Making songs my own way

[justadam]

I have a question that bothers me for a while.
Is it really bad if I redo existing song with probably lots of different chords than used in original version? (I will do my own version in a different key but I talk about relative progression)
Basically, I want to lower the key of the song, leave a melody of singing but also change chords, so they fit my interpretation and I won't have to find exact chords played in original and lower them to my desired key.

Maybe thats what music is all about but I just want to make sure that as long as it sounds good it's all ok

Thanks!

[walternewton]

Sure, there are no music police - you can do whatever you think sounds good, and changing key to fit your voice certainly isn't a problem - though if you're talking about playing to an audience and messing around with well known material, note they might have their own opinions about how things are supposed to sound...

[oldhippiegal]

I do it all the time. I have a musical crush on sus chords and I'm forever using them where they ain't.

[justadam]

but you talk about a different voicing (of a same exact chord but in a different key) which is always alright whereas I mean a probably different progression - what actually leads to a different interpretation.

I feel that I actually ask if it is not more of a faux pas to sing a song with a different chord progression (+ different key and tempo)

[mr. beaumont]

That's what makes music fun, if you ask me.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by justadam

...Maybe thats what music is all about but I just want to make sure that as long as it sounds good it's all ok

Hi justadam...

It's called song arranging, and it's fine. In fact sometimes I enjoy the re-arrangements as much as an original.

[Hotspur]

People reharmonize songs all the time.

On the other hand, you know, chords are often chosen for a reason. Good songwriting isn't just about finding chords that fit the melody, it's about finding chords that help you tell the story of the song.

If you really want to put in the work to understand how different chords work, to understand the harmonic rhythm of the song, and understand the choices that the original songwriter made, and you want to do something different, great.

On the other hand, if you just can't be bothered to figure out what the original songwriter did and to fit it into the appropriate key for your voice, then chances are you're going to end up making the end result substantially worse the original. It probably won't even sound like the original song to anybody with much awareness of the original song.

Hey, look, if you want to be lazy, that's fine - but never expect your audience to miss the fact that you're being lazy. Something about the way you wrote your post makes me think you don't know that much about music and rather than learn you just want to fake it. And if you want to fake it, that's fine - but don't think that people won't know that you're faking it.

[Mtn Man]

Originally Posted by Hotspur

People reharmonize songs all the time.

On the other hand, you know, chords are often chosen for a reason. Good songwriting isn't just about finding chords that fit the melody, it's about finding chords that help you tell the story of the song.

If you really want to put in the work to understand how different chords work, to understand the harmonic rhythm of the song, and understand the choices that the original songwriter made, and you want to do something different, great.

On the other hand, if you just can't be bothered to figure out what the original songwriter did and to fit it into the appropriate key for your voice, then chances are you're going to end up making the end result substantially worse the original. It probably won't even sound like the original song to anybody with much awareness of the original song.

Hey, look, if you want to be lazy, that's fine - but never expect your audience to miss the fact that you're being lazy. Something about the way you wrote your post makes me think you don't know that much about music and rather than learn you just want to fake it. And if you want to fake it, that's fine - but don't think that people won't know that you're faking it.

Bingo! It's fine to rearrange song, but make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

I overheard a conversation in a music store a bunch of years ago, that's always stuck with me. A guy was trying out a guitar, and another guy walked up to him. "Hey man, know any AC/DC?"

"Nah man, I only play my own stuff."

The problem was, his own stuff all sounded the same, and wasn't very good, at least according to what he was playing that day. I remember thinking, here's a guy that could benefit from learning someone else's material. All the greats did it, learning stuff note for note, on the way to developing their own style. I personally believe, if you're going to do a radical reinterpretation of a classic song, you should be required to learn the original interpretation first. There are many exceptions of course, but if the song is truly a classic I think you owe it to the original composer (and yourself) to at least know how it was constructed. That gives you a little more license to go muck it up, I think.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by justadam

I have a question that bothers me for a while.
Is it really bad if I redo existing song with probably lots of different chords than used in original version? (I will do my own version in a different key but I talk about relative progression)
Basically, I want to lower the key of the song, leave a melody of singing but also change chords, so they fit my interpretation and I won't have to find exact chords played in original and lower them to my desired key.

