Mengirimkan Naskah Cerpen

copas dari Erna Fitrini & Ernita Dietjeria

1. Ke Majalah Girls

• Cerpen atau dongeng untuk anak usia pre-teen, 12-15 tahun 
• 2 spasi 
• 5200 karakter 
• Kirim ke e-mail: girls@gramedia-majalah.com. 

2. Ke Majalah Mombi TK: 

Kembali Menata Gelanggang Olah Rasa

http://groutcleaningpro.com/cleaning/

Ah... Akhirnya setelah sekian lama pintu masuk ke gelanggang ini digembok, saya kembali masuk juga. Duh, debu menumpuk.  Di mana-mana ada tikus, kecoa dan sarang laba-laba.  Kacau balau bin galau deh.

Saya harus melaksanakan niat yang lama tertunda untuk merapikan dan membuka gelanggang ini.  Banyak alasan yang membuat saya menggembok pintu:

Musik Anak: 18 Bulan Sampai 3 Tahun | Rumah Inspirasi

Anak & Musik

Penulis:  Mira Julia

Sebelumnya, Rumah Inspirasi sudah membuat artikel tentang perkembangan anak sejak dalam kandungan hingga 18 bulan.
Sekarang, artikel ini tentang perkembangan anak yang terkait dengan musik anak usia 18 bulan hingga 3 tahun:

Tips Mencegah dan Menanggulangi Virus di Facebook yang Menyebarkan Tautan Tak Pantas

by Gesang Sari Mawarni on Monday, December 19, 2011 at 9:11pm

Beberapa hari ini, di akhir tahun 2011, beberapa teman dilanda kepanikan yang luar biasa. Kejadian ini saya ketahui ketika salah satu penulis senior menjadi korbannya. Tanpa disadari pemilik akun, ternyata akun Facebooknya telah memposting gambar porno yang bisa jadi menghebohkan dunia persilatan di area Facebookerland. Anehnya, sang pemilik akun tak bisa melihat postingan gambar itu. http://www.nihdia.com/2011/12/19/hati-hati-virus-facebook-sebarkan-tautan-tidak-pantas/

Kasus ini mirip dengan virus yang menyerang email setahun lalu. Saya masih ingat, saat itu email saya menjadi korbannya. Tanpa saya tahu dan sadari saat itu email saya dan beberapa teman mengirim link situs porno ke sebuah milis. Alhamdulillah, meskipun saat ini, kadang beberapa email teman-teman masih mengirim email dengan isi link tak jelas serupa, serangan virus ini sudah tidak terlalu mengacaukan saya, setelah saya ikuti anjuran teman yang ahli IT untuk berganti password email.

The Boy Who Could Fly Without a Motor

Resensi Raatje Marietje di Komunitas Penulis-Bacaan-Anak · 

Penulis: Theodore Taylor

Penerbit: Harcourt Children's Books

Tanggal penerbitan: September 2002

Buku ini menceritakan tentang Jon—bocah cerdas kesepian yang ingin bisa terbang. Karakter lain yang tak kalah penting adalah Ling Wu—arwah pesulap sakti yang mengajarkan dua hal penting pada Jon.

Cerita berlangsung di Clementine Rock, sebuah pulau karang kira-kira 19 mil dari garis pantai California di masa pemerintahan Roosevelt, San Fransisco, Washington D.C.

DTS Voices

DTS Voices adalah kelompok pemusik cinta edukasi dan literasi.


JENIS MUSIK
Kami tidak terikat pada warna atau aliran musik apapun. Kami percaya bahwa apapun jenisnya, musik itu selalu indah tergantung pada apa yang disampaikan dan bagaimana menyampaikannya.  Kami sepakat memberi kesempatan bagi tiap personil yang punya latar belakang musik beragam, untuk menjadi diri sendiri asalkan sejalan dengan visi dan misi kelompok.

VISI: 
Kami berkomitmen membuat, menampilkan dan memproduksi sebanyak mungkin lagu yang mendidik dengan lirik dalam bahasa Indonesia dan/atau bahasa Inggris yang baku, baik dan benar serta bermuatan pengetahuan, budi pekerti dan motivasi, dengan melodi yang sederhana dan enak didengar.

MISI:
Kami ingin bisa berkontribusi bagi tunas-tunas bangsa melalui pendekatan seni, karena kami percaya bahwa:

1. Jumlah dan variasi lagu-lagu anak yang beredar di pasaran masih sangat kurang.
2. Banyak lagu-lagu untuk remaja dan dewasa awal bertema asmara yang cenderung cengeng atau vulgar, padahal yang mereka butuhkan dalam kondisi saat ini adalah lagu-lagu yang bisa memotivasi untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup.
3. Lirik dengan pesan tertentu (bermuatan informasi, pengetahuan dan motivasi) yang disampaikan dengan tata bahasa yang baik dan benar akan memberi kesempatan bagi pendengar dan penonton untuk belajar bahasa serta memperluas wawasan dengan cara yang berbeda.
4. Seni khususnya musik, begitu mudah merasuk ke dalam hati.  Oleh karena itu pemusik punya tanggung jawab moral untuk mengisi hati penikmatnya dengan nilai-nilai kebaikan.

