How Taylor Swift Writes Melodies | The Artists Series S1E1

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Holistic Songwriting is the most relevant resource for modern Songwriters/Producers on the net.

Friedemann Findeisen is an award-winning songwriter and the author of the bestselling book "The Addiction Formula". As a musical profiler, he coaches some of the biggest producers in Germany.
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When I listened to 1989 for the first time, I was actually shocked by how formulaic the writing is. Not that that's a bad thing - every megastar out their has their winning cards that they play over and over again. But what you might not know: The deck all these stars are drawing from might just be the same one...
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Sources:
TaylorSwiftVEVO
rebecca
Bryan Adams
Fifty Shades
Sony Pictures Entertainment
20th Century Fox
MeghanTrainorVEVO
LadyGagaVEVO
keshaVEVO
KatyPerryVEVO
beyonceVEVO
ParamountmoviesDigital
Movieclips Trailer Vault
FoxSearchlight
Warner Bros. Pictures
TED

[chloemarie]

I like how the background music gives it that murder mystery investigative touch lol 😂

[kyotofu]

Yes! Finally someone noticed those One-Note Melodies. I discovered it while I was reading piano sheets of her 1989 songs.

[pamrogers]

on writing all too well: When I’m writing songs, I think for me my main goal is to write exactly what I’m feeling, when I’m feeling it. If writing songs happens for me in the middle of the night, say between the hours of 2 and 4 am, chances are, I’m trying to forget somebody. It’s almost impossible to write how you feel. If you’ve ever lost somebody, you know that you’re never just feeling one feeling at a time. It’s much more complicated than that and when I was writing my song, I decided maybe instead of writing how I felt, maybe it would be better to write what happened from beginning to end because, I remembered it all too well.

[PunkrGirl]

I thought I was gonna get an overly hyper person breaking down taylor swift songs. But what I actually got was an eye-opening analytical take on modern pop music.

[BrooklynStevenson]

Why does the background music induce fear in me

[DovydasMusic]

this is my favourite channel right now. I've been binge watching it for three days straight. Appreciate all the work and research you are doing!

[RT-hewo]

Holy shit this guy is perceptive! I like how he sees this formula in a broader cultural context. Without the context the one note melody doesn't work. But also note the amount of inflection in some of those one note wonders.

[douglasbrown]

You missed how rhythmic Taylor’s singing is. She sings like a percussionist, rhythmically perfect, and that crosses over into the word choices in her lyrics. I’ve never heard anyone cover one of her songs who got this. In parts her singing is practically staccato. I think it’s a strong rap influence which might seem like a strange association for a woman who’s audience is mainly middle class white folks but it’s there. Her singing is metronome perfect.

[ikywtootw]

Speak Now and RED is her best albums btw.

[samuelbanayat]

I really like how he analyze Taylor Swift's writing style on 1989 album only. I hope he covered old Taylor's albums like Red and Speak Now which were incredibly written and extremely cohesive. Not to mention that reputation is such a great album.

[GiaTheSweetPotato]

Haha the whole one note melody thing is the main reason that I, as a pianist, fucking HATE playing pop music. How do you play that on piano?! Its like the song has a speech impediment XD

[Zygi_Sax]

You could sell me anything. I'm hooked from the 1st second

[Jojo-ovbl]

I like the video, but I don't agree that her songs don't work on piano. Just listen to her performance at Grammys museum, she played her songs in an acoustic version and it's beautiful, in my opinion much better than the versions on the album...

[monicafearon]

my favourite part of this video is when he called Taylor Swift "Tay Tay"

[halos.]

This brings up a really interesting point that really points out what the main issue with movies today are. Ever noticed how older movies ALWAYS seem to be better, more engaging, and more interesting? It's because they are. They used a different formula, more dramatic music, more lines that directly underline how a character is thinking and feeling, and allow for the viewer to engage in the story instead of sitting there analyzing all the little Knickknacks for what they may mean. To me, this creates a much more interesting movie because I can engage in the plot instead of trying to sort out the inside of a characters head

[mistymrning]

6:30 "It's kinda like watching Fifty Shades of Grey without the sexual tension... so it's kinda like watching Fifty Shades of Grey." LOL snapppp! And true.

[DavidDiMuzio]

You're brilliant man. Absolutely love your videos. I've been watching them since you were 10K subs and I'm still loving them. Keep up the great work :)

[lescox]

Taylor is one of the more polished and talented singer songwriters around today and I love you knowledgeable analysis. Can I have the cheek to ask you to also look at a young child who has already caused a major stir as a singer/songwriter. She is only just 13 years old yet shows a maturity in her songwriting that is exciting and well beyond her years. She uses tempo and chord progression like a pro, she uses words that are very unusual, and her songs follow a story building to a powerful climax. She won the AGT last year with four originals, that had never been done before, each song had a meaning. The first was about finding her way in life, second a tribute to her sister, the third about hope and the fourth about bullying. I strongly suggest you look at her you will be shaken I am sure, her name Grace Vanderwaal.

[davidmichaelhogan]

Dude, you deserve an oscar for these. I've never come across a more thought out theory around melody writing. Thank you for existing.

[pamrogers]

No matter how big she gets, she still feels like a girl in a coffee house or her bedroom, singing her honest feeling. And those feelings usually get completely lost when people get successful in pop music. When you’re starting out, you write the best songs because you’re pouring everything you’ve ever been into them. But somehow Taylor manages to do that over and over again
— Jack Antonoff about Taylor, Vogue UK