Jessie J and Songwriting
![[Deleted User]](https://w4.vanillicon.com/v2/4096600d9d173b8655306602d0207310.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 3,373 Forum Member
✭✭✭
This isn't actually related to The Voice, but I thought it might be the best place to ask anyway...
I was surprised to find out that Jessie doesn't play any instruments, and I wondered what that means in the context of writing a song. How does she (and other pop singers) do it? Does she describe what kind of sound and arrangement she wants, suggest a chord progression etc.? Or maybe she comes up with a vocal melody and lyrics, and the producer/session musicians add a chord structure to that then write other parts? Or does she simply hear the track, then write her vocal part and lyrics to go on top of that?
It seems like the only way to write non-vocal parts would be to use some kind of software to create sheet music. I've used that in the past myself, but only to create sheet music for parts I've already written on guitar etc.
It's just weird to think that you'd never really be able to write a song without a co-writer.
I was surprised to find out that Jessie doesn't play any instruments, and I wondered what that means in the context of writing a song. How does she (and other pop singers) do it? Does she describe what kind of sound and arrangement she wants, suggest a chord progression etc.? Or maybe she comes up with a vocal melody and lyrics, and the producer/session musicians add a chord structure to that then write other parts? Or does she simply hear the track, then write her vocal part and lyrics to go on top of that?
It seems like the only way to write non-vocal parts would be to use some kind of software to create sheet music. I've used that in the past myself, but only to create sheet music for parts I've already written on guitar etc.
It's just weird to think that you'd never really be able to write a song without a co-writer.
0
Comments
Pop stars like Adele and Katy Perry work with others when writing music. It's quite normal.
By weird I meant 'difficult to retain creative control and not something I could see myself doing'. I know a lot of people co-write, but song ideas often come from a riff or a lick or a chord progression or something which you expand upon. I'm just wondering how you would ever contribute such a thing if you don't play an instrument.
To use your examples, Jagger also plays guitar, keyboard and bass, so he could come up with such a thing on his own. Ditto Lennon and McCartney - even though they sang, they also played several instruments.
I know pop-stars often use co-writers, but because songwriting credits don't tell you how much each of the writers contributed to the song, I'm asking if anyone can shed any light on that aspect of the music industry. Sometimes the individual writes all the parts e.g. Lindsey Buckingham's solo work; and sometimes the artist has a very minimal contribution to their own work, but co-writing is used to create an illusion of the person being integral to the songwriting process.
I was just surprised about Jessie because I had thought she was a singer-songwriter in the sense of writing at least some of the music which accompanies her vocals. When she mentioned not playing guitar last week, I assumed she must use piano to write her songs. Given her educational background as well, that seemed like a good assumption - didn't she go to the Brit School with Adele? Adele apparently plays a few instruments. Usually a trained singer knows the basics of piano, if only for practicing scales etc.
For the record, she does know the basics of the piano. She isn't Alicia Keys, but she isn't totally incompetent.
Thanks for the detailed response, it makes much more sense that she plays piano as well.
No problem. Recently she has been taking lessons to learn it even more as she one or two songs on her new album that will just be her and a piano.
She's very much an emcee in the way she approaches her music because she started her solo career as an emcee. Some of her early songs where she mainly sings even included her rapping a 16 for the hooks. I've noticed that even now, a lot of her lyrics are written like rap songs that are just being sung. Price Tag could have easily been a rap song and a week or so ago she tweeted some lyrics from her new album and when I read them, they flowed like a rap and less like a pop song, but that seems to be what she knows and it makes her writing style very recognizable.