KAMI MELAYANI:
Lagu kami bisa dituangkan dalam bentuk rekaman audio, juga bisa disajikan dalam bentuk video klip sederhana.

1. Panggilan untuk pertunjukan musik akustik
2. Panggilan untuk dongeng musikal
3. Pembuatan dan produksi lagu dengan pesan khusus sesuai kebutuhan, seperti:promo buku anak, promo sekolah, promo produk kebutuhan anak, layanan masyarakat, ucapan selamat, atau lagu tema 
4. Pembuatan trailer buku anak

CONTOH KARYA:

•  LUMBA-LUMBA ©Ratih Soe 2009, gitar: Epi & Bagas, vokal Alia (DTS Voices), video: Medi & Asep

•  HAVE FUN WITH ENGLISH ©Ratih Soe 2009, gitar: Epi & Bagas, vokal Alia (DTS Voices), video: Medi & Asep

• JUNIOR CHEF ©Ratih Soe & Benny Rhamdani 2012, gitar: Bagas, vokal Alia (DTS Voices), video: Ratih Soe
  

• EXPLORE YOUR IMAGINATION, lagu tema Forum PBA (versi akustik) ©Ratih Soe 2011, vokal: Alia, gitar: Bagas (DTS Voices), video: Iwok Abqary

• EXPLORE YOUR IMAGINATION, lagu tema Forum PBA (versi akustik) ©Ratih Soe 2011, vokal: Ratih, kibor: Uki (DTS Voices), video: Iwok Abqary

• SIDO, lagu tema Kak Sidik Dongeng (Dongeng Keliling Kak Sidik) ©Ratih Soe & Erna Fitrini 2011, vokal: Alia, giar: Bagas (DTS Voices), video: Ratih Soe

(Tips) Menemukan Gagasan Menulis

oleh AS Laksana dan Yusi Avianto Pareanom

(dengan sedikit penambahan oleh Windry Ramadhina)

Seberapa banyak kau menulis (taruhlah, cerpen fiksi)? Seberapa cepat? Jika kau berada dalam situasi di mana kau harus menulis satu cerpen setiap satu hari, apa saja yang akan kau tulis selama satu bulan? Itu berarti, kau harus menulis 30 cerpen dan kebanyakan orang akan berkata, "Aih... kurasa, aku tidak akan bisa melakukannya," atau dia akan mencoba melakukan itu tapi bertahan hanya beberapa hari saja setelah di hari ketujuh dia kehabisan ide.

Pernah bertanya, dari mana sebenarnya gagasan-gagasanmu berasal?

Kebanyakan penulis akan menemukan kesulitan menjawab pertanyaan di atas. Bahkan penulis-penulis besar yang produktif. Penulis pemula atau orang yang baru memutuskan akan menulis selalu menganggap bahwa ide seperti ikan legendaris yang muncul pada musim-musim tertentu. Sesungguhnya, kita menghadapi bahan melimpah ruah untuk ditulis, dijadikan cerita pendek atau novel. Kita mengenal dongeng, mitologi, takhyul, dan sebagainya; kita menghadapi keseharian; kita membaca berita; kita menikmati berita gosip para artis; kita mendengar gunjingan tetangga. Dan kita membaca buku. Bagi seorang penulis, atau orang yang ingin menjadi penulis, atau siapa saja tidak harus penulis, kegiatan membaca buku itu penting sekali.

Jika kau sudah tahu apa yang akan kau tulis, tulis saja. Kau bisa memulai dari mana saja, tidak ada yang melarangmu menulis dari mana pun, atau dengan kalimat pertama apa pun. Jika kau ingin menulis tapi tidak tahu apa yang akan kau tulis, yang perlu kau lakukan tetap sama: menulislah! Menulis adalah ikhtiar untuk mengubah kata 'ingin' menjadi 'tindakan' menulis.

Kau tidak tahu cara memulai? Atau tidak tahu teknik menulis?

Ada banyak buku teknik menulis dan buku-buku semacam itu mungkin akan memberi bekal kepadamu, atau setidaknya mengenalkan dasar-dasar kepenulisan. Atau apes-apesnya, sudah mencoba memotivasimu. Kau beruntung jika di dalam halaman-halaman buku semacam itu, kau menemukan berbagai strategi yang memudahkanmu menulis. Atau teknik-teknik yang bisa memacu kreativitasmu. Atau sejumlah trik yang membuatmu bisa menulis lancar setiap hari.

