5. Restrictions

Hey Jonathan-

Personally, I think that I learn the most from this class when I am outside of my element. I may not always write the best songs in these cases, but I feel that when I return to my element my songwriting is stronger. I tried to think about your songwriting style from as objective an angle as I could, and I came to the conclusion that it is best described as 'complex'. So, my idea was to force you to write a song that was in no way complex, and see what you did with it. Good luck!

Your assignment for the week is to write a song with the following restrictions:

• The melody must be contained within an octave
• You may use at most 8 chords in the entire song (This includes figured bass, so C/G and C/F would be 2 different chords)
• The only types of chords you may use are major/minor triads, sevenths, or sus2/sus4 chords
• The time signature must be either 4/4 or 3/4, and it must remain constant throughout the song
• There can be no sudden tempo changes beyond double/half-time
• In the lyrics, no more than 2 lines in a row may rhyme, and you may not use the same rhyme 3 times in 4 phrases (For example, AABBA is fine, but AABA or AAA is not)

Happy writing,
Jeremy


Before the War

goes like this:


A1 B
A2
C1 C2 C3 C4

A1

GMaj+9

His mother told him not to

bmin7

hold his head too high. "You never

GMaj+9

know what dark surprises are in

bmin7

store.”

And then the wrath of God came raining from the sky.

Do you remember how it was before the war?

He’s turning rockets into roses while the monastery doses.

Can’t you hear the engine roar?

GMaj+9

And every craft he carves will

bmin7

bear the scars of

AMaj6

beauty and the

GMaj7+#4

birthmark of an

DMaj7

awful, ancient

F#7

gor[e]

B

GMaj+9 AMaj

[gor]geous god

GMaj+9 AMaj

A glorious god

A2

And little boys may hide their eyes, but when they’re older they’ll grow wise

And learn to settle any score

So send your rockets high! Let fire fall on all who lie

For Sodom and Gomorrah, let them soar!

And now the roses turn inside the soil and start to burn

And shed their petals all about the shore

Now every night he hears the sirens, fears the sirens in his mind. . .

C1

bmin7

So tie a ribbon round your oak tree

DMaj

Hang a blessing on your door

AMaj Gmaj7+#4 F#7

Make a list of all your promises and what you made them for

C2

Paint your house a brighter color

Swim out further from the shore

Read a chapter from the Bible, then discard it on the floor

C3

Pick an apple from a peach tree

Plant the seeds and eat the core

Give your clothing to the naked but remember what you wore

C4

Stick your tongue out when it drizzles

Turn the lights off when it pours

Let the water wash your worries, you won’t need them anymore.