 Ballad Songwriting |
 Sep 17 2008, 06:36 PM
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#1
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 GMC:er  Group: Members Posts: 977 Joined: 10-April 08 From: Germany Member No.: 4.859  |
Hi there!
I have got a question about about writing a ballad: Is there any structure of how to make a ballad, like Intro, Vers, Refrain ... ? I know a good ballad can be worked out with lots of tries, I just want to know if there are any "advices", how ballads are structured normally. Thanks for your help" 
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Sep 17 2008, 06:52 PM
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#2
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 Instructor  Group: GMC Instructor Posts: 25.396 Joined: 20-November 07 From: Belgrade, Serbia Member No.: 3.341 |
It is good to have a nice lyrics, that will corelate to the feeling of the song, and a nice vocal melody. There isn't any rule how to make a ballad IMO, just go with your feelings. I would definitely put some soft chordal voicings in ballad, and possibly some lite chorus effect as well to give it more dimension.
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Sep 17 2008, 07:49 PM
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#3
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 GMC:er Group: Passive Posts: 1.710 Joined: 17-July 07 From: Norway Member No.: 2.337 |
QUOTE (Nazgul @ Sep 17 2008, 07:36 PM)  Hi there! I have got a question about about writing a ballad: Is there any structure of how to make a ballad, like Intro, Vers, Refrain ... ? I know a good ballad can be worked out with lots of tries, I just want to know if there are any "advices", how ballads are structured normally. Thanks for your help" Well, a calm time signature and some nice chords. Bass line plays a great role too. -------------------- Eatsleepjam:
Nice Lesson! You said something about how it can be overused, what do you exactly mean by that ? Any tips to not overuse it ? -John Andrew Cockburn: Yes ... play it less often. ________________________________________________________________________________ Guitars: Ibanez 2570Z, Ibanez RG470 (I think?), an Ephiphone Les Paul, a Dean Baby V, and some random acoustic guitar. Amps: Marshall TSL60, L6 Spider 2 15w, L6 Spider 2 75w Pedals: BBpreamp, Boss DD-6, Boss RC-2, EBS Unichorus, Dunlop Crybaby, a Line 6 Constrictor and a Korg Chromatic tuner Computer equipment: Creative Emu Tracker pro 2.0 ________________________________________________________________________________ Click Here if you are unsure about how scaleboxes are put together! ________________________________________________________________________________ Leave a comment on my youtube videos! |
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Sep 18 2008, 11:35 AM
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#4
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 Singing Instructor Group: GMC Instructor Posts: 3.391 Joined: 23-January 08 Member No.: 3.960 |
Well it is not a rule,but,minor key and slower tempo can be some parts of a definition.And there are different ballads,Cemetery Gates is ballad,but not in relation to James Blunt
,if you see what I mean.Love lyrics are most of time the subject in this songs,so there is a good start there.
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Sep 19 2008, 10:13 AM
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#5
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 Instructor Group: GMC Instructor Posts: 8.109 Joined: 13-September 08 From: Nis, Serbia Member No.: 5.892 |
QUOTE (Nazgul @ Sep 17 2008, 07:36 PM) Hi there! I have got a question about about writing a ballad: Is there any structure of how to make a ballad, like Intro, Vers, Refrain ... ? I know a good ballad can be worked out with lots of tries, I just want to know if there are any "advices", how ballads are structured normally. Thanks for your help" Hey Nazgul, I would recommend doing following things 1) Make a list of your 10 favorite ballads (at least) 2) Listen to them and analyze them 3) Sketch out the arrangement for each of them (Intro 8 bars drums, Verse 16 bars , Chorus 8 bars etc) 4) Figure out the harmony in them 5) Learn the melody and find its relation to harmony After you have done this little project you will have many options for creating ballads. Remember , you don't have to do 10 songs right away , do one and if that goes well do another one etc. Hope I helped you out a bit. Thanks -------------------- |
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Sep 19 2008, 10:53 AM
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#6
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 Competitions Coordinator - Up the Irons  Group: GMC Senior Posts: 5.289 Joined: 17-February 08 From: Stavanger, Norway Member No.: 4.276 |
QUOTE (Pedja Simovic @ Sep 19 2008, 11:13 AM) Hey Nazgul, I would recommend doing following things 1) Make a list of your 10 favorite ballads (at least) 2) Listen to them and analyze them 3) Sketch out the arrangement for each of them (Intro 8 bars drums, Verse 16 bars , Chorus 8 bars etc) 4) Figure out the harmony in them 5) Learn the melody and find its relation to harmony After you have done this little project you will have many options for creating ballads. Remember , you don't have to do 10 songs right away , do one and if that goes well do another one etc. Hope I helped you out a bit. Thanks That's a great idea I think it's very beneficial to do this as you can get a pretty good understanding of how ballads are made Thanks man! |
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Sep 19 2008, 12:29 PM
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#7
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 GMC:er Group: Members Posts: 2.412 Joined: 23-February 07 From: New york Member No.: 1.243 |
Another thing about ballad lyrics that might help you write, is try to write something from the heart. Sure we can all piece together some random lines and have some cheesy lyrics, but In the end.... People relate to whats from the heart. Whether thats good or evil. So my advice would be, listen to some Ballad songs that you like. Read the lyrics, get in touch with the artist, then try to understand where all that raw emotion is coming from. Then maybe you can take yourself back to a time where you felt very emotional and start writing and composing some Amazing Ballads
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Sep 19 2008, 12:36 PM
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#8
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Singing Instructor Group: GMC Instructor Posts: 3.391 Joined: 23-January 08 Member No.: 3.960 |
QUOTE (Eat-Sleep-andJam @ Sep 19 2008, 01:29 PM) Another thing about ballad lyrics that might help you write, is try to write something from the heart. Sure we can all piece together some random lines and have some cheesy lyrics, but In the end.... People relate to whats from the heart. Whether thats good or evil. So my advice would be, listen to some Ballad songs that you like. Read the lyrics, get in touch with the artist, then try to understand where all that raw emotion is coming from. Then maybe you can take yourself back to a time where you felt very emotional and start writing and composing some Amazing Ballads I agree,one of the most important things is saying the story of the song.Good way to extract words from the heart is form me the best when I emagine the story in my head,like a movie.And then I just set markers(begininng,middle,end)and say what I feel. -------------------- |
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Sep 19 2008, 02:59 PM
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#9
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GMC:er Group: Members Posts: 977 Joined: 10-April 08 From: Germany Member No.: 4.859 |
Thanks for your help!
I think I'll take all the advice.
-------------------- Chuck Norris rules! |
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