Gairah Para Pemula. Jika tekatmu cukup kuat dan kau bisa mempertahankan kekuatan tekat itu selamanya, kau akan terus bergairah untuk belajar cara menghasilkan tulisan bagus. Kau akan terus bertanya: "Bagaimana cara menghasilkan tulisan yang baik?" atau "Bagaimana cara menulis lancar?" atau "Bagaimana cara memikat pembaca sejak kalimat pertama tulisan saya?"

Kunci Kontak. Untuk mengejutkan dunia dengan tulisanmu, kau harus memiliki kunci kontak untuk menghidupkan mesin kreativitasmu (seperti sebuah mobil). Selanjutnya, kita memerlukan keterampilan untuk mengendalikan laju mesin kreativitas kita itu (sebuah mobil memerlukan sopir) dan mungkin berbagai strategi. Untuk membuatmu bisa memulai tulisan dengan cara apa saja, atau untuk menggali gagasan, atau sekadar menggerakkan tangan dan minatmu menulis.

Latihan Setiap Hari. Misalnya, menyelesaikan sebuah cerpen dalam waktu dua jam pada setiap pagi hari, dan membaca satu buku paling lama dua hari. Ini kira-kira sama dengan yang dijalani oleh orang-orang lain di lapangan lain jika mereka berkehendak menjadi lebih mahir. David Beckham berlatih menendang bola setiap hari. Para perenang, pemain badminton, dan tukang gado-gado juga melakukan latihan setiap hari. Latihan setiap hari akan membuatmu semakin terampil.

Antusiasme. Para juara di lapangan selalu menunjukkan watak yang sama di semua lapangan yang mereka geluti: mereka antusias!

Meniru. Pada mulanya mungkin seorang penulis melakukan beberapa peniruan (bukan penjiplakan); itu proses yang wajar untuk akhirnya menemukan otentisitas. William Faulkner dan Ernest Hemingway belajar dari cara Sherwood Anderson berkisah. Hemingway dan Faulkner saling mengejek dan keduanya sama-sama peraih Nobel. Gabriel Garcia Marquez memungut teknik Faulkner dan mengagumi Hemingway dan kemudian memberontak. Peniruan di awal-awal kelahiran adalah proses yang wajar; sewajar bayi menirukan apa saja yang mengitarinya, sebelum akhirnya menjadi manusia dewasa yang berbeda dari manusia-manusia dewasa lainnya.

Jadi... menulislah! Banyak yang bisa ditulis:

1. Silakan berandai-andai. Apa jadinya jika saya bisa membaca pikiran orang lain?

2. Pinjam kalimat dalam novel yang ditulis oleh pengarang yang baik dan lanjutkan dengan kat-katamu sendiri. Ingatlah, bahwa sebuah novel yang baik biasanya dibuka dengan kalimat yang menarik.

3. Jawablah pertanyaan. Siapa namamu? Kapan kau lahir?

4. Buatlah sarang laba-laba.

5. Ambil tiga kata secara acak dan buatlah satu paragraf yang mengandung ketiga kata tersebut.

6. Dan sebagainya.

Sido (Sidik Dongeng)

Melody & lyrics:  Ratih Soe &  Erna Fitrini

(especially written for Kak Sidik Budiyanto, our storytelling mentor)

*) Sido, Sido, Sido
    Kawan Kak Sidik Dongeng
    Sido, Sido, Sido
    Periang dan tidak cengeng

Jadi apa saja
Pergi ke mana saja
Berkawan dengan semua
Sido ikut saja

Tawa, canda, ceria
Seloroh suka ria
Untuk siapa saja
Nonton dongeng bergembira
Di semua acara

kembali ke *)

Song Structure

Adapted from:  http://www.how-to-write-music.com/SongStructure.htm

If you have an understanding of the key elements of a song structure, you can use them to create a song.

Creating a song structure can be as easy or as complicated as you like. For the purposes of this course, the idea is to get you to learn basic composition skills, so we’ll keep it pretty straightforward.

The good news is, that MOST songs in popular genres normally only utilise between 3 and 6 different sections or parts. This makes your job a lot easier as you won’t have to try and create 10 different sections for each song you write, and it can be a relatively quick process. I think the quickest I ever wrote a song was in about 4 minutes (not the lyrics).

