How To Write New Music
in 30 minutes:
Sia Fuler's Method

by Tyrone Actub Caballero

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Copyright © 2015 Tyrone Actub Caballero

HowToWriteNewMusic.com

Sia’s TV and Radio Interview

Sia Furler's Incredible Songwriting Technique

Sia Furler's Incredible Songwriting Technique (mirror site)

eBook’s Promo Video

eBook’s Promo Video (mirror site)

1. Introduction

This is a book about songwriting – and although not an exact or complete copy, the idea for this book was born out of the worldwide amazement and adoration of pop artist, singer and songwriter ‘Sia’; full name Sia Furler, a 38-year-old musical wonder from Australia. She recently wowed audiences as she demonstrated her immense talent for songwriting in an interview with long-time talkshow host Howard Stern. You can watch her full interview on our blog post.

During the radio interview, Sia revealed her ingenious songwriting technique in the creation of the Rihanna-sung pop chart topper “Diamonds”: the process began as she had her producers play her a backing track, to which she simply hummed a melody. While humming – almost singing – the words “diamonds in the sky” simply slipped past her, unintentionally. Then, with her voice recorded over the piece, she simply listened to it again and wrote over the entire thing, using her hummed melody as a phonetical guide for her lyrics.

The entire process took her less than an hour – in fact, she’s been quoted as saying that it look 14 minutes to get it done.

First of all, this isn’t just the work of a genius – there is technique and practice behind Sia’s skill, such that any musician can take a page from her book (or this one) and try their own hand at writing music. With her skill, Sia went on to write smash hits like “Titanium” for David Guetta, as well as songs by Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Kesha and so on. She wrote her own first piece, “Chandelier”, earlier last year (2014) – and it exploded through the charts, with fans and music lovers everywhere voting the song to number 1 on the 10 Best Songs of 2014 by Billboard.com. She recently unveiled “1000 Forms of Fear”, and seems to be doing quite well.

In another TV interview with Chris Connelly for Nightline. There is a segment where she fashioned a piece of melody on the spot.  For sure many viewers are left wondering, especially those who are into song writing, on how would Sia and her co-songwriter worked on a song from start to finish. The book may not be the exact songwriting process of Sia, but somehow will show you a similar system on how to create a simple piece of melody, as a starting material.  Then expanding it and building a complete composition around it. Will also discuss Sia's incredible talent, gives you advice if you decide to pursue and learn her awesome ability.

This book, in particular, focuses on teaching advanced musicians how to write a song, and develop a melodic idea into a full-blown composition, by starting with a fragment of melody.  Written in an organized, step-by-step approach, readers will be able to formulate a completely original, personal and emotional work, simply by letting their own creativity and talent go into an unshackled overdrive.

What this book is not:

Although not designed for the absolute beginner -- the contents will provide a simplified overview of a song-writing process based on Sia's technique. However, for those with basic knowledge in music theory, harmony, and are fairly skilled in the instrument of their choice – be that the guitar, keyboard, violin, or vocal chords – or any other instrument – to the point that they vaguely know how to read and write music for their instrument on a basic to intermediate level -- can easily grasp the concept presented by the eBook and implement the technique right away. 

If you’re less skilled in the instrument-playing-department, another alternative is learn how to use a music notation software to lay down your melody and harmony experiments to get a pretty good idea of how your work sounds like. If you’re newly self-taught, or are looking to start writing music, then check out ‘How to Write New Music’ – the 2-book series on music theory, harmony, melody, and the systematic method to make your own music (composing and arranging).

This book also doesn’t feature lyrical writing – it sticks to referencing the basics of harmony and melody, and how you can emulate Sia’s songwriting technique to prompt your own musical epiphany through a few systematic tips and instructions. Therefore, it’s solely focused on instrumental music.

2. Sia's Songwriting Process

In her tv and radio interviews,  she mentioned and showed using a backing track or live accompaniment to spontaneously fashion a fragment of melody, and from that piece of melody is where she will start building her song. The tv reporter even ask Sia how long it took her to finish the smash hit 'Titanium' -- she answered -- "only 40 minutes". The reporter was awed and simply said -- 'now that's amazing' then Sia just laugh out loud. It's even more amazing when Sia demonstrated her actual method together with her co writer, they created several tid bits of melodies on the spot and collect it (recorded), for their future song material. Sia even brag about that they can make a complete song within 1 1/2 hours - now that indeed is an awesome talent.

You can view the video and radio interview of Sia on our blog post (here’s the link)

Now this raises the question -- is it possible to mimic and learn the method or technique of Sia? The Big answer is YES! If you are willing to learn the skills needed I assure you, you will get to Sia's level of creativity and talent.

