#16
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Obviously, you can take a song and play it as an instrumental. And you could (maybe) take an instrumental and sing its melodic line (assuming it has one). But unless - or until - someone is singing it, it's not a "song". Yeah, pedants rule, OK!
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#17
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Yes. One of mine was called "Six Minutes in June", because that's exactly how long it took, and when. (It was "composed" on the spot.)
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#18
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By that criterion, I should've named my kid "Fifteen Seconds."
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#19
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For instrumentals, which is all I do, it can be hard to come up with a name, other times it's dead easy...a lot of mine are named by current events at the time of writing (e.g. Hillary Got Trumped or Moncton) or the feeling/invoked image (e.g. My Father's Hands or Elfin Flight) or circumstances (Counting Sheep was written during prolonged bout with insomnia, Deep in the Night after coming home late one night and just being mesmerized while playing my baritone).
And while a song has lyrics (so I must write tunes or pieces, perhaps sonatas or a little nachtmusik?), I sometimes find that a melody can suggest words even if you don't sing. One called Party Girl has a catchy bit where I want to sing (but be glad I don't) "no matter what, she's a party girl." Another sounds to me like "something something world peace" but it's such a trite piece that I called it Whirled Peas Phil
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Solo Fingerstyle CDs: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back (2021) One Size Does Not Fit All (2018) I play Crosby, Emerald, Larrivée, Lowden, Rainsong & Tacoma guitars. Check out my Guitar Website. See guitar photos & info at my Guitars page. |
#20
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Similar story... was working on a new song, we had a gig in two days but the lyrics weren't quite finished and it didn't have a title. So I used that as inspiration, added a line that included the words "Two Days" and that also became the title.
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#21
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Quote:
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#22
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But back to the OP's question...
... I've been thinking about pieces that I've composed over the years and I think that circumstances or non musical thoughts have given me most of my ideas, and so have become the titles.
This came about after reading a chapter in a Robert James Waller book - maybe it was Border Music, or Last Waltz in Cedar Bend. This one was when I was thinking about Isa , a lovely Mexican American wife of a very good Texan pal of mine after she had phoned me to tell me of his death. and this one is a version (impromtu?) of a David Grisman piece:
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Silly Moustache, Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer. I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom! |
#23
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For me, even if it is an instrumental, it has it’s beginnings in something emotional that I want to express through the melody and groove so the title usually comes from that.
Best, Jayne |
#24
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Sometimes I pull it after the fact from already written lyrics. A long time ago, my dad bought me a 4-track for Christmas. I was in high school at the time. my friend & I were intent on recording songs...so we wrote & recorded a song each day of the Christmas break. Because we didn't even know what we wanted to write I took to opening magazines and reading the first few words of paragraphs to see if anything struck me as a title that we could develop into a song. That produced song titles like: Almost From The Start Would You Like To Give It All Away Everyone Come Out And Play Come Morning One Day I look back at that & realize what a great writing exercise that was. Taking a title that you feel tells a story & filling in all the details of that story. Another true story: my college roommate & I were sitting in our room. I jumped up & headed out the door. He said "hey! where are you going". I replied "Sometimes I have to go to the bathroom!". By the time I had come back I had already set that title to music and knew we had to write that. Mostly because thought it would be funny. In any event, we wrote "Sometimes I Have To Go To The Bathroom". And since we were at a prestigious music school, we put the chorus in 5/4 in a feeble attempt to legitimize such a ridiculous title Most of the time, these days I choose a word or phrase that encapsulates what I'm saying & can be used to push the story. I can hear my lyric writing teacher from college saying "the title should embody the most important lyric & idea of your song". HTH
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-Steve 1927 Martin 00-21 1986 Fender Strat 1987 Ibanez RG560 1988 Fender Fretless J Bass 1991 Washburn HB-35s 1995 Taylor 812ce 1996 Taylor 510c (custom) 1996 Taylor 422-R (Limited Edition) 1997 Taylor 810-WMB (Limited Edition) 1998 Taylor 912c (Custom) 2019 Fender Tele |
#25
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Or you can just call them "pieces". But, yes, "songs" are sung & have lyrics.
