write a song, and perform it

I’ve been performing for years, but never with a song of my own. It’s always a friend’s or a cover.

Here are mys steps:

1) write something I’d like to perform
2) record it
3) make a youtube video of it
4) find somewhere I’d like to perform
5) perform

Instead of an open mic (as well as?) I could write a song for the concert we give for family and friends at the end of the singing course. That solves a lot of logistical issues – including the band. I’ll have a band to perform my song! I feel sick just thinking about it. I guess it’s a challenge.

I’ve broken this down into segments (thanks weallareone!):

• Piano lessons to learn music and accompaniment
• Singing lessons to improve my main instrument
• A363 to hone my language and creative process
• Guitar – I’m going to dip into it as I fancy through the year

It would be just amazing to do this by the end of the summer term 2009 at an open mic. I’m really excited about this coming year!

Hmmmm… I’m still planning on signing up for guitar and singing lessons at the Leeds College of Music in a couple of weeks, but I’m not sure how to frame it all so I keep motivated and seeing progress. I could just relax and enjoy it ;-) but I don’t know…

Such a wistful, beautiful song, and not too difficult. Another great one to practice my guitar chord changes and warbling. If I can get three or four of these songs that I love under my belt and practice them so I can perform them to a reasonable standard, I’ll be another third of the way to this goal.

• 1/3 – writing a song
• 1/3 – singing and playing the song on guitar
• 1/3 – performing at an open mic

I can’t sing a song to an audience (even just my wife!) unless I can memorise all the words. I don’t think I’ve done that before – isn’t that weird?

I know Nick Cave isn’t a great example, he’s a wordsmith so there’s lots to remember, but it’s such a beautiful song and I’m drawn to it today, so that’s the one I’m practicing. Guitar and voice. He was on BBC4 tonight and he’s a fantastic showman, but his voice is… natural! I could do that!

I can see this happening this year – I’m enjoying playing guitar again, my voice is good enough for a small venue with some more practice, and I’ve proved to myself I can write poems and stories.

The next step is to bring these things together somehow. As ever, I’m waiting for the intuitive nudge as I plug away at the details.

I bought this great DVD, really cheap on Amazon, and I’m starting guitar all over again. It’s only taken a few hours, but just by concentrating on the basics of making a clean sound, proper finger positioning, strumming with intent, the sounds I’m making have improved hugely. Why didn’t the guitar teacher I experimented with a year or two ago tell me this stuff?!

I know the chords, I can change them in a half-arsed way, and now I’m singing over the top. I feel like I’m chipping away at this goal from several different angles, all relevant. I’m not going to think too much about it though – why spoil a good thing? :-)

My dorm-mate and I wrote a parody to “Part of your world” from the little mermaid and we were lucky enough to perform it in our university’s spring show.

I’m not counting this as achieving my goal because it is not technically an original song. I want to do it where I write words and music, but this was a good start.

I have written so many songs but have never performed them myself or had them performed.