Haven’t really had the time or resolve to blog much lately.
Plus the fact that I’ve discovered my new love Twitter, which means I’ve been wanting to blog less.
I suppose in the past few years I’ve paid my fair share of dues in learning as much as I possibly can about the art and craft of both songwriting and playwriting.
I’ve studied tons of books, perused podcasts, watched clips, attended talks, spoken to experts, etc.
Songwriting came first around four years ago, and playwriting came in a bit later starting last year.
I’ve been very fortunate to be able to reap some degree of satisfaction from both artforms in the past few years.
And I’ve been spending the past few weeks thinking about the significance of these two artforms to me.
Songwriting and playwriting, playwriting and songwriting.
…
How to tell if you’re a songwriter at heart, or a playwright at heart?
Well, to me the best way is when you personally experience something really moving, and then you want to express this emotion in a particular artistic form.
If it’s to be expressed in a song, then you’re a songwriter at heart.
If you want to write a play about it, then you’re a playwright at heart.
Me?
Honestly, I’ve been veering towards plays these days, but I can honestly say that music and songwriting will always hold a firm place in my heart.
…
I still think that songwriting is the far more mysterious and fascinating artform.
In many ways, songwriting scares me, in the sense that I’m always fearful of the fact that I might never be able to come up with a decent tune again.
It’s a very nebulous art.
It was nebulous when I first dabbled in it, and it still remains every bit as nebulous now.
Up till now I cannot describe how I come up with a tune, especially a good one.
I cannot give you a blueprint on how to craft a great melody.
And I always live in constant fear that I may never be able to write a great melody for the rest of my life.
I’m always scared that I may have written my last good song.
Comparatively, playwriting is far less frightening.
Come up with an intriguing premise, craft a decent plot with enough conflict, conjure up real and complex characters, imagine yourself in their shoes and write the dialogue accordingly, etc.
It’s not extremely difficult.
If you work hard enough at it, I suppose you will end up with a pretty good play at the end of the day.
It’s something that you can write and rewrite and rewrite, and it gets that much better each time.
Whereas a song is rather different.
It’s either you catch that tune from a moment of divine inspiration, or you don’t.
You could probably put a song through multiple rewrites, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are moving in the right direction.
That’s the thing about songs – you either manage to “catch” it, or you don’t.
To me, songwriting is just so mysterious.
That great melody is such an elusive thing.
You’ll never be able to explain how it came about.
Or at least I can never explain it.
