It's been quite sometime since I have been trying to avoid writing lyrical songs, and focus mostly on instrumentals. This definitely demands for more versatility in music. When I used to write lyrical songs; the music would be on one particular scale and the flow of thought would then be supported by mainly the lyrics. So now, when I am to write an instrumental the important question I face is 'How to narrate a story using just instruments?'.
With my most recent song, 'Goodbye Darling, Wish you death' (linked attached below) I wanted to primarily convey an idea, that "a person is growing out of a confused state in life inflicted upon him by people he once used to confide in; and now on looking back he feels guilty and angry of being mislead."
So the song starts on normal Am (Ionion mode), with a Cmaj chord creating a very light and merry feel, however it is followed by a few diminished and maj7add9 arpeggios which brings in a bit of tension. Hence creating an overall environment of 'confusion'. There is a small part before moving on to a mood of 'retrospect' which I played on the Hungarian minor scale, before connecting both the former and later moods with an Am add9.
For the part where I wanted to highlight retrospect, I had to keep it slow and sustained. I also thought that throwing in flat 7th note, and chromatics will intensify the tension (which I hope worked). However the arpeggio structures that I made use of were inspired by 'River flows in you - Yiruma', which I have tried to cover on guitar.
The Climax is composed of 'rage' and 'guilt', and I realized it might be important to bring in more semitones to bring an element of 'repentance' to the whole feeling of 'anger'. So, I conventionally introduce the Phrygian mode on E, and tried to take a leaf out of Raga Bhairavi in the very end.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Mr. Gautam Lahiri, my guitar teacher for not just teaching me guitar but also providing me with tools to analyse music much better.
With my most recent song, 'Goodbye Darling, Wish you death' (linked attached below) I wanted to primarily convey an idea, that "a person is growing out of a confused state in life inflicted upon him by people he once used to confide in; and now on looking back he feels guilty and angry of being mislead."
So the song starts on normal Am (Ionion mode), with a Cmaj chord creating a very light and merry feel, however it is followed by a few diminished and maj7add9 arpeggios which brings in a bit of tension. Hence creating an overall environment of 'confusion'. There is a small part before moving on to a mood of 'retrospect' which I played on the Hungarian minor scale, before connecting both the former and later moods with an Am add9.
For the part where I wanted to highlight retrospect, I had to keep it slow and sustained. I also thought that throwing in flat 7th note, and chromatics will intensify the tension (which I hope worked). However the arpeggio structures that I made use of were inspired by 'River flows in you - Yiruma', which I have tried to cover on guitar.
The Climax is composed of 'rage' and 'guilt', and I realized it might be important to bring in more semitones to bring an element of 'repentance' to the whole feeling of 'anger'. So, I conventionally introduce the Phrygian mode on E, and tried to take a leaf out of Raga Bhairavi in the very end.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Mr. Gautam Lahiri, my guitar teacher for not just teaching me guitar but also providing me with tools to analyse music much better.
