Songwriting process

Viewing guide

Before

Think about a song you have written. How did you go about writing it?
If you haven’t written a song before, do one or both of the following:
- imagine how you might go about writing a song
- listen to others tell about their experiences.
What might be some challenges when songwriting?

During

What does Tim think is the ‘tough bit’ of songwriting.
What does Tim usually work out first?
What three themes does Tim mention?
Jot down the key aspects of Tim’s songwriting process.

After

Discuss the songwriting process that Tim describes. What role does repetition, ‘stepping back’ and ‘coming back’ play?
Compare Tim’s songwriting process to your own and classmates’ songwriting experiences.
Tim says that ‘most people who’ve been musicians for ten years, they can make up a chord sequence or a little melody’. As a young musician, this aspect of songwriting may be more challenging for you. What processes might help you be successful?

Transcript

[Music: No Aphrodisiac by The Whitlams performed with the Sydney Symphony Sinfonia]

Freya Lombardo (Interviewer): Now, let’s talk about the music such as how you come up with lyrics and chord progressions?

Tim Freedman: I think the hard thing is words really. I mean most people who’ve been musicians for ten years they can make up a chord sequence or a little melody but actually having something to say is the tough bit. I certainly have a theme before I have anything else. I think I want to write a song about that moment in my life, or I want to write a song about East Timor, or I want to write a song about people with gambling problems. So, I like to think of a theme first.

[Tim plays the piano]

Tim: I just like those chords and so then I just start to try and tell a story on top which is [sings while playing piano accompaniment] ‘Charlie you’re not Charlie anymore, you’re screwing it up.’ And then I’ll probably do ten alternative second lines until I find one that doesn’t make me wince, and then I’ll do twenty third lines and play it forty times until something happens by mistake and that sounds like another way of doing it. It’s like putting bricks in a wall and you have to step back sometimes and scratch your head. Sometimes you’ve got to just give up, come back to it in two days and you’ll often find the first five minutes after having a two day break is when you make a breakthrough.

[Music and applause]