For me, a musical education is something all children should be able to enjoy. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to provide the anthem for this year’s Learn to Play Weekend in conjunction with Yamaha Music London and the Music For All charity.
Having taught for many years myself, I know that there’s nothing more incredible than seeing a pupil’s confidence and creativity develop through the power of music. And it is such a powerful force – music can help channel emotion, can turn a negative experience into something productive and positive, and it also helps connect memories to something tangible.
That’s why ‘Beat Another Rhythm’ was such a fun and easy song to write – I wanted it to be catchy, uplifting and relatable to. Like a lot of my songs it started off as a piano vocal, which was then given life by my talented friend and producer James Birt. He built this exciting and energetic production around the song and I was so excited when it was finally finished.
Filming the music video was the next step and crucial to maintaining its fun feel. As an avid Snapchat user I had this idea to film the whole video handheld on Snapchat utilising their amazing filters. In fact, every still photo that accompanies the word ‘Beat’ in the video was edited purely in Snapchat with emojis, word edits and unique backgrounds. It’s the first video I’ve ever shot, directed and edited myself and I’m super proud for it to be available to watch online.
Now the anthem is ready, I am very excited to be running a workshop at Yamaha Music London on June 24 and 25, all about how to create a hit pop song. There are so many different elements that contribute to making a song special – if you think about hit songs of the past there’s always something that makes them unique that pulls the audience in. Take Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Sing’, where the layers of vocals singing the ‘woah’ hook make it almost impossible not to join in on. Another example would be the unmistakable sounds of Rag’n’Bone Man’s ‘Human’, made up of a simple bass part and drum pattern and a whooping synth sound – it’s sparse but super recognisable; as soon as that intro kicks in, you know what song is about to play.
Many of those layers can go unnoticed until you really start listening and highlighting the individual parts – but that’s how it should be – the hit song should pull the listener in with ease and capture something they know is great, without them having to question why. It might be a pulsing guitar rhythm, or a hooky vocal you find yourself singing in the shower… it might even be the phrasing of a certain lyric that rolls off the tongue so easily you can’t help but sing along. I myself can’t wait to start delving into those layers and uncovering some of the secrets behind what makes a great pop hit at my workshop in June.
If you’re in London, come along and join us. You can get more info and register for free tickets here: https://www.yamahamusiclondon.com/article.php?article_id=189