The process goes like this -- she gets her recorder device running -- then she starts humming a melody (like doing those da da doos) over a backing track or live accompanying music played by a musician. She focuses more on shaping the melody, she mentioned that lyrics will come later, and she can easily make up words by twisting it to perfectly fit it into the melody.

Now you may be wondering, how the heck will they be able to create a complete song from that piece of melody?

The answer: simple, they know music theory, harmony and composing technique, and formulating their own method. (If you are a beginner, I suggest you grab a copy of my ebook series -- 'How to Write New Music')  Now, think of it for a moment -- for those who have no music background and wanting to write their own music, they will always think that it's an impossible feat to achieve, only those born talented are the only one who can pull this off.

What I'm about to show you is a system that most composers or musicians won't even discuss openly online. What they will only show you are theories, even the actual composing and putting together a very simple composition is almost non existent. Once you learn this system -- I'm pretty sure this will be the start of your journey as a composer where you will be able to effortlessly compose new music in a short period of time -- your very own composition that you can be proud of and brag about.

2.1. Sia's Musical Ability

Ever wonder what is takes to be like Sia. Well wonder no more, let's break down Sia's incredible musical ability.

·           Knowledge of Music theory and harmony

·           Pitch recognition

·           Sight Rhythm visualization

·           Melody Phrasing

·           Lyrics Writing

·           Vocal Power

·           knows how to play an instrument

There are many ways of writing a song, some will start with lyrics, but with Sia, as discussed earlier, she start out creating a piece of melody first.

Here is how Sia would use her abilities during her songwriting process

Step 1

Sia plays a backing track in loop mode (repeating audio) at the same time her recorder device is running capturing every rhythm phrase she creates.

Step 2

She will then use her sight rhythm visualization technique, starting out humming quarter notes to get to know the tempo and be familiar of the backing track's phrase meter.

No pitch involved yet, she will hum first the tonic of the backing track's key signature.

For beginners who don't have this ability. You can download my free app (Sight Rhythm Rockstar) that shows you how to play and read rhythm the right way.  Available for Android and Amazon devices.

Step 3

She then starts manipulating the rhythm pattern.

Original

Variation 1

Variation 2

Variation 3

Step 4

She will then choose a particular rhythm pattern she likes from step 3. That rhythm pattern will now be used to add some pitch to form the melody.

While her recording device is running, she constantly changes the pitch while sticking to the original rhythm pattern, however she might also alter some rhythm notes to improvise the melody phrase.

Sia used this method to write Diamonds by Rihanna, you can listen to her complete explanation on our blog.

The melodies may look like these ( using rhythm pattern: variation 3 of step 3):

Variation 1

Variation 2

Variation 3

As you can see from the three variations -- you will notice the different contours of the melody. The third one, she may have decided to change some rhythm notes from the original pattern.

If we calculate a song by minutes, an average song has about three minutes.  Now, how much time would Sia have spent creating those 2-bar variation compositions? Let’s do the math – if she’s composing at a tempo of 80bpm (beat per minute) on 4/4 time meter -– this means that she can hit 80 quarter notes in one minute.  When you look at the three variation example above, that’s only a total of 24 beats or quarter of a minute. Imagine, you doing this method over and over again in one day, you will surely generate tons of original material, enough to create one album per day.

Moving on to Sia's ability to recognize pitch is a one sought after ability by most musicians, because if you know the key, harmony and chord progression of a backing track, you can easily navigate your way inside the chord, and pick out the right pitch for the melody to perfectly work with the chord.

As a beginner in music composition -- you may not develop pitch recognition right away, but you can still compose music without this skill. The quickest way to learn pitch and chord recognition is to learn how to play the piano/keyboard, especially the electronic music keyboard which will always have an accurate pitch.

Let's put it this way, if you're a beginner and want to be a serious songwriter and composer -- the Ultimate instrument to learn is the piano/keyboard -- because it is the Composer's instrument. You can play virtually any instrument type you can imagine with today's electronic keyboard audio technology. Heck, it is even possible to compose for the full orchestral range with an electronic keyboard. For the most part, other instruments do not have this kind of flexibility, so take advantage of the instrument's technology. You are getting more benefits from piano if you decide to learn to play it -- it's like you're hitting three birds with one stone; you learn to play your favorite song and easily analyze its harmony and melody, the instrument will be used for composing, and finally --  the more you play the instrument -- the more your ear get used to different pitch which in turn train your ear to recognize pitch quickly.

Now a days electronic keyboards are dirt cheap, I would highly suggest you invest in one.