Maybe thats what music is all about but I just want to make sure that as long as it sounds good it's all ok

Thanks!

Sure "sounding good" is what it's all about, but a lot depends on whether you're doing this just for yourself, or to entertain an audience. IOW, "sounding good" is subjective, so who is going to be listening can be important.
If you're aiming to perform it in public, then it may depend on how well-known or popular the original is, and what kind of audience it is.
Eg, a jazz audience will love any kind of intelligent reharmonisation of an original, especially a well-worn standard.
But a rock audience may just think you've got it all wrong if you change the chords of a rock favourite. They will think you're dumb, not clever.

In either case, knowing your stuff is essential. Your changes have to be persuasive and convincing.
In rock, the original sequence of a song is usually regarded as set in stone - even more fixed than the melody (even though chord sequences are not copyright and melodies are). You can play a song at a different tempo or feel (eg Clapton's own reworking of Layla), you can of course change the key to suit your voice, you can "interpret" a melody your way, you might even change the odd lyric or two. But it's usually difficult to change the chords - other than embellishing them with the odd added extension - without an audience going "uh, wtf?"

Personally, I think if you're worried about whether you should or should not (if that's behind your question) - I'd say you probably shouldn't. Learn to love the original. (There are many acceptable ways to play a song "your way" without changing the chords, tune or lyrics.)
For it to be a good idea to change the chords, you wouldn't need to ask the question: you'd be confident enough that your re-arrangement is an improvement on the original, and our opinion wouldn't matter a ****. If that's the case - go for it!

[71jasper]

NO!!! The Song Police will come for you in the early morning hours and you'll never be heard from again.

Of course it's OK. It not only will bring a fresh interprettion of the song to the world, but will help you grow as a musician. If you consider all of the remakes of songs over the years you'll find very few that were note-for-note covers. Take for example James Taylor's reinterpretations of well known songs. He didn't have a special license to arrange, he just arranged.

So go ahead, take what's coming out of the speakers and process it through your imagination. You'll like the result.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by 71jasper

If you consider all of the remakes of songs over the years you'll find very few that were note-for-note covers.

But how many actually changed the chord progression (re-harmonised) in the way the OP seems to be implying? Examples please! (Genuinely curious - I'm sure this will help the OP too.)

Originally Posted by 71jasper

Take for example James Taylor's reinterpretations of well known songs. He didn't have a special license to arrange, he just arranged.

Did he change the original chords though? Again, examples please.

[oldhippiegal]

Originally Posted by JonPR

But how many actually changed the chord progression (re-harmonised) in the way the OP seems to be implying? Examples please! (Genuinely curious - I'm sure this will help the OP too.)

Such a good question, Jon! I know I've heard songs taken from major key to minor...and now I'll be spending my day challenging my aging memory to remember some!

[mr. beaumont]

jazz players change the chords all the time...maybe not every chord, but plenty of em. There's all means of substitutions and reharmonization one can do.

The trick is to know what is good enough as is, and to know when the change actually works...melody über alles. If it doesn't support the melody, it's a no no...well...at least while someone is playing or singing the melody...

[oldhippiegal]

true--gotta know what you're doing or be one of those musical geniuses who knows without knowing.

Read this on Reharmonization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmoni...eharmonization

And if none of that makes a lick of sense to you, you probably shouldn't be doing it.

[George Bailey]

Yeah, I think as soon as you asked -you kind of threw away any artistic license, but that's just my take on it. I'm by no means a "pro" and could care less what somebody thinks of what I did to any song that I feel like learning (or almost learning). Many songs I've learned "the wrong way " before there were so many resources to learn (as there are nowadays), and I didn't have any type of teacher or anything other than a few magazines with tabs of songs. I really have no want to fix them now that I know the difference. Then again, I'm usually only playing around friends and family and maybe a few strangers.

There are no rules to any art. Doesn't mean you're gonna sell it though. Popular music has done away with most "rules" that once were thought of as normal. Have you listened to any of the stuff on the radio lately?