How To Tell A Story With Words And Music, Part 1

This is the first part of an ongoing series: How To Tell a Story with Words and Music. Over the course of these lessons we will be discussing narrative principles and devices that can make our ‘story-songs’ connect with listeners on a deeper level than ever before. Everyone loves a good story, especially one well told. So let’s get started.

The first principle underlying good narrative development in songwriting is Limitation and Economy.

We are the Swiss watchmakers of the narrative world. In telling our stories, we must be thorough yet concise. The Greek poet Simonides made his living writing inscriptional verse on graves of the wealthy and powerful. Because his inscriptions had to fit on the stones bought for them, he had to be both creative and exacting. Hemingway’s inspiration was the telegraph, which taught him that every word costs something. For songwriters it’s a combination of the lyric, melodic, and harmonic choices we employ within a limited time frame of three-and-a-half minutes, give or take. If done right Limitation naturally leads to Economy — the maximum development of the minimum of material.

In writing our songs we have an unlimited number of ways to do a limited number of things, so these “self-imposed” limitations are parameters, warning signs that keep our choices as examined and true as possible. Paradoxically, limitation offers freedom and resistance can lead to discovery.

It comes down to knowing what to put in and what to leave out; always a compromise between our original intent and the material we find ourselves using. In the end, it’s knowing what’s more than enough in order to know what’s enough.

Next we will be discussing what some of these self-imposed limitations are, and how we can use them to better tell our stories.

Steve Leslie is a professional songwriter and publisher in Nashville. He teaches songwriting at www.songassembly.co.