VMP-Workbook-2020.Pdf

3.0

Program Overview:

This course is intended to spark your creativity, your authenticity, your truth. What is it that makes you uniquely you? What will you discover about yourself while on a creative journey? What will make you say, “That’s it! That’s me!” We are going to use music and all its power to take a peek into what makes you the unique person you are.

For most of us, we can’t get there alone. We can’t get to that place without help. Mentors, family members, friends, teachers, spiritual leaders and many others help us unlock this power – to access what you might call My Best Self. We all have an MBS. The trick is how to access it. It takes a concerted effort over a period of time with people who want to help and who also need your help in return. During this process we learn to collaborate, to listen and to work together in order to achieve this profound goal – to access everyone’s MBS. We experience the joy of accomplishment and the discomfort of setbacks. It’s all part of the process. You’re going to surprise yourself.

Peace,

Jaye Budd Founder Alchemy Sky Foundation

• We are going to write and record two songs together. • To validate our voices, look at new ways to express ourselves and break down some of the internal and external barriers that we all carry

Basic Structure of the Course:

• The program’s duration is 12 Monday night sessions (7 pm to 9 pm) plus 16 to 20 hours in a professional recording studio after the 12 weeks • First 12 sessions are in a conference room located at TeamRWB’s Firebase located at 198 14th Street, Atlanta, GA

o Typical structure of a weekly sessions: § Introduction (check-in) § Where did we leave off in the workbook? § Writing Exercise/Fill the “Word Bank” § Songwriting/music-making topic § Weekly sessions are summarized, and minutes are handed out the next week

• We will use this workbook as a guide to create our songs. • We are using the app “BAND” to keep in touch with everyone so we will need a mobile # and email from you. • Some of the sessions listed in the book (Session #1, Session #2…) will run longer than one Monday night session. • We will use studio musicians and local artists to help us write the music, beats, melody, etc. • We will be shooting video during the project and will drop our songs wherever music is streamed or sold. • If you are interested, we would like to interview you towards the end of the project to ask you about your military service, what music means to you, your story, etc. Please feel free to provide photos or videos to include in the final music video.

Housekeeping

• We want everyone to participate. • Everyone’s voice is valuable and unique. Let’s respect every voice. • Please feel free to share via social media! • Release/contact information form

Theme Mood

Genre

Two Teams (one song per team)

Review “Before We Record” Checklist

Introductory Exercise “Artist Compass” • Who are two of your favorite artists? • What are some of your favorite songs by these artists and why?

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Song Identity Statement

“This song is about ______

and it sounds like ______”

Song Form: Structure identified? Verses complete? Chorus/Hook? Bridge? Musical break? Intro? Outro?

Preproduction/Instrumentation: Have all music tracks been identified? Have we identified all the vocalists & musicians? Do we have/need scratch tracks to send ahead of time? Do have have/need musicians to create the above tracks? Do any final tracks need to be done ahead of time? Guitar solo?

Workflow at studio: Do we know what happens first, second, third, etc. Do we need to map out what happens by hour or session at the studio? Are there activities to be done simultaneously? Have we identified duties/tracks that need to be done ahead time? If so, do we have these completed?

Post-production: Master mix? Final product identified (mp3, mp4, cd, spotify, etc.)? Distribution plan created/confirmed? Video? Artwork? Social media?

Touch Base • What happened last week? Where did we leave off? • What are looking to accomplish today?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Life in the military? • Deployment? • Coming home? • Your friends in the military?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Write a letter to your younger/older self • Date it ten years ago/from now vs. today • Write a letter to someone who has moved you deeply (good or bad)

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Stream of consciousness writing • Write regardless of grammar or logic • Set your phone for three minutes and “just write” • Idea from the book The Artist’s Way

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Lyrics • Can you think of a song that speaks to you lyrically? • If so, why does it speak to you? • What makes a great lyric? • What is the difference between a hook and a phrase? • Two basic types of songs: § Narrative (“This happened to me.”) § Story (“This happened to somebody else.”) § Could be real or fiction

Lyric “Deep Dive” • Review the summary status of the Word Bank • Structure of our song • Rhyming schemes (rhymezone.com) § ABAB or AABB • Rhyme analysis (favorite song?) • Prose vs. Poetry

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Touch Base • What happened last week? Where did we leave off? • What are looking to accomplish today?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Mirroring Exercise • Pick a song, articulate the theme and write the opposite • Example “Georgia On My Mind” o It’s a song about missing a town. o Write about a town you don’t ever want to see again.

