SINGER/SONGWRITER

What is the singer/songwriter genre about? 

Originally the term singer/songwriter comes from musicians that followed the liked of Bob Dylan in the late 60's and early 70's. Most would perform alone with en acoustic guitar or piano, however some would perform with backing vocalists and small groups of musicians to accompany them. The lyrics written are usually very personal, however can be full of  metaphors. The style was mainly being focused on folk/country music, however these days it has its own style. Singer/songwriters were at the height of their popularity in the early 70s, and although they faded away from the pop chart, they never disappeared. In the late 70s, artists such as; Rickie Lee Jones, Joan Armatrading, Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman, were heavily influenced by the sound of the original singer/songwriter. With the style being re-introduced in the late 80's, a new popularity and exposure for a new crop of contemporary singer/songwriters began. 

Singer/songwriters will compose and perform their own music, and though the term singer/songwriter is pretty self explanatory, there is a lot of discussion as to wether people believe it should be its own genre category or not, due to the fact that there are so many different genres that have been included within the singer/songwriter category. Though singer/songwriter is self explanatory, just because you sing and write songs, doesn't mean you fit into the genre, so rather than waiting for people to call you out on it, make sure you can clearly express yourself about how you fit into the genre. 

Advise given to aspiring singer songwriters would be to always carry a notebook with you, any inspirational ideas given to you by everyday events should be noted down whenever possible. Listen to as much music as you can, a wide variety of genres, to give you more ideas and inspiration, combining a selection of genres together to help inspire you to write more music. Reading books, listening to and reading poetry, anything that will help stimulate creativity. Try to write something every single day, wether it be something you are really happy with, or a 10 second long hook, record it and keep it in a file/as a video on your phone, this helps to get you into a routine of being creative, you then have the opportunity to go back and listen to them later on, and perhaps develop them into something more. Try to go and see as many live concerts as you can, as well as changing your scenery, rather than sitting in a room, go outside, to the park or a field, the woods and experiment, find creativity from expanding your workspace. 

Artists that have inspired me today, would include Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, The Weekend and many more. I have particularly been inspired by Alicia Keys because she is an artist that I have listened to since I was young. I always wanted to lear to play the piano and sing like her and even though I am no where near as talented, I followed my goal and taught myself to play piano and sing. Ed Sheeran has also been a major inspiration because of his effortless talent at writing amazing music, I began listening to him when he was known on a much smaller scale and since then I have always been in awe of how touching his music is. 


The sources I have used for this blog consist of both primary and secondary information, which allows me to have first hand and second hand information to use as research. 

Musical U. 2018. How to find your musical creativity | Musical U. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/finding-your-musical-creativity/. [Accessed 08 November 2018].
Secondary source.

A day in the life of... a singer-songwriter | Reading Agency. 2018. A day in the life of... a singer-songwriter | Reading Agency. [ONLINE] Available at: https://readingagency.org.uk/young-people/003-skills/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-singer-songwriter.html. [Accessed 08 November 2018].
Primary source.

AllMusic. 2018. Singer/Songwriter Music Genre Overview | AllMusic. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/singer-songwriter-ma0000002855. [Accessed 06 November 2018].
Secondary source.