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-Steve 1927 Martin 00-21 1986 Fender Strat 1987 Ibanez RG560 1988 Fender Fretless J Bass 1991 Washburn HB-35s 1995 Taylor 812ce 1996 Taylor 510c (custom) 1996 Taylor 422-R (Limited Edition) 1997 Taylor 810-WMB (Limited Edition) 1998 Taylor 912c (Custom) 2019 Fender Tele |
#26
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Probably been used before, but Leaving L.A. is a pretty frenetic instrumental. It's like, "I'm gettin' out!" Through crazy traffic, of course.
But then there's Sweet Sixteen, a much, well, sweeter instrumental.... But yeah, songs often pick a couple key words or a phrase out of the lyrics.
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2018 Guild F-512 Sunburst -- 2007 Guild F412 Ice Tea burst 2002 Guild JF30-12 Whiskeyburst -- 2011 Guild F-50R Sunburst 2011 Guild GAD D125-12 NT -- 1972 Epiphone FT-160 12-string 2012 Epiphone Dot CH -- 2010 Epiphone Les Paul Standard trans amber 2013 Yamaha Motif XS7 Cougar's Soundcloud page |
#27
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I'm old fashioned, I guess, especially with language, but I decidedly dislike the trend of using cellphone text-type abbreviations, like "4 u." Ick. Spell it out!
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2018 Guild F-512 Sunburst -- 2007 Guild F412 Ice Tea burst 2002 Guild JF30-12 Whiskeyburst -- 2011 Guild F-50R Sunburst 2011 Guild GAD D125-12 NT -- 1972 Epiphone FT-160 12-string 2012 Epiphone Dot CH -- 2010 Epiphone Les Paul Standard trans amber 2013 Yamaha Motif XS7 Cougar's Soundcloud page |
#28
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I often wonder how some fiddle tunes got their names. (and some of these I don't want to know.) These are all real tunes.
I Won't Be A Nun The Burnt Old Man Madam, I'd Like To Be Tossing Your Hay Good Morning to Your Nightcap The Cow That Ate the Blanket I Buried My Wife and Danced On Her Grave Fasten The Leg In Her Touch Me If You Dare Banshee’s Wail Over the Mangle Pit The Seanamhac Tube Station Lost in the Loop Wallop Away the Wattle, O! Shove The Pig’s Foot A Little Closer To The Fire **** Up Your Beaver, Johnny When She Cam Ben She Bobbit Come Under My Dimity Kitty Got A Clinking Coming To The Fair You Married My Daughter, Yet You Didn't
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Jim _____________________ -1962 Martin D-21 -1950 Gibson LG1 -1958 Goya M-26 -Various banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, ukuleles, Autoharps, mouth harps. . . |
#29
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Hi PHJim. Check my favourite method in post #6. I have no doubts about 'Good Morning To Your Nightcap'.
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#30
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Hi Stanron,
Your post reminded me of a song by Ian Bell of the Friends Of Fiddlers' Green called Rachel Rae. It uses many titles of fiddle tunes as lyrics, Rachel Rae and Davey Taylor, Miss McCleod and John McNeil, You must have cut a fancy figure Somebody made you a d*** fine reel. And we never met but I know your name And I call it out across the floor Whenever we come to scrape the strings And turn the old tunes loose once more. After each verse, one of the fiddle tunes mentioned in the song is played. He wonders if some time down the road from a faded page in a dusty book some musicians will Play a song that someone made for me.
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Jim _____________________ -1962 Martin D-21 -1950 Gibson LG1 -1958 Goya M-26 -Various banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, ukuleles, Autoharps, mouth harps. . . |