I am a singer songwriter whose main goal is to become a successful artist- writing my own music. My main goal is to write a song that flows completely, and adheres to the Pop Genre.  I find that I struggle to write songs with a clear structure, especially with the chorus, and lyrical narratives. In this body of work, I will be describing my songwriting process using my song ‘Hate or Love’ which identified all my weaknesses, yet through it’s writing process- overcame them to produce my strongest song yet. When writing this song, I used David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle to analyse, and overall enhance, my songwriting process. 

The first step of this process is marked as Concrete experience- this means my initial attempt at writing the song. I came into my first writing session with the title idea ‘Hate or Love’. My first step of songwriting, is experimenting with different keys and chords. At first I was playing in Bb major, but then decided it would give the song a twisted edge if it was in a minor key. Therefore, I changed it to the relative minor of G. I picked the chords: G minor, D major, Bb major, C major, and D major, playing the last two chords over two beats rather than three beats. This meant the song could keep to the classic four/ four time signature used in Pop. After that, I found the barebones of a melody by singing motifs and phrases sporadically over my chosen chords. The first two bars of the melody stayed on the tonic note, and then the melody moved in a conjunct motion to the other notes. I decided that I really liked it, and moved onto working on a pre chorus with the same chords. The Pre-chorus, used leap motion, jumping in pitch and used minims. In my songs, I often switch between the relative major and minor. Therefore, I decided to jump back to the relative major of Bb in the chorus, to regard Prosody- as it represents the emotions of Hate or Love. I also thought this would help define the chorus from the pre- chorus. For the chorus, I bought the melody back down to start on the tonic note, yet again as it brings the familiarity of Pop. The only note that changes in pitch on the chorus, is the note that lands on the word ‘Love’- aiding the lyrical theme of contrast. When putting together the song, I decided to use a verse- chorus structure because it fit the feel of the song and, again, kept to the genre’s blueprint. The first structure I put together was: Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Re-intro, Verse, Pre-chorus, Chorus, Bridge and Outro. As the session went on, I moved onto the lyrics, and chose to keep a lyrical theme of contrast throughout. For example: the first lyrics of the verse are ‘you like the dark, I like the light’. Metaphors are the lyrical ground of all my songs as I like to twist reality into a code. Lastly, I decided that the chorus lyrics, would be a repeated ‘Do I Hate you or Love you’. 

After the first session, I took a couple of days away from the song, and bought it back to my band, and my tutors, to analyse the strengths and weaknesses in my songwriting. This marked the reflective observation part of the Kolb Cycle. My band started off by giving feedback on the chords. In their opinion, they thought the chords needed working on as the sequence wasn’t quite flowing. Furthermore, they told me the fifth chord in the sequence being the dominant (D), sounded odd. Additionally, they suggested that the Pre-chorus and the verse sounded too similar as I used the same chords as the verse. However, they liked the switch from relative minor to major, and thought the contrast in the melodies pitch (low to high) was really effective. They also complimented the prosody representing contrast in my melodies rhythm, in how the first part of the chorus used minims, whereas the next phrase was faster using semiquavers. When presenting the song to my tutors, they couldn’t distinguish where the pre chorus and the chorus were, as they both sounded like a buildup to the actual chorus. They felt like there was a resolve missing in the songs flow- as I just went back to the normal verse chords after the chorus. In their opinion, the octave jump in the melody on the second verse was a very stylistic move. I personally, was really proud of the lyrics in the song. I loved the metaphor ‘Your auras Infrared’ and thought that all the lyrics artistically explained a very plain concept, yet also framed reality with the lyrics ‘why do you always say my name?’ However, when listening to the chorus lyrics, I did not enjoy how I repeated the same lyrics throughout, as it sounded tedious and unoriginal. When looking back on my songwriting sessions, I realised that my songwriting process was always the same pattern. This means many of my songs have the same problems, for example: my song ‘Catch me if you can’ also has a missing space for a chorus. I realised that I use instrumental breaks as a resolve rather than a chorus too often. Lastly, I find that I keep to the Pop structure too rigidly, especially in this instance. Therefore, my chords are strongly repeated and don’t leave room for different sequence variations. When talking to my tutors, they advised to have a reference song in mind when creating a composition, as it will help to focus and guide my songwriting so that the structure isn’t as muddled. 

