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Versatility Helps

© Cindy Lee Haddock

VERSATILITY HELPS

Sometimes, in order to survive as a songwriter, it really helps to be able to work in a number of genres and play a number of instruments. Sure, the best usually tried to center on one main strength or instrument, but it is surprising how many of these, if you look closely, actually spent a lot of their free time picking up new skills on a continual basis. Here are a few ways you can do the same, and a few examples you might have heard of along your musical way.

KNOW A LOT OF GENRES

I just picked up Robert Plant's newest 2-cd set, and I think I've got a case of permagrin now. This man tried just about every style you could think of before he became a member of Led Zeppelin, learned more genres while with that group, and continued poking into new types of music when he became a solo artist again. It is hard to realize that this is the same fellow from one track to the next, especially when he does a country tune, some 50s or 60s staples, or delves into North African music. Besides being a very versatile singer and a fine lyricist, Plant also plays several instruments and dabbles with computer instrumentation. This is probably why he's had songs and albums charting every decade for the last nearly 40 years - he is willing to change with the times and stay on that cutting edge, even if it means finding new ways to play old tunes and make them fresh enough for modern audiences to want to listen to them, or learning new techniques and styles instead of relying on what has worked in the past.

TRY NEW STUFF

One of the reasons a lot of modern musicians make those album sales, and get cuts on other people's albums, is that willingness to try new things. Note how artists like Garth Brooks and Shania Twain aren't afraid to add rock and pop elements into their country, with fabulous results. Sting and Phil Collins appeared on many people's albums over the years, to the point that some still poke fun at them about how ubiquitous they were at one point (Phil actually drums on some of Plant's new album, and worked with him a lot in the 80s). It is hard to find a recent year where John Williams hasn't written music for some film, and in just about every style you can imagine.

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