Junior Chef: Trailer buku untuk novak seri Junior Chef (Kelas Ajaib 2011)

      Melody & lyrics: Ratih Soe & Benny Rhamdani
(especially written for the book trailer of Junior Chef  Novel Series by Ari Kunto, Dewi Chendika, Erna Fitrini, Nancy Duma Sitohang, Nelfi Syafrina)

     

    
        Ayo kita masak, masak, masak

        Ayo masak sama, sama, sama

        Masak bersama Mama, Papa, Oma, Opa

        Ayo kita racik, racik, racik

        Minuman yang segar, segar, segar

        Yang manis di lidah dan bikin senyum mekar
          

Suka, suka, suka

Jangan banyak cuka

Hore, hore, hore

Jangan banyak cabe

Senang, senang, senang

Yuk, kita goreng rangginang

Campur, campur, campur

Bumbu dan sayur

Asyik, asyik, asyik

Minuman diracik

        Ayo kita masak, masak, masak

        Ayo masak sama, sama, sama

        Masak bersama teman s’kolah, teman maya

        Ayo kita racik, racik, racik

        Minuman yang segar, segar, segar

        Yang manis di lidah dan bikin senyum mekar

Coda:  Junior Chef siap tempur gembira di dapur

           Junior Chef ingat s'lalu harus hati-hati

Popular Classics

Taken from:  Easy Sheet Music

70 pages of the most popular Classical pieces for easy piano. Learn to play the great works of Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Chopin and many others. All our music books are produced to the highest print specifications and contain fingering. For unlimited access to all our pieces, please visit our subscription page. Complete contents: J.S.Bach - Minuet Beethoven - Sonatina in G Boccherini - Minuet Brahms - Hungarian Dance Brahms - Waltz Charpentier - Te Deum Chopin - Etude Chopin - Polonaise Chopin - A Wish Clark - Trumpet Voluntary Delibes - Waltz from 'Copellia' Dvorak - Slavonic Dance No.8 Elgar - Land of Hope and Glory Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountain King Ivanov - By the Beautiful Danube Monti - Czardasz Mozart - Theme from the Clarinet Concerto Mozart - Aria from Don Giovanni Mozart - Romance from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Mozart - 1st mvt from Sonata in C K.545 Mussorgsky - Promenade from 'Pictures at an Exhibition Offenbach - Can Can Puccini - Aria from Tosca Saint - Saens - The Elephant from Carnival of the Animals Satie - Gymnopedie No.1 Schubert - The Trout J.Straus - Stories from a Vienna Forest Tchaikovsky - March from The Nutcrakcer Tchaikovsky - Slavonic Dance Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Flowers Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Wagner - Wedding March

Free Piano Collection for Beginners

This Free Piano Collection for Beginners, featuring some of the most acclaimed classical pieces ever produced, is a great sequence of sheet music, graded from 1 to 4, tailored to be followed in the shown below sequence. To download the files to your desktop, just right click the link (music title) and select "Save target as...". To open them for immediate view and print, just click on the link (music title). Once again, have fun! Remember that this is a coffee break. A relaxing and pleasant coffee break! How to download Open the file for immediate view and print by clicking the music title. Adobe Reader will open, and display the sheet music on the screen. Then save it, like you save any other file on your computer. Come back to this page by clicking the "BACK" button on your browser. The sheet music format is PDF.

Here they are

---

Grade 1
French Child's Song - by Franz Behr
In May - by Franz Behr
Ah! Vous Dirais-je-maman - Anonymous
Au Clair de la Lune - Anonymous
Theme from Andante ("Surprise" Symphony) - by Franz Joseph Haydn
Melody - by Robert Schumann
The Harebell - by William Smallwood
The Fair - by C. Gurlitt
Long Long Ago - by T. Bayly
Silent Night, Holy Night - by Franz Gruber

---

Grade 2
Dark Eyes - Anonymous
Turkish March (from the "Ruins of Athens") - by Ludvig van Beethoven
Minuet (Don Giovanni) - by Wolfgang A. Mozart
Home Sweet Home - by Henry Bishop
Last Rose of Summer - by F. Flotow
Gavotte in D - by Johann S. Bach
Cradle Song - by Carl M. von Weber
Auld Lang Syne - Anonymous
Cradle Song - by Johannes Brahms
Oberon - by Carl M. von Weber
Turkey in the Straw - Anonymous
Joyous Farmer (Happy Farmer) - by Robert Schumann
Avalanche - by S. Heller
Italian Song - Op.39, n.15 - by Pjotr I. Tschaikowsky
Musette - by Johann S. Bach
Melody in F - by Anton Rubinstein
In the Gloaming - by J. Molloy
Sonatina - Op.36, n.1 - First Movement - by Muzio Clementi
Love's Old Sweet Song - by J. Molloy
Little Fairy Waltz - Op.105, n.1 - by L. Streabbog
Theme from "The Unfinished Symphony" - by Franz Schubert
German Song - by Pjotr I. Tschaikowsky
Peasant Dance - Op.208, n.5 - by Friedrich Baumfelder
Soldiers' March - by Robert Schumann
Arabasque - by Johann F. Burgmuller
Waltz from "Faust" - by Charles F. Gounoud
Funeral March - by Frédéric Chopin
Tulip - Op.111, n.4 - by Heinrich Lichner
Trumpeter's Serenade - by F. Spindler
The Voice of the Heart - by Henri van Gael
At Home - by Heinrich Lichner
Gertrude's Dream Waltz - by Ludvig van Beethoven
Waltz in E Flat - by Pjotr I. Tschaikowsky
In Rank and File - by G. Lange
Londonderry Air - Anonymous
Viennese Melody - Anonymous

