Songwriting 101
A new series designed to help you up your game on the performance side of the mic.
There’s tools, tricks, and tips out there and in my brain that help me write songs for a living. This place here will be where we collect those things in order to make better music. I have a tip for today.
Dialect is the particular form of language used in a social group or region. It’s basically a sub-sect of your accent or speech. It’s an important word to me when it comes to writing lyrics. Gordon Lightfoot was very good, for example, at switching between Canadian, Great Lakes, and even Southern US dialects. Those little touches are tools in his kit.
Why is that so important?
I think it’s important because like me, when someone hears someone on the radio talking the way they talk, it makes their ears perk up. You want to relate to people. This is a way to meet them in their region, or speech. It makes them comfortable.
When you include a region or inside phrase, it is worth it to google how they talk there. It could even lead to more lyrics! K