The next part of the Kolb Cycle’s creative process is named as Abstract Conceptualisation. In my first writing session, I revisited a songwriting process that I had used countless times. Upon reflection, I should start differentiating my process, otherwise all my songs will sound very similar. When talking about their songwriting process, a writer from the website Swiss Army Musician writes: ‘I reached a point where this same approach left me a little less inspired each time. To counteract the creative draught, I made a slight change and started writing the lyrics before the melody’. In my first draft of the song, all the lyrics of the chorus were a repeated line. When rewriting, I am going to change the second and fourth line of the chorus, and have all the lines still rhyme. Therefore, it will keep the catchiness the Pop genre craves and not sound so repetitive. Secondly, I looked at the harmony of the song. Before, I had ended the verse chord sequence with the dominant chord (D)- I chose to change this. After further reflection, I decided to bring the sequence back to the tonic chord of G minor. Apart from, in the second verse where the second round of chords goes up to the dominant chord to introduce the octave change in the melody. About ending on a tonic chord, Science Direct writes: ‘Regarding stability, research has shown that when chord sequences conclude by resolving from subordinate chords (such as the IV or V chord) back to the tonic chord (I chord), it creates a tendency toward stability and gives listeners a sense of closure’ (Science Direct, 2025). Additionally, in the first version the pre-chorus melded too much into the verse, as it used the same harmony. To resolve this, I am going to bring the switch to the relative major on the pre- chorus so that its more defined, and partners more with the pre- existing chorus. This brings us on to how there wasn’t a clear resolve In the flow of the first attempt. I decided to meld the pre- chorus and chorus together, and play with a vocal melody that elongates the main hook in the instrumental break. Therefore, there will be a traditional chorus. On this idea, Kate Brunnott writes ‘A chorus provides relief from the tension created in a song’s verses’. Lastly, I wanted to incorporate more of a statement in the outro, as, in my reflection, I realised that there isn’t a lot of definition in the individual structural elements. As a resolution to this, I am going to incorporate techniques such as: stabs, drum fills and an artistically defined chord sequence to build tension and euphoria. Additionally, I will make sure there are noticeable dynamic shifts in my vocals and the accompaniment as a whole. 

The ultimate step of the Kolb Cycle is Active experimentation. For me, this is where I will take my ideas for improving my song, and my process, and put them into practise. To start of, I ended up changing some of my chorus lyrics, incorporating the new lines ‘either one I would want to’ and ‘tell me so I don’t rush through’. Secondly, I worked on the structure- to differentiate its elements. When finalising the outro, I decided to include the usual chord sequence to start it off. Then, I repeated the pre-chorus chords (Bb and C) twice, then took it back to the tonic chord (G Minor) which was stabbed in a syncopated rhythm, with drum fills on top. I ended the song on a semibreve with the tonic chord; this gave the song a memorable, dramatic ending. Previously, I had conceptualised bringing the relative major, in with the Pre-chorus. To do that, I changed the pre chorus chords to a Bb, and a C chord- holding them over two bars for effect. The last structural change I bought in was the dynamics. I made the verses a mezzo- piano volume, contrasting them with a Forte volume on the Pre-chorus and a Forttissimo dynamic on the Main Chorus. I also bought in a crescendo for the bridge. When writing a new chorus, I decided to take the existing vocal hook and repeat it over the Re-Intro. This also meant that the Re-Intro was lengthened from four bars to twelve bars. I used mostly the same lyrics eg. ‘Tell me is it hate or love’ but changed the second line to ‘darling what will we become’. For my Songwriting Process as a whole, the next time I sit down to write a song, I will start with a reference song. This will give me clarity of the direction I want to take with the song. Furthermore, I will start with writing the chorus first. This will combat the boundary I have created with writing choruses and set a determined focal point for the structure. I will also try and write a song without a pre-chorus, as I have found it gets too mixed up between the verse and chorus. To finalize, I will also try and experiment more with different chords diatonic to the key, adding sevenths and inversions. This will help me to find a different way of changing the harmony across the song. As I have found I use the relative minor to major too often in my songs. 

In this reflective practise I used the Kolb Cycle to help me ultimately improve my Pop songwriting process. To do this I analysed the creation of my song ‘Hate or Love’. Through this, I wanted to improve defining the individual structural elements of my song- especially choruses. I also wanted to create melodies that were catchy, and made sure my songs flowed- both of which are extremely important to the Pop Genre. To undertake this task, I talked to my tutors, my band and my peers. Also, I researched further using secondary resources online such as: ‘Swiss Army Musician’ and other websites on how to create a good chorus. To summarise, my new plan involves changing my songwriting process regularly, for example: starting with chords first, or a specific part of the structure e.g. the chorus. Overall, I think the research I have done has majorly improved my songwriting process. 

Bibliography:

Swiss Army Musician, (2020), How to stop writing the Same-Sounding Songs, Available at: https://www.swissarmymusician.com/how-to-stop-writing-same-sounding-songs/ Last Accessed: 15/01/2025 

K. Brunnots, (2021), What is a Chorus in a song, Available at: https://emastered.com/blog/what-is-a-chorus-in-a-song Last Accessed: 15/01/2025

Science Direct (2025), Moderating effects of chord progressions on the emotional experience of major and minor chords, Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825000034#:~:text=Regarding%20stability%2C%20research%20has%20shown,is%20termed%20stable%20termination%3B%20Conversely%2C Last Accessed: 16/01/2025