---

Grade 3
The Star Spangler Banner - by J. S. Smith
America - by Henry Carey
Spring Song - by Felix Mendelssohn
Consolation - Op.30, n.3 - by Felix Mendelssohn
Doll's Dream - by T. Oesten
The Swan - by C. Saint-Saens
Berceuse (Jocelyn) - by B. Godard
Für Elise (Albumblatt) - by Ludvig van Beethoven
Curious Story - by Stephen Heller
Volga Boat Song - Anonymous
Angel's Serenade - by Gaetano Braga
Largo - by George F. Haendel
Gavotte in G - by Johann S. Bach
The Fountain - Op.221 - by C. Bohm
Knight Rupert - by Robert Schumann
Barcarolle (Tales of Hoffman) - by Jacques Offenbach
Spinning Song - by Albert Ellmenreich
Moment Musical - by Franz Schubert
Gavotte - by Johann S. Bach
Prelude - Op.28, n.7 - by Frédéric Chopin
Prelude - Op.28, n.20 - by Frédéric Chopin
Album Leaf - by Edvard Grieg
On the Meadow - Op.95, n.2 - by Heinrich Lichner
Minuet in G - by Ludvig van Beethoven
La Paloma - by C. Yradier
Grandmother's Minuet - Op.68, n.2 - by Edvard Grieg
Traumerei - by Robert Schumann
Romanze - Op.68, n.19 - by Robert Schumann
Hungarian Dance - by R. Kleinmichel
Valse Lente (from the ballet "Coppelia") - by Leo Delibes
Andante - by Ludvig van Beethoven
Waltz of the Flowers (from "Nutcracker" Suite) - by Pjotr I. Tschaikowsky
Swanee River (Three American Folk Songs) - by Stephen Foster
Kentucky Home (Three American Folk Songs) - by Stephen Foster
Old Black Joe (Three American Folk Songs) - by Stephen Foster
Gipsy Dance - by Heinrich Lichner
Waltz in A Flat - Op.39, n.15 - by Johannes Brahms
Venetian Boat Song n.2 - Op.30, n.6 - by Felix Mendelssohn
Mazurka in B Flat - by Frédéric Chopin
Valse Bleue - by Alfred Margis
Serenade - by Franz Schubert
Merry Widow Waltz - by F. Lehar
Camp of the Gypsies - Op.424, n.3 - by Franz Behr

---

Grade 4
Scarf-Dance - by Cecile Chaminade
Song of India - by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Prelude n.1 (from Well-Tempered Klavier) - by Johann S. Bach
Le Coucou (Rondo) - by Claude Daquin
Elegie - Melodie - Op.10 - by Jules Massenet
Aragonaise (Le Cid) - by Jules Massenet
Humoreske - Op.101, n.7 - by Anton Dvorak
Chaconne - by Auguste Durand
Waltzing Doll (Poupee Valsante) - by E. Poldini
Tarantella - by A. Pieczonka
Ecossaises - by Ludvig van Beethoven
On The Beutiful Blue Danube - by Johann Strauss Jr.

Creating a Winning Strong Structure

http://www.how-to-write-music.com/SongStructure.htm

What you should get from this section:

After this section you should have a basic understanding of the key elements of a song structure, and how to create a song structure using the basic elements.

Creating a song structure can be as easy or as complicated as you like. For the purposes of this course, the idea is to get you to learn basic composition skills, so we’ll keep it pretty straightforward.

The good news is, that MOST songs in popular genres normally only utilise between 3 and 6 different sections or parts. This makes your job a lot easier as you won’t have to try and create 10 different sections for each song you write, and it can be a relatively quick process. I think the quickest I ever wrote a song was in about 4 minutes (not the lyrics).

So let’s look at the different elements of a song structure, and then we’ll take a look at three well know songs, break them down, and examine them as well.

Intro : This is quite often the same chords/dynamics as the verse or chorus, mainly the verse. (“When You Were Young” by the Killers is an example of the chorus being used as an intro).

Verse : Normally a pretty straightforward structure, containing four to 8 chords.

