how to write RELATABLE music
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- I'm so relatable at the moment!
My songwriting course is 25% off right now:
benlevinmusicschool.com/p/get...
Thank you to my patrons at / benlevin for helping me have a career! - Krátké a kreslené filmy
One of my favorite things about this channel is that thumbnails and video titles will often suggest irony or that there's going to be a punchline- but then it's just genuine, actual advice that's 100% usable for everyone in basically every artistic field.
Ben levin is a very genuine person, at least this is reflected in his art
Really? I thought the whole the video was supposed to be joke. Pop music is retable because is vague not because is specific. I thought the joke is he said all the opposite of what to do. Your comment is part of the comunnity joke or I am missing something ?
@@augusto7681No I think it's very literal. Creating a song that follows these rules allows you to create something that is personal to your identity, and yet others can relate to your experience and art, even if they never personally experienced it. The opposite is making something missing these items, and no one can relate and thus no one really will care.
@@augusto7681 No this is really legit advice. I once saw a masterclass on songwriting with John Mayer where he drew a huge circle on a whiteboard, pointed at it, and said, "love." Then he put a little dot in the middle of the circle and pointed at it and said, "I like it when you leave your glass of water on my bedside table." Pop, like any art form, is relatable because of the way it encapsulates the universal in the specific
@@augusto7681 lol, ben levin is NOT joking- he may sometimes be slightly hyperbolic, but now; hes being very serious here. (And he usually is)
I like how in the beginning of the video, the points 1, 2, 3 also correspond to the I, ii and iii chord played in the background. Nice touch of detail.
That's some tightly packed wisdom!
Thank you for the sweet song and reminding me of that transformative time ❤️
I was not expecting Sufjan Stevens' "Casimir Pulaski Day" as an example but, god, *that song.* The bit at the end where he just repeats, "And he takes and he takes and he takes…" Devastating.
I was also not expecting a really incendiary critique of the United States' monstrous treatment of migrants in this songwriting tutorial, but I genuinely appreciated it.
I always hear the prechorus singing "cancer cancer cancer cancer"....as if everything was not obvious enough.
"migrants"
Are these migranta legal? ;)
"monstrous' lol
@@Woodsarasdoes their legal status decide whether or not they’re human?
how come i can never leave without crying after watching ben's tutorials 😭
The double bass VI song was a nice nod to your content continuity!
While I will always remember, and occasionally revisit, Fake Dr. Levin, I am also enjoying how much more comfortable you seem in your more modern presentations.
Fake Dr Levin is what finally made the basics of music theory to click for me. Since then I've come a long way and am deep into jazz theory. :D It worked! I always recommend Fake Dr Levin's lessons to people looking to just get started.
i love u ben
Ben you’ve gotta stop baiting me in with (extremely helpful) songwriting tips only to rip my guts out
😂
1:31 SOAD in a nutshell
That was the first thought that came to my mind too 😆
Man, that was awesome. Your composition choices always get to me, right off the bat. Kudos, from a French fan
christ that song was marvelous. i've been taking a youtube break for a few months but watching your recent videos is the only thing that made me genuinely want to still be on the platform.
I love the bass VI
Keep shining your light Ben! You continue to have such great perspectives
That was a beautiful song too ❤ the formula worked, I felt happysad even though I couldn't relate to all of the lyrics
your insights are always so refreshing ben, thankyou
thanks. I'm into progressive rock and odd time signatures, but also catchy pop songs with sick choruses, and I've been feeling this tension between writing music that I dig and music that other people can relate to.
THANK YOU BEN ANOTHER AMAZING VIDEO
Great video. Really liked the song at the end, loved it, it shines!
this advice is great but that song is out of this world wow, one of my favorites i've heard you make
You are wonderful Ben
Lovely as ever Ben! You're wonderful. 🫶🏻
great video, thank you Ben!
I met you years ago in Lowell at the Worthen upstairs with my buddy Travis. You killed it. And listening to you now, you’re giving some real good advice.
Also this channel just randomly showed up for me so. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing, algorithm-wise
bro i love the song so much!!
ok, I didn't expect to be so touched in this video
geez I'm crying at 9am. You are an inspiration Ben, thank you for your vulnerability, your thoughtfulness, and your hard work.
I was crying at 9AM, but that's cause I was at the dentist
You always manage to bring clarity, point number one being something I've struggled with in the past. I'm hyper aware of the moment when I'm about to change an idea due to a thought of someone hearing it, then somebody else with their differing tastes and perspective, then someone else....eventually you're in the grip of analysis paralysis!
