Because I'm a music meme whore...

[mk_tortie]

gakked from someone on the yuletide f-list.

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 15 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!

1 Smoke lingers round your fingers...
2 Once in every show, there comes a song like this...
3 3 little birds sat on my window, and they told me I don't need to worry... guessed as Corrinne Bailey Rae ~ Put Your Records On by bexwivspex
4 Heaven, I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak...
5 Come down the same worn paths again - do you fly, do you?...
6 First the good news: it's gonna feel very nice...
7 I look at you walk, see the love there that's sleeping...
8 You and your friends, in boxes of ten... guessed as The Feeling ~Rose by bexwivspex
9 Hand in glove, the sun shines out of her behind...
10 Mrs.... will you... make me tea?...
11 The way we lie, it's better off this way...
12 There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea...
13 Autumn leaves under frozen soles, hungry hands turning soft and old...
14 Put the lights on the tree (put them on the tree, put them on the tree)...
15 A-Louie Louie, oh no, I really gotta go...

Just to give some clues - there are two by the same artist there, four where the title is in the first line (and therefore listed!), one from a musical, one from a film, one is one of my favourite songs ever (and makes me cry), and one is festive (no points for guessing which!)

Um... if you can think of something you want from me, I'll give it to you if you guess right?  (As in drabble, icon... just re-reading that sentence I realise it could mean something more, hehe!)  Also, I waited til the last one had finished to put the music I was listening to for this post, so no clues from there!   

Comments

[bexwivspex.livejournal.com]

3 is corrinne bailey rae girl put your records on
4 is Eva Cassidy I think.
8 is the feeling - Rosé (I LOVE THEM!)

That's all i know

[mk-tortie.livejournal.com]

you're right with 3 and 8 :) No 4 may have been done by Eva Cassidy (I'm not sure) but the version I have is a lot older than that!

Just realised I never replied to your question before - sorry! Think I read it whilst half asleep... If you're still struggling with composition I would suggest leaving it, going away for a while, and then coming back to it, to start off with :) Depending on what you're writing, research can be useful - listen to things in a similar genre/style. And ultimately the best thing to do is to find a piano or a guitar or whatever and sit down and experiment. For most things you need a melody and a chord sequence, so try playing random chords and singing along when you find a sequence you like. Just alter the kind of thing you sing depending on what you're supposed to write - if it's Bach then you want to make sure it's very cadential (ie nothing atonal/dissonant, ends on imperfect and perfect cadences, etc), whereas if it's a pop song then of course you don't want it to sound like Bach!

Is that vaguely helpful? Basically what I'm trying to say is go by instinct first and foremost :) What is it that you have to write?

[mk-tortie.livejournal.com]

Ooh, OK, just read your comment from before... if you've got to right something in four parts then start with the melody. That doesn't necessarily have to be just for one instrument, but it helps! Then work out the chords for your melody and note them down, because it'll help when you come to harmonise. (Obviously you can do chords first and then melody if you prefer, or even both at once, but you do need those first!) Then I would work out a bass part that works with both the chords and the melody - that's your cello. Your bass part could even use parts of the melody if you want, or imitate it or whatever. Once you've done that, work out which instrument gets the melody at what point. You can of course have the same instrument play the melody all the way through, but sometimes it's fun to swap around :) Then all you have to do is use your chords to harmonise so that everyone has something to play!

It's good to use rests and breaks to create interest - ie at one point it could just be the flute and cello that plays, at another the bass could cut out entirely - that could be anything from a beat to 16 bars! Also, modulation is good, but not too much or it gets scary :) Plus, going from unison into harmony is very effective, or even going from dissonance to harmony (check out Tavener's 'The Lamb').