Chorus : Again, normally pretty straight forward, and consisting of four to eight chords. There is normally a change in the dynamics of a chorus to make it stand out. These include volume, intensity, catchyness (is that a real word?), and timbre.

Bridge : This is often literally a bridge-between the verse and the chorus, or the chorus and the verse. This is especially useful when you have a key change from one to the other, or the transition from verse to chorus or vice versa isn’t particularly smooth.

Middle 8: This section is used to break up the song so it isn’t just a sequence of Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus. Can change the whole feel of the song, and if used properly can make or break it. Again, the dynamics are normally different to add variety.

Outro : Finally, like the intro, this can often simply be a repeat of the verse or chorus chords/structure, but can also be totally different. Remember, there are no rules.

Building intensity during a song!

As mentioned earlier, MOST choruses have a more intense feel about them, with more dynamicness (another new word), going on! There are many ways to achieve this, using various different methods and different instruments, so let’s take a look at some of them now:

• Crescendo/Diminuendo.

These are simply musical terms for an increase or decrease in volume. Building the overall volume will obviously increase the intensity (though be careful to make sure you don’t just use volume for volume’s sake and lose the feel, and nuances of the music). Decreasing the volume will lower the intensity of the music, and is a technique often employed when leaving a chorus and returning to a verse. (Listen to CREEP by Radiohead). You can obviously reverse this effect if you want a more chilled out chorus.

• Drums.

The Drums play a MASSIVE part in building the intensity of your music, and they have many different ways of doing so. Here are a few examples:

• Adding more fills on the toms, snare, kick drum, leading into, or out of a chorus/bridges. This lets the listener know that something is coming and they’d better be ready!
• Doubling your beats on the high hat from quarter notes to half or eighth notes. This gives the impression of increased speed.
• Changing the beat altogether. This works wonders as it completely changes the feel of the piece.
• Doubling speed, halving speed, etc. Again, this lets the listener know that something is changing.
• Change from a closed high hat to an open high hat for a louder, more open sound.
• Move from the closed high hat to the ride for a different sound.

• Guitars and Bass

Again, the guitars can play a MAJOR role in changing the dynamics of a piece of music, and helping to travel from a verse into a chorus or vice versa. Here are just a few of the things you can do with it to change the way the music carries.

• Increase volume
• Move from simple picking to full chords. Again, will boost the volume, and increase the intensity. Likewise, changing back to simple picking will have the opposite effect. (Coldplay’s Politik is an excellent example of this).
• Adding effects such as distortion, chorus, flange, delay, reverb, will alter the sound and can be used to increased or decrease the intensity. (Radiohead’s Creep is a perfect example)
• Changing octave. Moving from one octave to either a higher register, or lower register will change the feel of what you’re doing, and can be employed to good effect.
• Frequency of notes. By playing more of the same thing per bar, it’s going to sound “busier” so will add intensity. The opposite is also true.
• Adding bass notes to your melodies/chords will also boost the sound and add intensity.

• Keyboards/Piano.

Piano or keyboards, like guitar can totally change the effect and intensity when used correctly. Here are some examples:

• Moving from playing single notes or harmonies to full, rich chords will boost the sound and add intensity and depth.
• Heavy bass notes will do the same.
• Frequency of notes. For example, doubling the amount of notes you play per bar will give the impression of acceleration.
• If using a keyboard, adding effects will do the same thing as adding guitar effects. (Listen to Keane for examples of this).

I’m not going to go through each instrument, as I’m sure you get the idea. Try experimenting and see what works for your particular style, and your particular sound.

Ok, so now we have the basic ingredients, let’s take a look at three well-known songs, break them down, and examine the structure. You’ll see just how easy it is to write a song after this section.

I strongly suggest listening to these songs so you get an understanding of how they’ve applied what they have to them, and get a better understanding of the ideas behind them. You should be able to find the chord progressions online somewhere. Google them and I’m sure you’ll find them.

Song Number One:

Don’t Forget Me by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers

This song is a PERFECT example of how simple it can be to write a song. It only consists of four chords, and always played in the same order

But this song is a MASTERCLASS of using dynamics to create an effect. Listen to how each instrument changes the way it’s played during each section to increase or decrease intensity.

If we look at it in a little more detail then, this is the structure of the song:

Intro – Verse – Bridge – Verse – Chorus – Bridge – Verse – Chorus – Solo – Verse

And the chords throughout the whole song are:

Am F C G

Song Number Two:

Give In To Me by Michael Jackson

Another great example of simple song writing, simple structure, and a great use of dynamics. Again, just a few chords used here, but very effective. The chords used are as follows:

Intro and verse: Em – C D

Chorus: Em – C D

Bridge: (From verse into chorus) B5 – A5 – B5 – D5

(Chords with just the root and 5 th. No 3 rd)

Middle 8: Am – G – Em – Em – Am – G – F – B

Outro: Em – C D

So as you can see, pretty straight forward.