Side note: if you haven't heard Richard Dawson, I think you'd enjoy. Angular and peculiar melodies, catchy choruses and for my money, the best song writer currently at work here in the UK. His album 2020 is sonically and lyrically sublime.
Me and Ben listen to Richard Dawson's "peasant" quite a bit! Very cool music!
@JusticeCow fantastic album! 2020 is kind of a sequel, same focus on individual stories but set during 2020, rather than medieval times. Addition of some quirky synths to boot. You're both in for a treat! Has a knack for fleshing out his characters in the most relatable way. Although pre warning, lots of contemporary British references. Enjoy!
Stop making me cry goddamnit 😭
you are weak
I greatly appreciate the use of the Bass VI on this song.
i often struggle with the 3rd thing. thx for this video
this is genuinely helpful, I've been stuck for a while on one line and it's literally the last thing there is to do on a whole EP
Man, you're such a good person, I'm trying to teach music as a way that you can tackle situations and think differently and have it bleed over into other topics, like History, What they want to do, etc. And you're advice is spot on. I try not to make music that tells you a general thing and have a surface level appeal. Music's about stories of your life and other peoples lives and how our lives merge together in this vast array of intricacies. And telling stories instead of "writing an essay" Is the most relatable thing you can do. That's why I like MF DOOM, King Crimson, Wayne Shorter etc. because they do just that.
Solid tips, I wish I remember them when I write and get stuck, thanks Ben!
I love this video
I like the cardinal hits the window thing because cardinals are often said to be passed loved ones visiting you
Gotta love this guy :)
As a corporate robot, I don't find this relatable at all!
Gee. You’re fantastic! (Unironically)
Thank you, this inspired me to record something!
Yeah dude bass VI dream band making it happen
I adore the notion of broad emotional insights having to be spoken through minisqule details. Awesome.
1:56 Damn, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I can’t even imagine how traumatizing this must have been. Really helps illustrate your point about specificity, like… damn
the example song was really moving, a perfect example of the points made earlier in the video
awesome! i love it.
I really like rondos. shortened verse-chorus form where none of the verses are the same, i think?
ABCBDBEBFBG and so on
i think it makes for a good challenge in staying consistent with many shortened verse-chorus phrases
Casimir Pulaski Day is a great song
ok i got it. write about puppi. thank you ben levin
Amaizng song
Hello ben i watched the presentation video for Getting songs done course, saw the speed through, but are you going over some theory ? i'm a 4 years beginner and i'm often stuck writing pieces of song, stopping short when i can't figure how to play what i hear, also got a song where i accidentally modulated without knowing what i'm doing and don't knwo how to get back to the former key, woudl this course help me ? thinking about buying it when i can afford it
That apple was a surprise
Hey ben! What do you use to crunch up your guitar so much? It sounds really clear even though it has tons of mids
Since I am trying to alienate as many listeners as possible I will try to do the exact opposite of these.
How does this work with istrumental music ?
Dig into your specific musical interests and try to feel your way through your choices rather than trying to he clever, write for a specific person, and balance repetition with some forgettable sections!
❤
"Don't give up shining your light."
- Ben Levin, 2024
Okay thanks FL Studio
Unless you're Palestinian
@@ButWhyMe...I'm not FL Studio. I use FL Studio though.
@@JaMeshuggah lol no
@@FL00527 LoL nO
I have a question.
My creative writing professor in college told us to get specific with details in our prose, and I carried that into poetry I wrote. But I found, and still find, that getting too specific and obscure can turn people off from the narrative. Songs are in a poetic narrative format, which can introduce the same issues. How do you write specifically without getting so obscure that it's essentially an inside joke?
that's a wonderful question! I think there's definitely a balance to be struck there. If a song has very specific verses and very universal choruses, it usually turns out well. For example Chop Suey by system of a down has a bunch of seemingly overly specific lyrics in the verse, particularly the line "whyd you leave the keys upon the table" but then gets more general in the chorus singing more vicerally with "i cry when angels deserve to die" which is powerful and emotionally obvious (in a great way)
@@BenLevinThank you for the reply. Keep up the great content. You have become the only music related channel that I watch besides Charles Cornell.
Ye haw i love normal things so much
What tapes do u have up there on ur piano?
Thank you, I desperately needed these tips and didn't even know!
And the story about migrant prisons caught me off guard... I mean of course the USA would have something disgusting like this :(
Oh so I need to be more specific when im thinking about stories. Like, to apply that more generally...
Hmm.
✊
I love being able to tell that Ben is a guy filled with a lot of love and sensitivity. Thank you sooo much for speaking about immigration and asylum.
