rainsrocks

Sorry if I'm dense. What do you mean by topline?

No expert here but... I read the comments so far on this post and I thought I'd chime in. Hobo and tunesmith are both right in a sense I think, but if you are trying to wrap your head around what a melody is, the simple way to think of it is it's the part of the song that you'd whistle. Everything else is part of the arrangement (the way a performer has decided to arrange the song). We all know how the melody to amazing grace goes. It may not even be your favorite part of a recording or what makes it work, but that's what the melody is.

Cool topic. I guess I usually hear a melody first. I think that's right anyway... Then I'll start singing and playing (guitar usually) to the melody. I just sing whatever seems natural. Hopefully at some point the words take some kind of shape and I get an idea for a song. I'll write something at that point out of what I've been playing around with. Then I think more about where I want to go with the song and try to shape it into something. Sometimes this process is fairly quick but sometimes I change my mind a lot along the way. I've written songs a lot of different ways but I think that's how it usually goes. Danny

I love Iron and wine and think you do a really good job covering this one. You have a some hesitations getting from the F to the G chord. I always reach over the fret-board and grab the low F with my thumb which can help you get to the G easier. You might give it a try. Otherwise great job and very listenable. Danny

I read the previous two comments and I agree to an extent with both of them but since this is a topic i think about a lot I wanted to add a couple of things that bounce around my head. Please indulge Previous to recorded music, music was created only by musicians. There was a standard repertoire (it varies depending on your culture) that was passed along to every new generation of musicians. Music was only made by musicians (not cd players) which made the musicians that were talented valuable to society. If you wanted to hear music you had to go where it was being made in real time (church, juke joint, concert hall etc...). This was also true of graphic art. in our time you can buy a recording of louis armstrong playing "On the sunny side of the street" or Led Zepplin playing "stairway to heaven". You can also decorate your walls with fairly good prints of Picasso, Van Gough, or whoever tickles your fancy. The result of the changes modern technology has brought to our lives is that people are mostly interested in "original" art and music now. Why pay the guy down the way to play you a blues song at your birthday party if you can just pop Howlin' Wolf in the CD player and listen to that? True there were changes and evolutions to music and art in the past but they were more collective and slow and mostly came about as a result of genuine changes to peoples lifestyles and new cultural influences rather than because some genius came along and switched everything up. That all said, I think that "originality" is and has always been about reinterpretation. Some of the most creative artist of today build songs by sampling older recordings (hip hop and electronica). The early blues and rock n roll artists were reinterpreting riffs and sentiments of older music. The boon of great music that came in the 20th century was more about technological advances (recording, multitrack recording, electric instruments etc..) than actual exceptional talent. I wouldn't worry too much about originality. I try to make entertaining and imaginative music based on my cultural frame and don't care a lick about being "original". I've also never had more than marginal success If people groove to it then it works. There are only 12 notes in the western scale. Danny

Hi there, I have a question for anyone that might be interested, especially songwriters. I have entered songwriting contests in the past and never won one. That's beside the point. The question is this; Do you think a songwriting contest in which the entrants only submit recordings that are limited to vocal and one instrument (piano, guitar etc..) would be a refreshing alternative to the contests that are currently available? My thinking is that, although most contests claim to only judge based on lyric content, melody, song structure etc... that most winners for one reason or another seem to have both production and performance ability on their side (I've been listening to winners of major contests like "the international songwriting competition" and "the John Lennon songwriting competition"). Would a contest that limited the format of the entries appeal to you as a songwriter? Do you see a reason to make that stipulation? Would you enter that contest even if it meant rerecording your song with a simple arrangement? Any thoughts are welcome

It sounds good but I don't think it's quite there as far as hooks. I've not nit picked the lyrics or anything but I'm feeling like to catch the ear of a wide audience as an unknown artist you need something that grabs more. The transitions don't have enough energy to make that happen. thats my first impression. Danny