I told you composing was easy :-)

Song Number Three:

Space Oddity by David Bowie

Going back a bit here. A lot of you probably won’t remember this song, but it’s definitely worth checking out. We get a little bit more complicated here, and start going out of key, and throwing chords in that SHOULDN’T fit if we followed the rules, but we’re not always going to do that remember.

The chords in this song are as follows:

Intro: C – Em – C – Em – Am – Am7/G (G on the bass) – D7

Verse: C – Em – C – Em – Am – Am7/G (G on the bass) – D7

Chorus: C – E7 – F – Fm – C – F – Fm – C – F

Bridge: FM7 – Em7 – FM7 – Em7 – BbM7 – Am – G – F

Middle 8 : C – F – G – A – A – C – F – G – A – A – FM7 – Em7 – A – C – D – E

This song goes out of key several times, using Fm chords, and Bb Major chords, but it works, and remember that the only rule you really want to follow, is whether or not is sounds good!

So what have we covered in this section?

• The basic elements of a structure
• How to use your instruments to build or decrease intensity
• How simple it can be to create a structure
• How to use a few simple chords to create a song structure

Exercises:

• Using just a few chords, create a VERY BASIC song structure
• Once you’ve successfully completed exercise 1, create a verse, chorus, and bridge/middle 8 using chords from the same key, and put them all together to form a new song.
• Now using technique number 4, break the verses down to create a more varied set of dynamics for your song
• Experiment with using chords that aren’t within the key, to make an even more varied chord progression for your song.
• Decide on the type of dynamics you want to employ within your song to give it colour, variety, and depth.

More Songwriting Books!

Putting Chords to an Existing Melody

 http://www.how-to-write-music.com/PutChordsToAMelody.htm

What you should get from this section:

After completing this section, you should be able to take an existing melody and put chords, and a bass line to it to create a strong structure.

There are several things you can do to help you put a chord progression to an existing melody that will make your life a lot easier. Here are a few of them:

• The first thing you should try to do is work out what key it’s in. This will make it a lot easier, as if you know what key you’re playing in, you can pick chords from that key (see section on theory). How do you do this?

• Well, first of all, play the melody. Are there lots of sharps or flats in there? If so, look at the key signatures in the theory section and see what ones match the notes you’re playing. Do they match any particular key? If there are F#’s in the melody, but C naturals, then it might be in G. If there are lots of Bb’s and Eb’s but natural A’s it may be in Bb major.

• If that hasn’t helped, then see what note the melody starts and finishes on. Quite often a melody will start and/or end on the note of the dominant chord in the key. So if it’s in A for example, it will quite often start on that note and/or end on that note.

• It could be in the relative minor key. Every Major key has a relative minor key, which contains the same notes, and the same chords as the Major; it simply starts on a different note. For example, in the Key of C Major, the relative minor is Am. So if the piece looks like it’s in C, but starts and/or finishes on A, it’s probably in A minor. The way to find the relative minor key from each Major key is to simply count up 6 notes from the root. For example in C Major: C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6 (And this is the minor key). Note how it’s different from the A Major key.

• Try putting a simple bass line to the melody. As bass lines are fairly easy to write, you should have no problem with this. Once you’ve got the bass line, take the root notes and use the chords that they correspond to. See if it fits.

• Try putting a standard chord progression to the melody. For example, I, IV, I, V (In C this would be C, F, C, G). The reason this might work is that the way our Western musical ears are “tuned”, we automatically follow certain musical patterns without even thinking about it, subconsciously creating melodies that fit in with the “norm”.

• Strip the melody down to its bare essentials. Take out all the notes that aren’t totally necessary to the overall feel of the melody, and see if that makes it easier once you’ve got down to the core of the melody.

Here is an Example of how I’d put chords to a melody. Let’s start with a melody that everybody knows. Amazing grace:

Well it’s in the Key of C Major for a start (it’s easy as I wrote it down in that key, but I DID work it out...honest)

So the notes in the 2nd bar are C and E. So it’s in C Major, the first accented note is a C, and the notes in the bar are a C, and an E which are the root and third of the C Major chord. Do you think a C chord might work here? Let’s try it…Ok, that works!

Next bar. The notes are an E and a D. The E lasts for the majority of the bar however, so let’s concentrate on that note. We’ll try an Em as it’s the obvious choice, but if you play it, it doesn’t sound very good so let’s discard that chord. Am also has an E in it, so let’s try that chord. Ahhhhh much nicer, so we’ll stick with that!

The next bar contains a C and an A so Am could work again here, but I have a hunch that we should go back to C. Ok that works well.

