really make the point of how many songs can be composed from the same four chords. Thanks for fun.

Griff,
Succinct, easy to understand. Great demo you posted with those guys from my neck of the woods. As I've said before, you bring a lot of joy to many of us around the world.

Griff

You have done it again. You have taken a concept I have struggled with for many years and have made it clear and simple in less then 7 minutes. Keep the goodies coming!

I enjoyed that lesson, that was good it was alot better than how the notes work too elementary

Conrad

making songs up is the best part about playing I think. Thanks. I got at least one tidbit that will make my efforts that much easier and fun. Who the hell needs to learn other people's songs? They have already been done! LOL.

very good indeed ...

This is fabulous. Everytime I watch one of your videos I learn something new and so wonderful.
I know, my job, is to get my guitar re strung (thanks for yesterday about strings) and off I go.

You are so helpful in these videos. The next step of course has to be me and my guitar.

But whatever I learn here, seems, strangely, generalizable to life, in a very interesting way. There is a chord and accord, and I see something going on here, that might just help me really learn to play!

thank you Griff, for your enthusiasm and all that you teach. And this video I am so eager to put to work.

Hey Griff,
I can't do facebook stuff for a good reason. I appreciate your lessons & you make it simple & clear. KISS principle I guess. but it gels with me & I am actually getting an understanding of a lot of stuff I touchedc on through out my many years. I am still trying but know that father time will eventually beat me in the long run. being able to play a few songs all the way through will be great & this lesson in particular is I think an aha moment. Regards Wayne & have a great day

Hi Griff ......... Thought that was brilliant .... I like to write songs and spend hours trying to find the right chords ..... I sort of knew it but it needed someone to tell me to get that oh yea moment .theres so much info your trying to learn but no practical use for it.Thanks ...by the way is that "Guitar Theory Made useful" course free post and packing ( cheeky )

hi Griff ,I always enjoy your lessons,I think I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel when I will one day say I am a guitarist.Please check out my song on youtube "psalm96 malachi" would appreciate your comments.I did not play on this but wrote it and sang it.A big thanks to you
Alex

Oh Ya I lose track of time when I get in to this frame of mind. Thanks for letting me no that its normal

wow - thanks Griff - great lesson.

I've been feeling a bit 'uncertain' as I've realised that many of the songs I've written follow a D A Bm G pattern or similar HOWEVER that wonderful video showing the huge range of melodic lines available within such a pattern gives me some heart.

Also - thanks for having 'open' comment section......I don't want to communicate via a Facebook portal.

@Andrew - "After Midnight" is a good example of a "bluesy" song that isn't blues. The essence of blues is really mixing the major and minor 3rds together. So it's not uncommon to see situations like this where the 1 chord is major (as in the D) but really behind the scenes it's more of a dominant 7th chord. Then it goes up to the minor 3rd and the 4th (the F and G)

"La Grange" by ZZ Top is the same thing.... A and then up to C and D. It's basically a translation of the old John Lee Hooker idea brought into the modern era.

To play over it use the blues scale. When you hit the I chord (the D in this case) You can grab the F# note to accentuate it... but you wouldn't have to.

Very useful & very well (& simply) explained Griff but now you have me searching for a song with a Dim. chord in it !

LP

Hi Griff,

Great lesson and very good fun playing with the numbers. One of the frustrating things we students have it that the theorists give us the rules and the composers appear to break them. My example is J J Cale's song "After Midnight".

The chords are: D F G and A. In the chord of D the notes are D F# and A. In the scale the notes are: D Em F#m Gmaj Amaj Bmin C#Dim (I think - If I've learned correctly from your theory course). So there isn't an F anywhere. Can you help by explaining why the F chord works in the song?

I hope I haven't got it wrong and I'm just making an idiot of myself.

All the best,

Andrew

RJ - With G you can do no wrong. I didn't pick G for the Axis of Awesome Video, just worked out that way. G is everywhere in GuitarLand

Griff! Sometimes it takes a simple approach (maybe a few) to reach a step up in understanding. THIS video (and your teaser on theory) did it for me! I knew the individual parts, but never made the connection. Just like when someone mentioned that there are only 5 notes in pentatonic - a light went on in my head! Of course there are 5! Duh... penta... duh... I just never made the connection - I was just focused on the patterns.

hand rolled dude ..sweet thanks for the info ..

Griff, you always choose G

Hey Great stuff

Great Post Griff!