Writing exercise/Word Bank: • Group picks: o Place? o What is happening in that place? o Who is there at the place? o What happens to those people? o How does it end? Or does it? o Happy? Sad? Something else?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Try to write a “hook” • Jumble slogans, reverse them, change one word, etc. • Crash opposites • Stop it, (you’re embarrassing me with all your nice words) • Stop it go on (but it feels good) • Stop it some more

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Song Structure/Analysis • Pick a song and analyze it. • What’s a chorus? What’s a verse? What’s a hook? • The chorus is usually the same. • Verses are different but they “set up” the chorus. • Chorus is the “catchy” part • What is a typical song structure? • Let’s take a look at one of your favorite songs! • V/C/V/C/B/CC • “Bob Dylan” style

Rhythm/Tempo • What do you think of when you think of “The Beat”? • Let’s take a few songs and analyze them! • Do you focus on the bass, drums or a beat track? • Are the drums/beat tracks busy or simple? • Is there a bass and, if so, does it track with the drums/beat tracks? • Do the drums/beat tracks change from chorus to verse?

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Touch Base • What happened last week? Where did we leave off? • What are looking to accomplish today?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Pick a song and rewrite the lyrics with the same key and melody • Could you switch the verse with the chorus or vice versa?

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Free associate within your group brainstorming phrases. • Have someone write them down on a dry erase board or a 22x28 sheet of paper taped to the wall.

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“Turning the lyrics into a song” • Use the Word Bank and begin to group words and phrases • Can we pick our lyrics that make up the chorus? Verses? Hook? • Bridge? Outro? Intro? Spoken Word? • Writing the music & scratch vocal tracks

“Moods of Music”: • What kind of mood should our song feel like? (soothing, fast, hard- driving, flowing, etc.) • Chord progressions o I/IV/V o I/IV/VI/V o ii/V/I o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I § Video of hundreds of songs with the same progression § YouTube search: Axis of Awesome - 4 Four Chord Song (with song titles) • Major/Minor chords • “Flavors” – Metal guitar distortion vs. Jimi Hendrix Wah-Wah pedal vs. acoustic guitar

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Touch Base • What happened last week? Where did we leave off? • What are looking to accomplish today?

Writing exercise/Word Bank: • Open a book to a random page (or article online) • Pick four verbs and four nouns and crash them together • Pick two pairs of the four pairs and write. • We are looking for at least five sentences.

Writing Exercise/Word Bank: • Have the group take out their phones and play at least three songs at the same time. Listen to the lyrics crash into one another and listen for a hook or phrase from the combinations.

Writing exercise/Word Bank: • Write about something or someone who changed your life. • Describe your surroundings. Where were you? What year? • Write a story that you that you remember vividly or that is important to you.

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Merging lyrics, music, melody and structure • “Translate mumbles” • U2 example from the documentary From The Sky Down • It shows the birth of the hit song One • This scene is at the 1:04:47 mark of the video

“X Factor”: • Can you think of an X Factor from a favorite song? • Example – lyrics that are so vague or sang a certain way that you can’t understand them so you interpret them based on your journey • Example – An instrument or break in the song that is unexpected. • A chord that doesn’t belong in the song (Melissa by Allman Brothers)

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Touch Base • What happened last week? Where did we leave off? • What are looking to accomplish today?

• Review Before We Record Checklist

• Scope/layout work flow at recording studio

• Schedule recording studio time o Who is doing what at the studio and when? o Video interviews after your recording

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