Write something based on Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Last week I asked you to analyze the song "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. This week, I'd like you to write something based on this analysis.

If you didn't do the analysis yet, thats ok! I recommend starting from what other folks have already posted to the thread and testing it out for yourself.

When I say "write something based on this analysis" here are some ways to go about doing that:

• Use a piece of his chord progression as a start for your own
• Use a fragment of his melody as your starting point
• Use a music theory concept you learned from this song as the starting point for your creation (bass line walking down, modal/bluesy stuff, etc

If this all feels WAY too much for you, that is ok! Here is a more basic option:

• Find something you like about this song - wether thats the drums, the bass, the piano - the vocals - the energy of the song in general - and just think about that while you sit down to write. Don't get too specific about mimicking any one aspect. Just try to write something with the song in mind and see what happens.

Those of you going with the simple option, let us know in your community forum post.

Those of you going with the more specific option, let us know what specific element(s) you were trying to emulate, mimic, or conceptually integrate into your creation.

On my livestream tomorrow I'm going to do a live song analysis and write something myself. Keep an eye out for that post. We'll see how it goes.

Post your creations to the community forum. They can be anything from a rough 8 second phone recording to a full blown multitrack DAW production. Whatever you're comfortable with or have time for.

Write something intricate

This is a vague one. Open ended. You're free to explore what intricate means to you, or define the way you'd like to be intricate before you start writing.

You could think of it as detailed, lush, interlocking parts - like if you played single notes only on guitar and kept stacking them.

Or you could think of it as an intricate chord progression, where you're focused on specific voicings of each chord - maybe the progression itself is a detailed story. Maybe the melody and chord progressing interlock in some intricate way.

The dictionary definition of intricate is "very complicated or detailed."

You could focus on lyrics that are detailed in some way or complicated. The idea is that some element of your creation feels intricate.

Antonyms of the word include "simple, easy, straightforward, plain, direct"

Having said all that, not every part of your creation needs to be intricate, just a part or concept of your choosing. Have fun and post what you write on the community forum!

Write something in harmonic minor.

Now, to be more specific, I might call it "write something that uses harmonic minor." If you've watched my Music Theory Monday Series, you're familiar with the harmonic minor scale and the resulting chords that come with. If you haven't watched that series yet, I recommend at least watching the first three episodes or so.

For example I'll use the key of B Minor

Natural B Minor uses these notes:
B C# D E F# G A B

and has these chords:

i = Bm
ii° = C#°
III = D
iv = Em
v = F#m
VI = G
VII = A

harmonic minor scales use a sharp 7th note like this:
B C# D E F# G A# B

And the most significant impact this has on our chords-in-a-key is that the v chord (F#m) becomes a major V chord, but more specifically, it becomes a dominant 7th chord (F#7) which resolves back to i (Bm) beautifully.

You are welcome to participate in whatever capacity you like! Wether you write a fully complete song with guitar, lyrics, bass, drums or you just record an 8 second rough sketch to your phone, all submissions are equally welcome. The only requirement is that you write it AFTER reading this post.

I'm going to be pretty flexible on the other "rules" here because harmonic and melodic minor get thrown together in the same situations often, but to put it simply:

if you write a chord progression starting with natural minor chords, then just turn the V chord dominant, you've essentially written a harmonic minor chord progression.

Melodically, if you write a melody over that progression and make sure the 7th note of the scale is sharp when then V chord is happening, you've basically written a harmonic minor melody over your progression!

Post your creations on the community forum!

Write something in the Key of D Major

The rules:
1. You might write something new - that means something you've written AFTER reading this post
2. Your creation must be in the key of D (if you use modal substitutions, thats OK, as long as a D Major Chord feels like home)

If you're not sure how to do that, I recommend watching Music Theory for Guitar, then Music Theory Monday.

Your creation DOES NOT have to be a full song - it can be a 7 second voice memo recorded on your cell phone. It does not have to be fancy or complicated. It does not have to have words, or even a melody. It could just be a simple chord progression, strummed on your guitar. This challenge is just about making SOMETHING. As long as it's in the key of D Major, it's welcome! Whatever you have time for! You certainly can write a full song with guitar, drums, bass, vocals, etc if you want to, BUT you do not have to.

Post your creations to the community forum.

P.S. I think D Major is my favorite major key. I don't know why. Maybe because the chord shapes feel good on guitar. Maybe the key of D Major just sounds nice to my ears. I don't know why! But I love the key of D Major. Do you have a favorite key?

Write Something Simple

Each week I've been asking my Patrons to write some music! In my opinion, writing music is the key to loving and learning music your whole life. Of course it's valuable to learn songs, practice technique, learn theory, etc - but writing music is where all the magic happens. Thats when you step into ownership. The feeling of "I made this" is just such a powerful feeling.

This feeling is so powerful, that I think the more you write, the more you want to understand how music works and the more inspired you are to work on all the tedious things. Writing music gives you a context for practice.

You don't have to write music with the intention of being a frontman, a songwriter, a singer, etc. All of those things are more specific than just writing music. If you want to be a bass player, a lead guitarist, a rhythm guitarists - etc - WRITING MUSIC HELPS WITH ALL OF THOSE SKILLS.

In any band, you'll be more valuable if you can write music - even if that just means writing your own parts. Even if you want to play other people's music for the rest of your life, being able to write music will still make you a more flexible player.

If you want to learn to speak a second language, the ultimate goal is to able to say what's on your mind as freely as possible. Writing music is kind of like that, the more you write, the more you'll be able to write the way you want and find the kinds of sounds you want.

Write Anything!

This week I've been in the studio with my band! We've already worked on four new songs and I'm very excited. So excited, in fact, that I forgot to post this week's community challenge.

Since I'm in the studio writing all day I thought it would be fun to give you the opportunity to write anything you want.

The rules here are incredibly straight forward: Write something new after reading this post.

You're welcome to write just a melody, just a chord progression, just a riff, just a bassline, etc - it doesn't have to be a complete song. It doesn't have to be recorded with fancy software. But if you want to write a whole song with drums, guitar, bass, etc, you're more than welcome.