I have come to realize that the degree of proficiency in anything, including songwriting, guitar playing, engineering and producing is in direct correlation with usually high amounts of time spent improving the skill. Once acquired, it needs to be additional time invested to just stay in the status quo.
In my songwriting consciousness, I continually search out new musical styles in any language to study rhythmic patterns, chord structures, vocal phrasings, and arrangement nuances. I’ve noticed that the current songs don’t draw in the listener like the older song arrangements. The intros into the first verse seem more like a plastic drum fill salad. There is no musical hook, some catchy instrumental melody or just breathing space the listener can grab on to from the beginning. I’m not bashing anything, only observing society-accepted changes. Seems that in a world of fast moving information, the listener wants to get down and dirty, sans the romantic lead-in; let’s skip introductions, what do you have to say to me.
As I have stated, I put in a lot of time listening to new sounds in order to keep pace with the current happenings. I do have style preferences, but I enjoy all kinds of music because I respect all forms of self-expression.
For every style there is someone out there who can relate. It’s that sympathetic vibratory physics thing that goes on in our energy fields. I have this acquaintance that doesn’t really care for the stuff on the radio but listens anyway. She was driving down the road, heard this singer emoting this song, started crying and had to pull over to regain her composure. She had no clue who was singing, what the name of the song was or anything else, so she later sang a bit of the melody to her daughter who immediately said it was a song called 100 Years by the group 5 For Fighting. Songs resonate in people, allowing their senses to truthfully overwhelm their physical being. This is the beauty of a song, the essence of life, the power of the human spirit.
Face it, I’m in the intangible business of moving air; how nuts is that!