Ari Koinuma

There’s a song from a little-known musical that I think about every time I see someone learning to finally say: enough.   Alice by Heart is one of my all-time favorite musicals, and “I Shrunk Enough” makes me tear up every time I hear it.   I was lucky enough to be in this show twice: once as a pit guitarist, once as an ensemble on stage. Both times highly memorable.   In this coming-of-age story about a young woman wrestling with grief, this song portrays a pivotal moment. She makes a stand against her oppressors, reclaiming her power.   Musically, the rapid-fire, static melodies help focus your attention on the profound lyrics. And as a guitarist I accompanied this anthem by sticking to simple power chords — the most direct and confrontational of all harmonies.   If you are in a place where you need to gather your courage and make a stand, let this song be your companion.  

Hooks, hooks, hooks. Songwriters are obsessed about them, and rightfully so. Hooks serve like doors into the building that is your song. Hooks grab people’s attention and make them remember. Hooks are important.   Creating hooks doesn’t have to be the most important goal of your songwriting. But it’s great if you can create hooks without feeling overtly commercial or sell-out.   Well, if you understand these 8 ways to create hooks, you can be on the lookout to do just that with your song. In fact, you can layer multiple ones to create rich and powerful songs.   Along the way we look at examples by Sting, Sia, Queen, Dave Brubeck, R.E.M., Meatloaf, Ed Sheeran, Van Halen, Shawn Colvin, AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Bring Me the Horizon, The Beatles, Ben Rector, Taylor Swift, Adele  

1. Soaring Chorus
2. Distinct Rhythm
3. Catchy Turn of Phrase
4. Riff
5. Melodic Motif
6. Fresh Sounds
7. Vocalizing
8. Express a Big Persona

 

Ah, iconic riffs. Just hearing them in intros get us excited. Memorable. Catchy. Bold. Who wouldn’t want them?   Well, I’m in search of them for my band Nekobus. So I wanted to review for myself what ingredients go into making an iconic riff. Upon reviewing a number of such riffs, here is the list I created. An iconic riff:  

1. Must be aligned to the artist’s identity
2. Has just the right nots
3. Has distinct rhythm
4. Has a good mix of jumps and steps
5. Features bends or slides
6. Has surprises or fresh sounds

Armed with this knowledge, you and I can now embark on a hunt for iconic riffs, because now we know what to look for.   Happy writing.    

In this fourth and final part of my musical theatre series, I share survival tips for getting through actual gigs: 

• The main priority during a performance
• When you’re not sure, don’t play
• Keep your conductor in your line of sight
• Score is there to remind you what’s coming up (as opposed what you’re supposed to play right now)
• Volume pedal is your best friend
• Listen for the piano, and then actors
• Pacing yourself through multiple performances
• Set up your station

In this part 3 of my musical theatre series, I go through the preparation for playing the shows.  

• How important it is for guitarists to prepare
• Good to understand the general musical theatre process
• You don’t have to play everything as written
• Digital vs. analog scores

 

Having checked off your prerequisites, now how do you get your first musical theatre gigs?   By getting out and seeing shows.   Not just touring shows, but more of your local community theater shows. See how they are done. Meet people. Get to know the process.   Like any “it’s who you know” business, it can be slow going in the beginning. And it takes leg work. If you want a lucrative gig, go pursue weddings.   Other ideas:

• Look through local theater postings for audition notices. Musicians don’t audition, but you can hunt down music directors
• Check out websites of local theater groups with upcoming productions of musicals. Cold email them and ask to be forwarded to the music director
• Have YouTube, Facebook or Instagram of clips of you playing musical theater material
• Print business cards

 

For the last 2+ years I’ve played 8 musicals. In this four-part series, I share what I learned about what it takes to get and play musical pit gigs as a guitarist.

Here are the major requirements you should meet, if you’re going to pursue musical gigs:

• Be able to read traditional music score (not tabs, not chord charts)
• Have enough theory to be able to analyze chords
• Be comfortable playing in multiple genres, particularly rock, jazz and folk
• Play melodies and leads (but not flashy solos)
• Have an electric rig with clean and overdriven sounds

Bring Me the Horizon’s “Throne” captivated me from the first listen. It’s ferocious, it’s heroic, but above all — that hook! It’s like everything I love about rock n roll all packed into one song.   So naturally, I wanted to uncover what made the song so iconic. Here are the five elements I cover in this episode of The Power of Music Show:  

1. The hook: Production can add and strengthen a song’s hook
2. The lyrics: Alignment with the artist identity makes a powerful statement
3. The cohesion: the words and music work together to create singular, focused emotion
4. The contrast: varying approaches make each section of the song distinct
5. The gesture: the band commits to its big, dramatic gesture, in spite of its risks

Cloud Cult is a local hero in Minnesota, and for good reasons.   Insightful lyrics about gut-wrenching vulnerability? Check. Cinematic sounds using orchestra instruments? Check. Whimsical playfulness and communal sing-alongs? Check.   Yes, the word “unique” is trite in music. But there are no other words to describe them. Consumers of un-disposable folk / pop music should be flocking to this band. They’ve been telling us about our inner truths since the 90s.   Yes I am a fan boy and I desperately want to learn what is it that they do so well. So I can incorporate a tiny smidgeon of it into what I do. Here I looked at 3 songs that span their mid to recent career to uncover secrets of what make them so relatable.  

• “Running with the Wolves” from Light Chasers
• “Complicated Creation” from Love
• “I Am the Force Field” from Alchemy Creek

And here are some insights I found:

• Untuneful melodies that make listeners focus on their strength: lyrics
• Playfulness that makes heavy subject matters light and accessible
• Reliance on distinctive rhythm as hooks to catch listeners’ attention

 

Melody is like the face of a song.   That’s where listeners’ attention goes. Writing great melodies isn’t the only way to write a great song. But if you write quality melodies, you’re half way there.   In this video I discuss two key concepts in understanding melodies:  

1. Directions
   • Upward movements build energy
   • Downward movements deflate energy
2. Tunefulness
   • A tuneful melody holds listeners’ attention without words
     • But it’s harder to draw attention to words
     • It’s also more challenging to match it with words in a way that feels cohesive
   • An untuneful melody requires words to hold listeners’ attention
     • But it comes across as more natural, personal, confessional, speech-like
     • And it draw listeners’ attention to words

To write a tuneful melody, you can incorporate some of these qualities:  

• A mix of jumps and step-wise motions
• Distinct rhythmic patterns
• Right amount of notes — not too few, not too many
• Arched shapes

For examples, we look at these well-known songs:  

• The Beatles “Hey Jude” : very tuneful melodies that make you recognize the song
• A-Ha “Take on Me” : another tuneful gem that features big jumps in the chorus
• Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” : gorgeous arched melodies
• The Cranberries “Zombie” : semi-tuneful melodies that also focus on words
• R.E.M. “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” : untuneful verse, more tuneful chorus
• Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire” : another untuneful verse, tuneful and catchy chorus
• Judas Priest “Breaking the Law” : Tuneful riff but untuneful chorus
• Taylor Swift “Cruel Summer” : more untuneful verse, tuneful chorus