Songwriting Sunday

It's here again. 

Songwriting Sunday, and I think I am ready to talk a bit about how I write songs. Today, I think I will focus on my goal-based compositions.

Anyone wondering what that is?? Here we go.

There are times when I have to write songs to support and rehearse particular skills to match my clients' goals. The topics are not ones that are easily supported by precomoposed music, so it is my job to make the music that my clients can use in places other than music therapy.

So, how do I do this? (NOTE: Please keep in mind that this is how I do things, not the only way to do things - you find the way that works best for you, okay?) I start with the goal and an assessment process.

If my client's goals are already known to me, then I do a quick baseline assessment. If the client has a brand new goal, then I start from the beginning. I write task analyses for the different skills or levels of mastery for the goal. For example, if I am writing a goal for toothbrushing, I try to write a list or flow chart for every step that we take when we are brushing our teeth. This becomes the root for my lyrics.

The lyrics often come first in this type of songwriting. Once I have the lyrics, I can start composing the music. I am a fan of finding the rhythm of the lyrics before finding the melody, so I spend a bit of time chanting. There are times when a melody is not really needed - the client doesn't like or want to engage in singing, the words and the rhythm are sufficient to engage in the client in the experiences, and/or the melodies that I come up with are not interesting.

Then, I practice.

Before I take any song into the session, I make sure that I have it in my fingers, brain, and mouth without needing lots of prompts. I find that anything I compose ends up changed from the original when I use it with my clients. They add in their own rhythmic figures and change things a bit to fit them. A song that I wrote with a swing pattern becomes a straight pattern because my clients decide that it needs more predictable patterns and they want to add more to it. I then go back to my original source material and either rewrite it or write a new version where I give the clients credit for their contributions.

Here is a task analysis for what I do when I sit down to write a goal-based song. Let me know what I have missed.

1. Decide to write a song for a specific client goal.
2. Get songwriting kit (in this kit, I have a pencil, some post-it notes, some sheet music paper, and an eraser).
3. Write down the client goal on one post-it as written in client documentation.
4. Write down present levels of mastery - see where the client is in the goal achievement category - no reason to write a song about something that the client has already achieved.
5. Write a task analysis for the skill associated with the goal (this is the most time consuming task of writing a goal-based song because every task has to be accounted for and listed).
6. Using current levels of mastery, start thinking about what clients need to hear or express to reach their goals.
7. Write down all thoughts about next steps on post-it notes.
8. Start to categorize thoughts into the task analysis.
9. Read thoughts out loud to start finding the rhythm and flow of the music.
10. Arrange post-it next steps as appropriate for the task and the flow of the song.
11. Notate ideas and phrases on sheet music when they become natural to sing and/or chant.
12. Continue to brainstorm and refine ideas until the task is covered and the music becomes coherent for the identified goal.
13. Write final version on sheet music paper.
14. Transfer completed song to electronic device - either take a picture or put into songwriting software.
15. Take completed song to client.
16. Introduce the song by singing as example.
17. Encourage client to engage with music through either singing or acting out the skills.
18. Attend to client engagement to notice changes to the music or to the task.
19. Write changes to the music or task on post-it notes for use later.

I think that's about it. I am sure that I have missed several steps, but my time is up, and my brain is not working well at the moment. Time anxiety is taking over, so I must go get ready for my Sunday job.