Where did my hunch come from? I thought it was an appropriate place to change the chord, and we’d just been on Am so I assumed that C would work, and as the main note in the bar is a C it stood to reason that it would fit.

Next bar only contains the note G. As the chord G is in our key, and it seems obvious, let’s try it. . . Bingo! It works.

The next bar is the same as the 2 nd bar so I think it’s safe to try a C there.. Yep, it fits.

Next bar again, same as the third so we’ll stick an Am in there and it works a treat.

The next TWO bars seem to stay on G, so let’s try a G chord holding it for two bars. Do you think that worked? Yes it did, so it seems we have a chord progression here that’s working. If we play the second half of the song using exactly the same chords, it works fine.

The only difference is the last two bars where we need to finish up with two bars of C Major, instead of two bars of G Major.

So this is what it looks like with the chords added:

So what guidelines did this melody follow??

• We ascertained the key as C Major.
• All the notes were in the key, which made it easy. No accidental sharps or flats.
• The first AND last chords were C Major, so it followed that basic rule.
• All the chords were within the key.
• By taking the main notes of the melody, we were able to attribute chords to them pretty easily.

So what did you learn in this section?

• How to take a basic melody and break it down bar by bar to find out what chords would fit.
• Different methods of working out the chords within a melody.
• How to ascertain the key a melody is being played in.
• How to work out the relative minor keys of the Major key.

Exercise:

• Take a couple of melodies, either well known ones, or ones of your own creation, and using the techniques above, work out what chords would fit with the melody. Then using your composing skills, add nuances to it to make it a little more interesting.

------------------------------------- Thank you for reading. Come again :)

Zecchino d'Oro

Click song title to watch the video

1. INVENTA UNA POESIA

C’è un gabbiano che plana in montagna
e un cammello che sta al polo nord
c’è la pioggia che sale e non bagna
ma che dico non lo so
Eppure c’è
una spiaggia di neve in agosto
e una luna che abbronza lassù
Un deserto che non trovi un posto
Forza dai prova anche tu

Lasciamo sotto i bianchi
le penne e i fogli bianchi
le gomme e le matite e puntiamo il naso in su
Pensaci ....

C’è se ti guardi attorno
c’è tutto quello che non c’è
Sai cos’è è un po’ di te
Pensaci
C’è tra le nuvole un’idea
è una specie di magia
falla tua la fantasia
Inventa una poesia

Sentirai quanta energia

C‘è un oceano dentro un’aquario
e una stella marina nel Po
un alpino che fa il marinaio
o il contrario che ne so

Prendiamo i fogli i bianchi
Le penne sotto i banchi
Una poesia si inventa immaginandosi di più
Eccoci

C’è se ti guardi attorno c’è
tutto quello che non c’è
Sai cos’è
è un po’ di te
Pensaci
C’è tra le nuvole un’idea
È una specie di magia
falla tua la fantasia

Inventa una poesia anche tu
che colori di più ogni angolo buio del cielo
perché in rima se vuoi
i tuoi sogni coi miei
perché insieme noi ce la faremo!

Falla tua
la fantasiaInventa una poesia 2x
Qualunque cosa sia
Falla tua la fantasia
Inventa una poesia!

2. IL DRAGO RAFFREDDATO

Che trambusto stamattina nel bosco,
Un tuono, un lampo, uno schiocco un po' losco,
I folletti han fatto un salto sul letto
E anche l'orco ha preso un bello spaghetto. 

Ma che rimbombo, che scoppio, che botto

Un gran frastuono, un gran quarantotto

Che donfusione, che subbuglio che scompiglio

Fugge il lupo, l’unicorno e il coniglio

E’ colpa della strega, no, no, no!

Lo yeti si e’svegliato, no, no, no!

C’e’il drago raffredato

Che con uno starnuto

Il faggio ha bruciacchiato, etciu!

Il drago raffredato

Con un solo starnuto

Un lago ha prosciugato, etciu!

Mail saggio barbagianni

Sapiente di malanni

Ha gia ‘la medicina, la clorofilla blu

Il vecchio barbagianni,

Dottore dei malanni

Gli dala clorofilla blu

Ma tutti sanno che al drago

Il porcospino gli vuol fare la puntura
Ma tutti sanno che al drago fa paura,
Mamma orsa gli prepara una tisana,
E tre cipolle vuol dargli la rana.

Il procione porta un pezzo di sapone

E la talpa sette gocce di limone

Il barbagianni dice che non ne puo piu

Al drago serve la clorofilla blu

Gli serve anche un caffe, no, no, no!

Gli diamo il vin brule, no, no, no!

C’e’il drago raffredato

Che con uno starnuto

Il faggio ha bruciacchiato, etciu!

Il drago raffredato

Con un solo starnuto

Un lago ha prosciugato, etciu!