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Kelisms

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About this blog

Things about songwriting you always wondered about, but never wanted to know.

Entries in this blog

#14 Personal Growth - No, It's Not A Tumor!

Have you ever stopped to look at where you are, and compare it to where you were? I have, but accidentally. By accidentally, I mean I didn't put myself into the famous "The Thinker" pose, or even sit back and consider life in general. No I was playing some of my own songs, and noticed some rather profound differences between then and now, and it got me thinking... I have been writing songs on and off for over 40 years. I know, you don't get that for murder! Funnily enough, usually

Kel

#13 Why Do I Need Scales? I'm Not A Fish!

In the past, I came up with melodies using my keyboard, or on rare occasions, my guitar. Never in my wildest dreams would I think of singing to work out a melody. Why? Because I was horrible. When talents were being handed out, I was out in the back yard building a billy cart. As a non performing songwriter I didn't pay much attention to the melody line, figuring a "singer" would be able to sing what I wrote. I wasn't a singer I told myself, but a real one could do it. In time past I barely

Kel

#12 If You Know It, Leave It Out!

Have you ever been stuck thinking about how to tell the story you want to get across in your song project? Well I suppose you'd have to want to tell a story I suppose, but even for abstract ideas I may have something for you to try. Lend me your eyes and I'll write you some lines, and I'll try not to write of key!... Yeah okay, that doesn't make a lot of sense, so I'll plunge right in. I start most projects with an idea. It could be a hook, it could be a lead in, it could simply

Kel

#11 So, What Do I Know About It, Anyway?

I suppose you're wondering by now what makes me such an authority on songwriting that I feel I can provide advice. Albeit Kelistic advice! I'm glad you asked that question, read on! I was driving along the highway just the other day, carefully plotting and replotting in my mind my diabolical plan to take over the world, when... oh, wrong blog! I was driving along the highway just the other day, carefully plotting and replotting in my mind how to convince my loyal readers (I believe

Kel

#10 What Do You Mean, Fix My Tents?

I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightnin'. I see bad times today. What do you see? What I see, is that all these things are happening NOW. They haven't already happened, they are not going to happen, they ARE HAPPENING. I'll be there to catch you in a taxi, honey Better be ready 'bout half past eight Now baby, don't be late I wanna be there when the band start playing What do you see here? I see all these things are going

Kel

#9 Anxiety Is The Spice Of Life!

Kelisms #9 Have you ever wondered what hit songs, films, books, television shows, even magazine articles have in common? There is an element of drama! Even in sit-coms, rom-coms, tom-toms, well maybe not so much with tom-toms, but there is something dramatic happening that brings change to the person or people it is happening to. Sometimes it’s what the character is doing, what is being done to the character, or events out of their control they have to cope with. It can be one

Kel

#8 Is A Rhyme A Crime Or Just In Time?

How many times have you heard a rhyme that is just... forced, cliche, ordinary! Me too, way too often. It got me thinking, does a lyric have to rhyme? Of course not, however, as songwriters we have trained listeners to expect a rhyme in a song. And it is a recognised way to help remember the lyrics. So if we don't have to rhyme, yet it's a good idea, when might it be better not to? Easy, when it sounds contrived, forced, chiche, ordinary! When it comes to rhymes there are a f

Kel

#7 Working With Pronouns

How often have you read through the lyrics of a song, and when you get to the chorus had to go back to the start again because it wasn't making any sense? I have, and quite often. And the culprits are all in the little words: I, me, us, we, you, them, they! While it might be quite poetic to have a story told from different viewpoints in a poem, or interesting in a novel, it just confuses us when we are listening to a song. I often see people posting lyrics for critique that fall into

Kel

#6 - Slumps. Cherish Them!

Another off-beat choice for a blog entry, but it was the only subject to receive a vote. Slumps. What is a slump? I’m not going to define it according to a dictionary, but rather by what I’m talking about. I describe a slump as a period in my Creative Cycle where little or substandard quality work is being produced. No matter what they call them, I’m sure every songwriter, poet, scriptwriter, novelist, composer or sportsman goes through these periods. Some will succumb to the al

Kel

#5 Where Did That Idea Come From?

I thought I'd talk about song ideas, where they come from for me, and how you might generate your own. Let me start by saying I don't get writer's block. I don't allow myself that sense of pity. I have times of reduced creativity, and I subsequently have times of heightened creativity... I'm in one of those at the moment. In the past week I've written lyrics for around six or seven songs, recorded sketches for around four of them, had a session with lyrics I'm collaborating on, recorded a r

Kel

#4 Women And Beaches, What Gives?

Hi all, Not the blog subject I would have chosen, but this topic received 100% of the votes in the last poll. So it's your fault! Why do you think I even included this subject in a blog poll about music? I'm glad you asked that. You see, I'm currently between significant others, and while there are aspects to singularity I enjoy, there are definitely aspects to being partnered up I miss, and it's not all about the bedroom! I miss... well, no need to go into all the things I miss. What

Kel

#3 What To Say, And How Not To Say It

What to say, and how not to say it! Okay, that’s a really messed up bunch of words, isn’t it? What the hell is he saying? Am I reading your mind correctly? What I want to talk about is how I put out a message, without using the “expected†words for that message. It’s up to you to judge whether I am successful or not, I can only go by feedback I receive to ascertain if my audience has “got it†or if I missed the boat. Let me first start with some examples. Try this quick qu

Kel

#2 Syllables - We Know They're There, So Why Do We Ignore Them?

Syllables. We know all about them. They are in every word we speak, think, say, sing or write. Yet why is this fundamental building block of language completely overlooked when we are overcome by our creative urges? I'm no Freud (but yes, it IS my mother's fault!) and I'm far from anything anyone in any way may consider intellectual, but I think it's a choice we make! Choice! Not just a word the Kiwis have adopted as their own! You've heard about the case currently before the International

Kel

Welcome, Or What Have I Got Myself In For?

Kelisms kel-isms [kel-iz-mmz] noun a remark, phrase, sentence, action or philosophical announcement or catchphrase that may be considered out of the ordinary, if not extraordinary, and made by Kel. origin: 1980-present; Kelisms first started to emerge in the early 1980s when Kel first realised he had a slightly different, if not skewed vision of the world to most other people. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the term “Kelsims†came into popular use, mainly by Kel himself, wh

Kel

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