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by Kole* on January 4, 2011

(8.7, 7 votes)
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Songwriting 101: Songwriting Contest #3 Results

Songwriting 101: Unique Chords For Singer/Songwriters

Songwriting 101: Omnibus Progression

Songwriting 101: Songwriting Contest #2 Winners
comments policy  22  comments posted, 1 removed | this article is 96% spam-free
 
reply 
backtothe70s
posted on Jan 04, 2011 02:32 pm  #   
Since there are not that many rules, I assume I can use another tuning and whatever I may think of that's crazy enough?
 
reply 
Ikary
posted on Jan 04, 2011 03:21 pm  #   
Nice to see one of these! I have a question though; you say it has to be for guitar, does that mean for only one guitar? (or can there be one playing the harmony/rhythm and the other one the melody?). If it has to be one, can it play a melody that implies the chords, or does it have to be strumming/arpeggiating the chords only? (so the only thing to judge would basically be the progression).

Thank you very much
 
reply 
GNR3737
posted on Jan 04, 2011 07:22 pm  #   
This is awesome! I know that there's a 0.01% chance of me actually winning (maybe less), but i'm gonna have a lot of fun writing some nice progressions based around this crazy chord. personally, i like the E7#9#5 the best (personal opinion), but this one has a nice dissonant feel to it. I might try to capture this feel in other chords while emphasizing the voicing for this chord. easier said than done!
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 04, 2011 07:32 pm  #   
backtothe70s wrote:

Since there are not that many rules, I assume I can use another tuning and whatever I may think of that's crazy enough?


Absolutely, feel free to do whatever crazy thing you want on the guitar!

Ikary wrote:

Nice to see one of these! I have a question though; you say it has to be for guitar, does that mean for only one guitar? (or can there be one playing the harmony/rhythm and the other one the melody?). If it has to be one, can it play a melody that implies the chords, or does it have to be strumming/arpeggiating the chords only? (so the only thing to judge would basically be the progression).

Thank you very much


Good Question(s)! Please write this for only 1 guitar as if it were to be played by a solo guitarist. Feel free to play chord melody... in fact I encourage it!

GNR3737 wrote:

This is awesome! I know that there's a 0.01% chance of me actually winning (maybe less), but i'm gonna have a lot of fun writing some nice progressions based around this crazy chord. personally, i like the E7#9#5 the best (personal opinion), but this one has a nice dissonant feel to it. I might try to capture this feel in other chords while emphasizing the voicing for this chord. easier said than done!


Thats what it's all about, having fun writing music and learning from yourself. As for the E7#9#5 chord... that was one of my instructors favorite chords (sounds fantastic played by a Big Band Brass section).

Best of luck to all of you!
 
reply 
D.I.R.T.
posted on Jan 04, 2011 09:16 pm  #   
How long should the progression be? I mean, I'm lovin the feel of this and could go on for a whole song, would you like just a short progression or a multi munite song?
 
reply 
sonicx2218
posted on Jan 04, 2011 10:05 pm  #   
When you say 8 chords, do you mean 1 strum each chord, or whatever strumming as long as we only play 8 chords including the one mentioned?
 
reply 
Ikary
posted on Jan 04, 2011 10:40 pm  #   
Just in case, are there any prizes for runner ups?
 
reply 
Silverpack
posted on Jan 05, 2011 05:36 am  #   
Can we use an electric guitar ?
Have we got to sing, or has it to be instrumental ?
If we have to sing, can a friend of us sing instead ?

Well I know, that's a lot fo questions
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 05, 2011 03:36 pm  #   
D.I.R.T. wrote:

How long should the progression be? I mean, I'm lovin the feel of this and could go on for a whole song, would you like just a short progression or a multi munite song?


Feel free to write an entire song (great practice), however the contest has an 8 chord max. That could mean 4 measures, 8, 12, it's completely up to how often you'd like the chords to change as your melody progresses.

sonicx2218 wrote:

When you say 8 chords, do you mean 1 strum each chord, or whatever strumming as long as we only play 8 chords including the one mentioned?


I encourage unique rhythms/strumming patterns, so as long as it's 8 chords or less feel free to strum away.

Ikary wrote:

Just in case, are there any prizes for runner ups?


As of right now it's all or nothing! However, if there are a ton of great submissions I'll see what else I might be able to do...

Silverpack wrote:

Can we use an electric guitar ?
Have we got to sing, or has it to be instrumental ?
If we have to sing, can a friend of us sing instead ?

Well I know, that's a lot fo questions


Yes. Instrumental. No need for singing for this contest.
 
reply 
mcosmo
posted on Jan 05, 2011 05:55 pm  #   
I may have missed something in this contest post but who owns the publication and author rights to each submission? I see you expressed a specific chord to be used does that mean you will claim co-author to these submissions?
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 05, 2011 08:56 pm  #   
mcosmo wrote:

I may have missed something in this contest post but who owns the publication and author rights to each submission? I see you expressed a specific chord to be used does that mean you will claim co-author to these submissions?


