What is Texture and how can it help your songwriting?
Often I meet people who tell me that they wish that they were “musically inclined” or that they just don’t think that they would be able to learn to play a musical instrument.
What they may not realize, is that the majority of music that they likely enjoy and listen to on the radio isn’t always very complex. In fact most music really revolves around only 3-4 chords. This music can still be fun to listen to because of things like the texture of the entire song.
In music, Texture is how many voices (or instruments), are going on at one time (layered on top of each other). If there were many different instruments in the song that you are listening to, you could say the song has a very thick texture.
If you listen to the audio examples below, you will hear several, very simple instrumental parts followed by a longer section of music that demonstrates this layering concept. The entire section of music is based on only 2 different guitar chords (C and F). All of the other instruments are made of some of the simplest rhythms and melodies imaginable, but if you layer enough of them on top of each other (as with an actual band) you can come up with something sort of interesting and fun.
This concept can be applied to almost any genre of music, not just pop/rock like in this example. I included a simple guitar solo after the full texture is reached, but this could easily be a singer instead.
Pay close attention and listen to how adding and removing layers can help add variety. Texture is a very important concept in song writing and should not be over looked. Begin noticing the texture of the music that you enjoy listening to, and you will be amazed at how much this can improve your songwriting and creativity. Your songwriting can literally improve simply by listening to music and listening for this element.
I hope you found this lesson helpful. If you have any music related questions feel free to contact me HERE. To find out more about guitar lesson in Beaver County click HERE.
What they may not realize, is that the majority of music that they likely enjoy and listen to on the radio isn’t always very complex. In fact most music really revolves around only 3-4 chords. This music can still be fun to listen to because of things like the texture of the entire song.
In music, Texture is how many voices (or instruments), are going on at one time (layered on top of each other). If there were many different instruments in the song that you are listening to, you could say the song has a very thick texture.
If you listen to the audio examples below, you will hear several, very simple instrumental parts followed by a longer section of music that demonstrates this layering concept. The entire section of music is based on only 2 different guitar chords (C and F). All of the other instruments are made of some of the simplest rhythms and melodies imaginable, but if you layer enough of them on top of each other (as with an actual band) you can come up with something sort of interesting and fun.
This concept can be applied to almost any genre of music, not just pop/rock like in this example. I included a simple guitar solo after the full texture is reached, but this could easily be a singer instead.
Pay close attention and listen to how adding and removing layers can help add variety. Texture is a very important concept in song writing and should not be over looked. Begin noticing the texture of the music that you enjoy listening to, and you will be amazed at how much this can improve your songwriting and creativity. Your songwriting can literally improve simply by listening to music and listening for this element.
I hope you found this lesson helpful. If you have any music related questions feel free to contact me HERE. To find out more about guitar lesson in Beaver County click HERE.
| acoustic_guitar.mp3 |
| drums.mp3 |
| synth.mp3 |
| piano.mp3 |
| bassline.mp3 |
| strings.mp3 |
| fulltexture.mp3 |