Check out the Resource section at the end portion of this ebook (great combo for this ebook) to learn where to get the best piano/keyboard lesson. I'm confident to say that you will never need another piano lesson or teacher ever again. You will learn to play the piano in a short period of time. A unique system develop by a piano teacher, where you can play any tune by ear without ever needing a sheet music, remember that what we are after is Sia's pitch recognition technique, and their system is the perfect one to quickly gain this ability.

3. Mimicking Sia's Ability

Sia is one incredible talented individual who can effortlessly write unlimited original music in a short span of time. Let's assume you're a complete beginner. What are your music abilities compare to Sia?

Skill / Ability | Sia | You
Knowledge of Music theory and Harmony | Yes | No
Pitch Recognition | Yes | No
Sight Rhythm Visualization | Yes | No
Melody Phrasing | Yes | No
Lyrics Writing | Yes | No
Vocal Power | Yes | No
Knows How to Play an Instrument | Yes | No

Don't get discouraged -- the good news is -- you can still compose music just by having Sia's three abilities (i.e. Knowledge of Music theory and harmony, Sight Rhythm visualization, and Melody Phrasing)

Grab a copy of my 2 eBook series "How to Write New Music"

Harmony and Theory

Composing and Arranging

The other abilities of Sia are definitely attainable, you just got to have that willingness to learn attitude. The secret is learning from the pros, and cut years figuring out yourself how to do it right. Info source on the link below (resource section), expand your horizon, great combos for this eBook.

If you don't know how to play any instrument to somehow create and hear your melody composition. What you can use as an alternative -- is a music notation software. We have a blog post on our website; info on where to get a free music notation software, and teaching you how to use it step by step. (here’s the link)

4. The Composing Process

The process is somewhat similar to what have been discussed earlier about Sia's melody creation process, but designed specifically with writing music method or with the aid of a music notation software.

However, when you decide to learn all the remaining abilities of Sia and master it, you will no longer need any music notation software. By then, you can effortlessly compose, manipulate melodies and harmonies by just using your imagination. In addition, you will also have the ability to fix any problem area instantly in your composition if it doesn't sound right. 

Again, the process is pretty much the same as before, slowly changing the rhythm and pitch of the melody, and picking out the best one you like to use as a starting material for your next song project. This piece of melody will be used to expand the melody that will be used for each section of your composition, then adding instruments around it to complete the composition.

The composition project will be kept as simple as possible for you to easily get the concept of composing, but will still have a musical sense appeal.

Assuming you have the three necessary skills mentioned earlier -- you are now ready to get your feet wet. So let's jump right into it!

4.1. Step 1 (5 minutes)

Step 1

Get a backing track for you to work on to create a piece of melody.

What to look for on a backing track:

2 bar: 4/4 time signature

Simple accompaniment

·           piano or guitar only

·           piano or guitar and drums only

Chord progression information/key

Knowing the chord progression will enable you to easily choose the right melody  notes by using your know how of music theory and harmony.

If you can get your hands on the sheet music of the backing track, that would be great, because it will provide you with all the information you need for every section, making it easier for you to plan and shape the melody for each section of the backing track.

However, if you don't have the information of the backing track. You may need to manually figure it out by yourself the key and chord progression. This is an advanced method discussed on eBook 2 of "How to Write New Music: Arranging and Composition" using backing tracks (advance method).

Lucky for you, you can download a free backing track with sheet music for each instrument at our blog. Check resource below

4.2. Step 2 (5 minutes)

Step 2

Now that you have your backing track ready -- you've analyzed the key center and chord progression. Next, you must identify if this backing track will be used for verse of chorus.

Majority of music composition will put different key center for each section to create contrast. Although this is not the absolute practice used by composers, we will use this as an example for this project.

verse: key center -- minor key

chorus: key center -- major key

other sections: may vary

The info of the backing track that will be used for this project:

·           2 bar

·           4/4 time signature

·           key center: relative A minor

·           chord progression:  B°- Em - Am or (II° - Vm -Im)

·           instrument accompaniment - Guitar and drum only

·           tempo: 100

·           style -- pop love song

4.3. Step 3 (5 minutes)

Step 3

On our backing track example, it shows where the chord progressions are placed on a particular measure and beat.

Bear in mind the important and less important beats as these locations are where you will place the important notes (e.g. chord tones, pitch, embellishments).

We will now begin to create the 2 bar melody, start out with simple rhythm notes, then slowly altering the rhythm notes until you come up with a rhythm pattern you like. One more thing, don't put any rest in between the rhythm pattern, put it at the end part, this will serve as a separator or breathing space.

Figure 1: Variation 1

Figure 2: Variation 2

Say for example you choose the rhythm pattern --  variation 1.  You will now start adding chord tones according to the specified area of the chord, until the chord changes as indicated above the sheet music.

