I've been experimenting with my music throughout the week and have now settled on the foundations of the piece. I mentioned in my last post that I was influenced my James Taylor's naturalistic approach to his music and the fantastic imagery this creates. I have attempted to venture down this route myself, infusing this style of writing with a scottish identity.
Many of Taylor's songs open with a broken chord phrase which sets the scene for the song, "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in my Mind" are just a couple of examples. I begin my song in a similar fashion, intending to set a scene in the scottish hills, with melody and rhythm reminiscent of that found in traditional scottish music. The phrase ends with a roll into a broken Dsus2 chord, creating a drone which has become central to the piece. I have also added a percussive effect on the first beat of each bar in this section, striking my palm on the bridge of the guitar to create a bass sound and my thumb on a muted string to mimic a snare. I have decided to use this as a bridging section throughout the song as i feel it creates the imagery of a train slowing down as it approaches a station before setting off on the next leg of its journey, or in this case before moving into the next section of the song.
Many of Taylor's songs open with a broken chord phrase which sets the scene for the song, "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in my Mind" are just a couple of examples. I begin my song in a similar fashion, intending to set a scene in the scottish hills, with melody and rhythm reminiscent of that found in traditional scottish music. The phrase ends with a roll into a broken Dsus2 chord, creating a drone which has become central to the piece. I have also added a percussive effect on the first beat of each bar in this section, striking my palm on the bridge of the guitar to create a bass sound and my thumb on a muted string to mimic a snare. I have decided to use this as a bridging section throughout the song as i feel it creates the imagery of a train slowing down as it approaches a station before setting off on the next leg of its journey, or in this case before moving into the next section of the song.