@@RosieC97 you mean the people that made crime and grape go to the roof in usa , if you don,t like it go to your country and fix it just like the people that you are trying to invade did , you just wanna benefit from stuff that others fought to have
Everyday normal guy from Jon Lajoie
Yeah, I used to know people who were excited about my creativity. Good times...
Hi
Christian Lee Hutson does this well.
I want to make music that depicts the second coming of Christ
"I'm a normal guy," he lied. Ben knows no one is normal.
What an uplifting sequel to "Doggy Make My Pee Pee Go Down"
Is this why (even though i think we must listen to very different music) I connect with your music and will never connect with Jacob Collier's? Don't answer that. I think I already have the answer.
Did the dog die?
make it personal, but if your personality sucks don't bother
why do all nerds sound the same
If you are Depeche Mode, please continue to ignore the "allow people to forget" bit.
This is a great video. But you ain’t exactly 100% normal.
I swear I am 100% normal!
Normal is boring@@BenLevin.
Aww, but it's not the ties fault. I mean the picture was framed on the wall and you've got pictures in frames behind you. Please Ben, please reconsider wearing ties again.
Symbols are neutral, people project meaning onto them, I got bad vibes from ties!
found the tie salesman
Yet another really talented communicator, who just can't keep his political views in his pants.... Love ypur shit, please stop putting people off with hyper personal political stuff. Make a second chanel for that if you want. Keep education chanels clean...
facts that was so unbelievably cringe
illegal border crossing is still illegal- its not about "dehumanizing" , it's a security matter
i know just what u think of me
although we haven’t met
see ur homeland as security
me only as a threat
to ur picture perfect purity
an unsuspecting speck
on the mirror but u rarely
take a moment to reflect
i know just what ur thinking
tho we haven’t even met
i can see ur insecurities
it’s all that project
onto a body foreign object
to whose presence u object
im the i that u reject
like the beam within ur eye
make it seem like im an island
that got nothing to protect
me from the see-ing of ur eye
but i c u and i suspect
i care about it too intensively
my blood mingled with sweat
i know u know the taste of fear
cause i can smell it on ur breath
living in the fear of life
that u rename the fear of death
i’m the mirror of ur fear
because u cannot face urself
@@sethroy4318 you should look in the mirror, too. YOU are the one who wants to come to MY country. YOU. MAY. NOT. ENTER. UNLESS. WE. ALLOW. YOU. TO. ENTER.
If you try to enter without being allowed to LEGALLY enter, YOU ARE ILLEGAL AND A DANGER TO ME AND ALL OF US.
cute poem, though!
There's so much more to the border than legal or illegal crossing. People who enter the US as asylum seekers legitimately running for their lives are also kept in these detention facilities which are literally prisons for years while they wait for a date in court to state their case and its extremely rare for people to be approved for Asylum because our country has an arbitrary limit on how many people can get asylum from a country. Once that number is reached in a year, no matter what the circumstances, they will be deported. Entering this country legally is BRUTAL.
@@sethroy4318 extreme rise of crime and grape and drugs entered to the country and a lot of sh,t that comes from these immigrants that themselves made their countries the way they are , ofc you are a threat to everybody criminals
Love your content, but not a fan of the anti-white sentiment. Thanks for your hard work.
I'm talking about whiteness as in the construct invented by white people to make it easier to oppress Africans in the 1600s. Which is a paradigm that still wreaks havoc on all of us today. We all suffer in different ways from the concept, and i'm commenting on it as a white person.
@@BenLevin what a sheltered, high school level take. It's so much more complicated than that
@BenLevin I understand what you're saying as a response, but in the video you are talking about white individuals. That's different than talking about a system or general construct. I know your intentions are good, but there's a lot of sentiment against white people these days and it makes me uncomfortable.
I appreciate your response. Also, your song "awful and raw" makes me cry and is one of my favorite songs I've ever heard.
@@joshcantu5405 Thank you for your response too! To clarify, one thing that was significant about them being white was the fact that no one in the waiting room and almost no one being held in the detention center was white, so the social implications of their whiteness was striking. I'm also reflecting this as a white person and my own place in this messed up system. I appreciate you telling me your perspective and thank you for sharing about my song!
@BenLevin my last response is that you can find examples of dominate classes of people of multiple races across history that subjugate people with less power within their own nation. Including Africans who enslaved and sold their own people. I think that the discourse about race only separates is more and buries the issue of power structures that are always at the root of these issues. I just can't help but to push back against these divisive lenses. I don't think it helps. Also, anti-white sentiment is on the rise. We would all agree that we should call it out the other way around.
Have a good day Ben. Also, random side note, I would love to see what you can do with the guitar technique of "thumping"
MAGA
I’m never wearing a tie ever again because of you