In order of importance –“ What parts of a song do you concentrate most, and why?”

List
Melody – harmony – Tempo – Volume – Feel – Choice of melody instruments – Style – Your voice
If you another please add it to the list.

John C.

When I take a booking, I always ask for the type of music they would like me to play. I then find the:-

1) Song Title and relevant music for it,
2) The Style that I think will suit it (not necessarily the
recommended one. (Depends whether it's for dancing or
singing)
3) Set the Tempo - again not necessarily the recommended one.
4) Voices to suit and if necessary 'tweak'
5) When I'm happy, I name & save to each Panel Memory buttons.
6) When I'm satisfied with all, they are then saved to a
Bank and/or to an SD Card.

It is only when everything comes together do I concentrate on any part that is 'troublesome' e.g. too many 'flats' in the song which I still find very hard to remember.

Audrey

Audrey,
I was looking for something a bit different – When you begin to work on one song in which areas do you place the most importance. I posted a list of possible. use more than one and add what I may have left out.
John C.

It depends on what mood I am in, or why you are doing a new song ( professional or personal), it can be
1. Words
2. Chords
3. Melody
But other times it can be
1. melody
2. Tempo
3. Chords
I think it can changes from song to song.


Allan

1. Chords - Wrong chords really grate on my ears.....
2. Choice of melody instrument - sometimes difficult when replacing a vocal with an instrument.....
3. Style - Often built-in or even other available styles, do not do justice to a song, so many times I make my own styles. 4 measure repeating styles get a bit boring after a while.....
4. 'Feel' - being an 'ear' player, I think that feel is a very important part of any performance. I've heard many players who can only read 'the dots', play very mechanically - every note exactly on the beat and exactly the length as written.
5. Melody - It's important to play the original melody, but it's also nice to have the freedom to improvise and add some 'colour' - even if it's only a few grace notes.......
6. Tempo - I like to experiment with tempos. A totally different tempo to the 'normal' can sometimes bring new life to a song.

I don't see how any aspect of a song could be more or less important. No matter how great other aspects are, if any is bad, the whole song is bad. It's like asking which leg is most important. If either is bad, you won't run very fast . . .

Bob, this is why one artist sound better than another, we all favor different parts of a song. I do agree that all the parts do get attention but we do have personalities. Mine would be the melody with some additions and then the chords, harmony. I have heard players substitute chords bringing the song to a new level.

IMHO, John C.

I agree, assuming all other aspects are "adequate". My point is, regardless of how magnificent you might be with the melody, if you play wrong chords or miss timing too much, the magnificent melody line won't overcome those problems.

I am one who likes to find substitute chords when I am creating a lead sheet.

Based on the responses in this thread I have set up a forum poll on the thread http://www.synthzone.com/forum/ubbthread...most#Post313965

I setup 10 choices but you must pick the 5 most important to you. By the way any of you is able to setup polls like this with this new forum software.