4 minute read
Writing your own School Song
Some words of advice from composer Kay Charlton
Have you ever thought it would be great to have your own school songa combination of music and lyrics extolling the virtues of your school, unique to your own establishment? Have you ever thought of composing your own song? Well here are some hints and tips to get you started.
Let’s think about the key ingredients in a song - it’s basically music and words. You could start with either; famously, Elton’s John’s collaborator Bernie Taupin wrote the words independently and Elton John put them to music. Other songwriters may come up with the music and add the lyrics later. Either way, this is something your whole school can get involved in; it’s the perfect youth voice outlet - all year groups can get involved to a greater or lesser extent. The opportunity to contribute will make your pupils and staff feel ownership of your very own school song.
Lyrics
Start by brainstorming words and subjects with your class; this could be the perfect post-SATS project for Year 6 for instance. Your song could celebrate your school’s values or the joys of learning, describing your pupils’ favourite subjects and activities.
Choose some favourite pop songs for inspiration and do some hard listening with your class. What’s going on - do the words rhyme, what is the structure of the song, does it tell a story? You will need words for at least two verses and of course for a chorus - the catchy bit which repeats.
Music
A song needs music; that means a melody, chords, a bass line and a drum beat - I prefer to call it a groove. It’s probably easiest to start with the chords; many pop songs use the same sequence of four chords, so it makes sense to use something which is tried and tested. Watch this video by the Axis of Awesome, linking a large number of well-known songs that all use the same four-chord sequence: D A Bm G7: (This video is not appropriate to share with children due to language and song subject matter, so watch it as part of your own lesson preparation only!)
Practise playing the chord sequence, 4 beats on each chord - any chordal instrument will do, keyboards, metallophones, ukuleles etc. Next create a bass-line using the bottom note (the root) of each chord; a simple repeated crotchet feel will be fine to get started. Add a basic rhythm groove using drums and/or percussion. Once you can play the chords and groove together try chanting the lyrics to the beat and hopefully a melody will emerge. Find a melody for the verse first and then find a catchy chorus. The chorus melody and words can be very simple; perhaps the chords could go twice as fast for this section to create contrast with the verse.
If you have instrumental teachers in your school, this is a great opportunity to get them involved. Ask around in the staff room - does a teacher or parent play an instrument, do you have hidden talent that you can pull in to help?
Style
What style do you want for your song - pop, rock or something more contemporary? The style, or feel, usually comes from the drum beat, or groove. Pick a song for inspiration and try to play a similar groove - this could be on drum kit or classroom percussion - remember, it’s your song, make it unique.
Structure
Once you have the ingredients, decide on the order for your song. You’ll need an introduction that leads into the verses and chorus; decide how many verses you want and how many times to go round the chorus. Don’t forget the ending, it’s very important to decide how to finish the song - play an outro (like an intro but leading to the end) then an ending, so that your song sounds finished.
Performance
Play your song at every opportunityit will get better each time it is played! Get your instrumental learners joining in - playing the chorus or adding some instrumental riffs as a backing. This could be a great summer project - so take the plunge and have a go at writing and performing your own song. Let us know how you get on!
