To begin the composition of my original song, I started by producing a chord sequence on my guitar that I liked the sound of. This chord progression consisted of an F, A Minor, E minor and then back to the F in the verses. For the chorus, the progression changed to an F, G and A minor. I then continued to play this progression whilst humming along with it to produce a melody for the piece.
Once I figured out the melody, I began writing lyrics. I wanted the song structure to be simple, so I followed the standard song structure of verse, chorus, verse, chorus and a final eight for a gentle conclusion to the piece. The chord progression was melancholic in tone, so I made the lyrics the similar. I decided to use an ‘AABAAB’ rhyming scheme as it is what comes most naturally to me. As the first lyrics in the song were “I still remember, the start of September”, I decided that the theme I wanted to follow was Autumn. Throughout the song, there are lyrics in association to this season, such as “leaves starting to fall” and “leaves starting to brown”. I took further inspiration from Conan Gray’s song ‘Heather’, including lyrics such as “I am no Heather” and “gave me her sweater” as I really liked the vibe of this song and so wanted to replicate a similar tone for my piece. Below I have supplied the lyrics in full.
As we have three vocalists in the band, I decided that instead of having one lead singer, I would have all the vocalists singing at the same time but at different harmonies. This will add more texture and timbre to the composition as well as depth provided by differing tones brought on by the combination of different pitches in vocals and guitar. I believe a stripped-down acoustic song would generate the best out of the group and the song, as the song is slow and calm and the vocalists are soft and gentle in delivery.
Sarahs Sound Dubbing Blog 