Song Club #47: Making Shapes
Thoughts on the friendship between geometry and melody
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My free newsletter will return next week with a new format, and at that point I’ll be unpausing paid subscriptions—so give it some thought. It’ll be fun!
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Music makes shapes. It undulates. It has topography. There’s an Escher painting inside the baroque rock of Ratatat’s ‘Seventeen Years’. The intro to ‘Adeline’ by Water From Your Eyes is an acid-wash ellipse.
In turn, shapes make music. A musical note is a shape. A horizon line evokes a melody line, becomes a melody line, is a collection of shapes. We record music by pressing a circle. Geometry and melody are great friends.
What I love about exploring songwriting through shapes is the expanse it cracks open: there are a few basic shapes, but infinite others. I also love that starting from this kind of place is simultaneously a severe limitation.
So, this week in our songwriting let’s bring our attention to shapes!
Big love and keep going,
Lucy
‘Entry Points’
#1
Isosceles, etc: Write a song that is a triangle. Or, turn a triangle into a song. Think how you might use notions of sides and angles to structure your song. Think about the ‘rule of threes’. How does a triangle as a song repeat. Be irreverent as you explore.
#2
Micro OST: Write a piece of music for one of these beautiful visualizers by Julia Schimautz. Find one you like, and spend five minutes staring at it. Next, begin to play along. Watch and respond. Stay with this until you find a pattern that grabs you.
#3
(Broken) heart-shaped: Write a song about the empty shape left by someone who is no longer in your life.
#4
DIY constellation: Go for a walk at night. Look up. Ignore what you know, and find a new constellation—your own. Write its story, then write a song about it.
#5
Shape theft: Listen to a song of your choosing (or this song). As you listen, map the shape of the song. The next day, write your own song from that map.
How have you used shapes in your music-making up to this moment? How do you find them freeing? How do you find them limiting?