There is no transferring of rights when submitting. You own 100% Pub/Writer. I won't claim to co-author anything submitted... These are only small sections of music anyway, not an entire song.
 
reply 
.:!j.man!:.
posted on Jan 06, 2011 12:15 pm  #   
This confuses the crap out of me lol.
It would have been much simpler for them to just have said "play this chord and play it more than once, the rest is up to you"

They have left so much room for confusion. Im a finger picking type of guy myself & from the information they have given me I get the impression if were to give this a go I would wind up breaking some sort of rule without knowing it.
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 07, 2011 04:18 pm  #   
.:!j.man!:. wrote:

This confuses the crap out of me lol.
It would have been much simpler for them to just have said "play this chord and play it more than once, the rest is up to you"

They have left so much room for confusion. Im a finger picking type of guy myself & from the information they have given me I get the impression if were to give this a go I would wind up breaking some sort of rule without knowing it.


Hmm... sorry for the confusion, I tried to make it simple and clear. These are the only 3 rules. 1). Write it for 1 Guitar. 2). Use the Chord Provided at least once. 3) Your piece should be no longer than 8 chords.

Everything else is completely up to you.
 
reply 
Silverpack
posted on Jan 09, 2011 08:32 am  #   
When you say "8 chord positions", you mean "8 different chord tones", right ? For example, if I use a G major chord somewhere, can I use different chord postions for this same chord ?
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 10, 2011 03:02 pm  #   
Silverpack wrote:

When you say "8 chord positions", you mean "8 different chord tones", right ? For example, if I use a G major chord somewhere, can I use different chord postions for this same chord ?


Essentially the 8 chord "rule" is just asking that you keep the piece short and the progression no longer than 8 chords long. The voicing, position, chord tones, etc. are all up to you.
 
reply 
Jahmper
posted on Jan 16, 2011 02:42 pm  #   
I feel kind of stupid asking this, but still I will ask it just to be sure - we have to play 8 chords without playing solo at the same time. I mean if I play C chord then go 0 1 3 on the second string and play G chord it will count for 2 chords or it will count like I played C Cmaj7 C Cadd9 G. It got me confused, sorry
 
reply 
Ikary
posted on Jan 17, 2011 09:41 am  #   
Jahmper; I'm sure that'd count as 2 chords; and the notes on the second string just as melody played over the changes.

I did my arpeggiated progression the same day the contest came out; I've got a question though... Is it okay to use a 9th chord to resolve? In my case the piece starts on E7M9 and resolves on the same chord, but that's not included in the 8 chords, it's a 9th chord I added. I suppose it's okay because that's the only way I could have ended the piece neatly, but just asking. Thanks
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 17, 2011 02:23 pm  #   
Jahmper wrote:

I feel kind of stupid asking this, but still I will ask it just to be sure - we have to play 8 chords without playing solo at the same time. I mean if I play C chord then go 0 1 3 on the second string and play G chord it will count for 2 chords or it will count like I played C Cmaj7 C Cadd9 G. It got me confused, sorry


No worries, that would only count as 2 chords.

Ikary wrote:

Jahmper; I'm sure that'd count as 2 chords; and the notes on the second string just as melody played over the changes.

I did my arpeggiated progression the same day the contest came out; I've got a question though... Is it okay to use a 9th chord to resolve? In my case the piece starts on E7M9 and resolves on the same chord, but that's not included in the 8 chords, it's a 9th chord I added. I suppose it's okay because that's the only way I could have ended the piece neatly, but just asking. Thanks


Sure, no problem at all since that is the tonic chord.
 
reply 
sorting things
posted on Jan 25, 2011 03:16 pm  #   
So for this contest, so let me assume here: the inversions count as 1-chord? Example: C major=ceg, then followed by its inversions=egc/ecg then=gce/gec, then followed by, G major=gbd/gdb, then=bdg/bgd, then=dbg/dgb. So assumption-is that would count only as 2-chords.
Will you say/can you say?
Yes OR No= please
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Jan 25, 2011 09:20 pm  #   
No, that would be considered more than 2 chords because your hand would have to shift more than 2 times to catch those different inversions. In all honesty I'll be lenient with this rule as it seems to be confusing.
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Feb 12, 2011 05:22 pm  #   
Just a quick update for all of you who have submitted. I'm going through all of the entries this weekend and will have a video with the results completed this week!
 
reply 
Kole*
posted on Feb 18, 2011 01:51 pm  #   
Video Finished & results will be posted early next week!
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