Figure 3: Variation 1 of figure 1 with chord tones

Chord's covered area on a bar

Figure 4: Variation 1 of figure 1 with different set of chord tones

Chord's covered area on a bar

You will notice that both melodies will sound fairly good against the backing track.  But what makes it sound good are the following factors:

Harmonized melody

Important notes on Strong Beats

Out of Chord Tones (less important) on weak beats

Shape of the melody

[Again, all these subjects has been discussed on the ebook series,How to write new music]

4.4. Step 4 (5 minutes)

Step 4

Once you have decided which variation of melody with chord tones to use -- you will then manipulate the same rhythm pattern to create another altered rhythm pattern.

Original

Modified

When creating your second rhythmic pattern, make sure the last note will have a different beat ending. Looking and comparing at the original and modified rhythmic pattern -- you will notice that they end the phrase on a different beat.  Although some rhythm notes are similar with the original pattern, if the second phrase ends on a different beat -- it will be automatically considered as a unique phrase.

The two rhythmic pattern will now be labeled with  (a) and (b) sets.

Now that we have the (b) rhythmic pattern, we can easily create a simple verse section.  We just have to repeat both rhythmic pattern again -- (a) (b) (a) (b).

When there are different sets of chords over the four rhythmic pattern of (a) (b) (a) (b). You can change the pitch according to the chord tones as long as you keep the rhythmic pattern to preserve the mini theme or idea of the section.

Figure 1: Track 1 (sample audio online -- click here)

Again this is a simple demonstration showing you how easily you can compose a section of a song with an organized method. If you know about music harmony and theory -- you can use the information of this ebook to create sections of a song, and easily compose a complete composition in a short period of time.

If you want to go deeper and create complex melodies and sophisticated chord progression, get a copy of my 2-ebook series "How to Write New Music".

4.5. Step 5 (5 minutes)

Step 5

Now that you have one section completed. The very same process will be applied to the other sections as well.The example below is for the chorus.  Of course you have to distinguish first the structure of the section, there should also be a difference between sections (i.e. key center, measures, chord progression, rhythm  patterns)

The Chorus

Figure 2: Track 2 (sample audio online -- click here)

You may now have a pretty good idea of the benefits of using a backing track during a songwriting process.

4.6. Step 6 (5 minutes)

Step 6

When you have lay down all the melodies for each section -- the next step now is to add the other instruments to make your composition a truly completed one. Music harmony and theory again will play an important role for the added instrument parts. Listen to some of your favorite songs, and pay close attention to the other instruments. When are they added and the volume level compared to the other instruments. Which leads us to the realm of mixing – another form of art in music, which is beyond the scope of this eBook.

Check out our resource section about recording and mixing, great combos for this eBook.

Here is the completed work of the project composition with all the instruments added or in recoding term complete mix.

Figure 3: Track 3 to 5

Listen to the audio sample of this composition project. I provided three examples with different backing tracks and styles.

The first one (track 3) -- full melody with basic acoustic guitar as backing track. The second (track 4) -- full melody with multiple backing track instruments.

During the time when I was writing this ebook, Taylor Swift released her smash hit single -- "Blank Space". I'm one big fan of TS -- because of the song's current popularity and the tune keeps on playing on my head, I just can't resist the temptation of trying to mimic the backing track style of "Blank Space".

So here's what I came up with the last track example (track 5 - same melody) -- I decided to increase the tempo to 107 bpm a bit faster than "Blank space". Different sets of instruments, the style is kinda hybrid between urban, rnb and hiphop. As you can see, when changing the backing track's style and instruments, the melody will have a different effect on the listener.

5. Final Word

Final words

Well that's about it. Hope you get inspired by this ebook to start writing your own music. Who knows, you could be the next pop superstar like Sia Furler. Don't forget to like us on facebook, follow us on Pinterest and twitter for the latest composing tips and tools you can use.    Wish you all the best. 

Warmest regards,

Tyrone

P.S. If somehow this eBook gave entertainment to you in any way, your short kind review will be greatly appreciated. : D

Get All The Books In The Series:

How to Write New Music

Expand Your Horizons

(mirror site) How to Write New Music

(mirror site) Expand Your Horizons

Audio Demo Sample Tracks of this eBook

TV and Radio Interview

Sia Furler's Incredible Songwriting Technique

About the Author

Facebook Fanpage

Twitter

Homepage / Backing Track Collection

Sight Rhtyhm Rockstar (free app)

Composing Using Music Notation Software

Audio Demo Sample Tracks of this eBook (mirror site)

TV and Radio Interview

Sia Furler's Incredible Songwriting Technique (mirror site)

Mirror site

Composing Using Music Notation Software

Sight Rhtyhm Rockstar (free app)

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