Teaching myself to play it

rhymegirl · Mar 25, 2008

I thought this board might be a good place to post this. I am planning to enter a local songwriting contest. All you have to do is record two of your own songs on a tape or CD, with just piano or guitar, no fancy stuff, and mail the tape along with the registration form and a lyric sheet. Sound simple?

Sure, if one happens to play an instrument. I got together with my son and he played piano and I sang and it came out terrible! I could not sing the song as fast as he wanted to play it. Then I tried recording the song with my friend Kim. I have no idea which notes she was playing but they sure weren't the right ones.

Finally, frustrated, I thought: I'm gonna have to do this myself. I know about six or seven chords on the guitar. My father taught me to play and I can play by ear. So I sat down and started strumming a few chords and I thought: I can do this! I'll figure out the chords and play it myself.

I'll let you know what happens!

bluntforcetrauma · Mar 25, 2008

From one musician to another...cheers!

III · Mar 25, 2008

You go girl!

JRH · Mar 25, 2008

RhymeGirl,

I'd be interested in knowing who is putting on this contest. I've been entering Song Contests, (such as "The USA Songwriting Competition", "The John Lennon Song Festival", "The Billboard Song Festival", "The Great American Song Contest", "CMT NSAI Song Contest" and "The Internatioal Songwriting Competition" for years) and had a fair amout of success there, (2d Prize Country in the 2003 Billboard and 7 Honorable Mentions spread between the others), and NONE of the LEGITIMATE ones I know of require you to send 2 Songs at a time or restrict arrangements to simple Piano or Guitar.

To be honest, depending on their fees, and the prizes they offer, I'd be very suspicious of such.

Moreover, I myself could not enter such as all my songs are written out in 'The Harmony Assistant" Compostition Program and played back by my computer using multiple instruments, (and that's been acceptable to all the contests listed above), and my experience has been that the more professional and fully instrumented the demo is, the better the chances one has for success.

Check them out as thoroughly as you can, and beyond that I wish you luck.

Jim Hoye, (JRH)

rhymegirl · Mar 25, 2008

I found out about this contest through RISA, the professional songwriters group I belong to. There is no entry fee for this contest.

"The 16th Annual Performing Songwriting Competition at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, MA. Three finalists will be selected to appear on stage on May 17 to determine the winner, just in advance of the feature performance by Cheryl Wheeler. It's a sure thing you will be doing your songs in front of a large, enthusiastic audience!

This year, the winner will receive a $100 cash prize, a featured concert during the 2008-2009 Rose Garden season, and a stage appearance this summer at the immensely popular Great Waters Folk Festival on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, NH. Headliners at that event July 25-27 include Pure Prairie League, The Waybacks, Catie Curtis, Jonathan Edwards, and many others."

Oh, and the reason why they only want the vocal and guitar or piano is because they want to be able to hear the words clearly.

JRH · Mar 25, 2008

My mistake, RhymeGirl,

I missed the part where you said it was local, and as most of my comments were geared to "National" SONGWRITING Competitions , they were inappropriate to the situation you are talking about, which I would consider a Performance competition limited to the performer's own songs with the emphasis on the Song itself.

The simplified instrumentation does indicate to me that the Song is at least important to them as the Performance, and that's a good thing, and I agree totally that the ability to hear the words is necessary to any judging of a Song's merits.

Good Luck.

Jim Hoye, (JRH)

rtilryarms · Apr 1, 2008

I am different from my (many) siblings. It takes me weeks to learn a song. They seem to learn one and perfect it overnight.

There are some songs I have been practicing for years and still have not perfected.

I am a familial outcast

rhymegirl · Apr 21, 2008

Well, today I received an email announcing the 3 finalists for this songwriting contest and I didn't make it.

I'm really depressed now.

Haggis · Apr 21, 2008

rhymegirl said:
Well, today I received an email announcing the 3 finalists for this songwriting contest and I didn't make it.

I'm really depressed now.

III · Apr 21, 2008

(from the other side of Haggis)

maestrowork · Apr 21, 2008

rhymegirl said:
Well, today I received an email announcing the 3 finalists for this songwriting contest and I didn't make it.

I'm really depressed now.

I'm sorry, but hey, at least you went for it. There are plenty of opportunities out there. Keep doing it.

Ray, who never won anything

ChunkyC · Apr 21, 2008

I echo Ray's words. At least you gave it a shot, which is more than the vast majority of people do.

rhymegirl · Apr 26, 2008

Thanks.

I'm not sure what I'll do next with this songwriting stuff.

I also didn't realize it was a national competition. One winner is from Texas. The other two from Massachusetts.

So that tells me there were probably lots more contestants than I had thought. My son said, "Why would anyone want to travel all the way to Massachusetts from Texas to perform their song? The prize is only $100. It would cost more than that to fly here."

Good point.

maestrowork · Apr 26, 2008

It's all about bragging right. "Oooh, so and so is a national winner (of XYZ songwriting contest)."

What a lot of songwriters do is build up their repertoire, make some demo CDs, and send them out or perform at open mikes, etc... Have you seen the movie Once? It's a really good film and it sheds a bit of light on what it means to be a songwriter/musician.

Teaching myself to play it

rhymegirl

It's a New Year!

bluntforcetrauma

Esquire

III

rockin the suburbs

JRH

practical experience, FTW

rhymegirl

It's a New Year!

JRH

practical experience, FTW

rtilryarms

Crossbows and Handgonnes

rhymegirl

It's a New Year!

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

III

rockin the suburbs

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

ChunkyC

It's hard being green

rhymegirl

It's a New Year!

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray