[00:32] make? Well, it turns out that adjusting the speed or the tempo of your song by even one or two beats per minute can have a profound impact on how the song feels, the mood it creates, and the message it sends to listeners. And there
[00:44] is a secret to tempo that never really gets talked about. So, in this video, going to show you a method for consistently finding the perfect tempo getting the tempo right is really all about finding the pulse that feels right
[00:59] address this at the beginning of the songwriting process, cuz finding this pulse can often help you move through the process a little easier. It can help you stay in the process a little longer when things get tough. The pulse and the
[01:13] the glue that's keeping all the bits together. And the problem that can arise is when we have a mismatch between the intent of our lyrics and the music we're creating. And we do not want a mismatch. We want all the parts working together,
[01:28] supporting each other as we create our new song. So, I'm going to demonstrate this with a few new musical ideas. And what we're really paying attention to here are the changes in the tempo, the changes in the beats per minute that
[01:40] we're going to experiment with and really talk about how that changes the been created. So, I'm going to play something on this guitar. This is one of my favorite guitars to write songs on. It's a uh a Cedar Takamini made in
[01:54] Japan. It's pretty old and uh I write a lot of songs on this guitar because it sits in my living room and um it's the one that I reach for quite often. So, this is a song idea that I was working on the other day, and it's just a two
[02:08] chord vamp. I'm going to play this two chord vamp at a tempo that just feels chord vamp at a tempo that just feels natural in the moment. Okay.
[02:33] two chord vamp. Now, I have no idea what the actual tempo of that is in that I don't know how many beats per minute that is. So, I need to find that out. So, we can then adjust the tempo up and down and talk about how those changes
[02:47] feel. I'm going to go over to the metronome and I'm going to tap in the pulse. That's roughly what I was feeling. Then,
[03:25] pretty uh pretty close to what I was playing. So, we're at 69.3. Let's just make it 70 for ease of discussion. Now, before we start adjusting the BPM up and down, the first thing I want to do is just identify the
[03:39] beginning of the songwriting process, I feel it's really important to get in we're creating, especially if we're creating music first. So, those two creating music first. So, those two chords
[04:03] It feels fairly bright, fairly hopeful. Uh I would say it's generally a fairly positive set of chords, those two. Uh it's not dark. It doesn't feel melancholy. Now, that's important to keep in mind when we start adjusting the
[04:16] tempo because changing the tempo will affect the mood. it will affect the way those two chords feel as we move the tempo up and down. So, let's change this tempo. Let's move this tempo up to begin with. Let's go up 5 BPM. We're going to
[04:32] with. Let's go up 5 BPM. We're going to go from 70 to 75.
[04:55] 70, I was definitely feeling like I had to rush a little there. And that's natural when you've gone from a slower tempo to a faster tempo. But the other start increasing the tempo, it gets a little more urgent. It imposes a sense
[05:11] of urgency on those two chords as we're going back and forth. And this is what higher tempos do. So if I just play that one again and try and lock in properly.
[05:32] playing it like it's got a little more urgency, a little more agitation in it. What happens if we go up again? in it. What happens if we go up again? Let's go up to 80.
[05:45] Let's go up to 80. Okay.
[06:04] Now, it's starting to feel what I would call rushed. And I think partly it's call rushed. And I think partly it's because the the part I'm playing is a complexity in the finger picking pattern here.
[06:17] You know, I've got a forward roll and then a flick with the back of the then a flick with the back of the fingers and I've got then roll. So, there's a bit going on in the right hand. And at that tempo, the right
[06:33] hand feels like it was it was working too hard and it was too it was just too rushed. Now, it's not about whether or not I can learn to play it at that tempo
[06:45] because if I spend time with this tempo, I'll get my hands around it. That's not the issue. The issue is what are we losing by going up at this tempo. And I think what we're losing is we're losing that
[07:00] bright warmth, positivity we had in the original tempo at 70 BPM. We've now got this sense of urgency. We've got this agitation. It's feeling rushed. And that might be good if we're actually going to lean into a lyrical concept that is, you
[07:15] know, in that ballpark. Something about a sense of agitation or or feeling a sense of agitation or or feeling rushed. But without a lyric in place, purely on a musical level, it feels like that is getting a little too rushed. So,
[07:30] let's go back down now and we'll just go we'll go back to that 75 BPM. Now this we'll go back to that 75 BPM. Now this will feel much more relaxed just by will feel much more relaxed just by comparison.
[07:57] play. And we'll talk about why that is in a minute. But now let's go back to in a minute. But now let's go back to our original 70 BPM. Amazing
[08:26] feels slow because we've been up at 80 BPM. We've come back down to 75 and then again to 70. And so now that feels it it feels like potentially it's dragging a little. Now here's the secret. There is a
[08:41] relationship between groove and tempo that is inseparable. We cannot just look at tempo in isolation without considering the impact that it has on the groove of the music. The groove changes when we change the tempo. And a
[08:59] changes when we change the tempo. And a good example of that is going back up to You could feel that not only was it rushed, but it loses something in in the groove. The the groove changes. It stops it stops having that swagger. It stops
[09:15] it stops having that swagger. It stops having that that feel side to side and having that that feel side to side and it just starts moving straight ahead.
[09:45] case is the way the body moves. So my body as I'm playing that 280 BPM, it's it's really sort of making my body feel like it wants to move forward like this. You know, it's almost a very gentle headbanging kind of motion because the
[10:01] groove has straightened out a little and now it's just pushing forward. And that is a direct result of the tempo now being much higher. If we go back to the 70 BPM, you'll feel that there's a swagger to this groove. Amazingly,
[10:42] do it, my body and my head just starts moving more side to side with that kind moving more side to side with that kind of swagger groove that that 70 BPM of swagger groove that that 70 BPM really brings out. And that's the huge
[10:55] thing to consider that we're not just changing the speed when we change BPM. We are changing the groove as well. That the groove and the tempo are so interconnected. They're so dependent on each other. And when we're picking a
[11:12] really doing is trying to find the groove that feels right. We were talking about pulse earlier. Well, groove and pulse, the groove that feels good, the groove that feels right, the groove that that
[11:28] that feels right, the groove that that feels like it's the one that just works what we're really trying to lock into. Just a quick reminder that our online songwriting community is now hosting weekly song feedback sessions. So, if
[11:42] you're a songwriter who's looking to get meaningful, highquality feedback on their songs, we're offering a 14-day free trial, so you can come along, jump growing community of songwriters from all over the world. You'll find a link
[11:55] at the top of the description. Hope to see you there. Now, just as an experiment, let's try going down from 75. Let's go down to 65. This is going 75. Let's go down to 65. This is going to feel slow.
[12:30] There's something quite lovely about it. And this is the thing. There's not a clear winner here. It's not that one tempo just jumps out and says, "I'm the one straight away." We have to experiment with moving up and down with
[12:44] these tempos because it is so noticeable that there is a groove shift, but there's also a mood shift. The mood shift there suddenly became it's more shift there suddenly became it's more reflective. It's more pensive, but it's
[12:57] not sad. It's just reflective. And there's something lovely about that slower tempo and and that reflection that comes in because whenever we do have slower tempos, there's more space between the
[13:10] more time for the listener to consider what they're hearing and that just what they're hearing and that just automatically feels more reflective. So, as I develop this song, if I latch on to a reflective theme, a lyrical theme that
[13:25] feels reflective, that may mean that I then choose a slower BPM, that may really dictate the choice that I make with how fast or slow I go. Let's just go back up a little. Let's go
[13:39] Let's just go back up a little. Let's go up to 68.
[14:01] happening as I'm changing the BPM is it's changing the way I'm playing this flick. Because what this groove really is is it's kind of mimicking a a kick and snare sound. So we've kind of got the
[14:21] So the bass note is the kick, the flick is the snare. So I'm sort of going of feel. So at the slower BPM, I've got more time
[14:37] to hit the flick, but it also makes me want to hit the flick more dramatically. little harder. And so it's creating this deeper, heavier kind of groove deeper, heavier kind of groove with the kick snare kind of sound at
[14:52] with the kick snare kind of sound at that slower tempo.
[15:12] Yeah. as opposed to going back up to 80.
[15:32] You can really hear the difference there in the mood. Uh that's not reflective. That's not pensive. That's moving forward at a, you know, a fairly good clip. So, what it feels like now is that we're getting a range. 80 feels too
[15:46] 75. Well, 68 to 75 could be in play. And so if we go back to 75
[16:16] I'm not sure why. It just it's not quite there. So let's go down to 70. Let's go there. So let's go down to 70. Let's go to 73.
[16:45] we're narrowing the range even more. We're saying 68 to 73. We're we're we're honing in. I'm going to just try 71.
[17:49] could really work, especially if we've got a more pensive lyric. 71 feels 70 to 71 feels more naturally where it just wants to sit. But here we are talking about changes of one and two BPM.
[18:04] And these changes do affect the mood, the groove, and the message we're sending to the listener. So they're really worth spending time with, you know, experimenting with these changes in BPM. And if you are starting a song
[18:20] with music, really spending some time with a metronome, going up and down, finding the one that feels good. It's such a good use of time. it really can set out a really lovely template for the rest of the song that you're writing.
[18:33] So, if you remember when I first played this idea without knowing the tempo and I tapte tempmpoed it, it came up at 69.3. 69.3. It might be that that is
[18:45] the tempo that just intuitively feels right for this particular chord right for this particular chord progression.
[19:14] feels considered. You can hear all the articulations of the finger picking pattern. I like the heaviness of the flick. know, it hasn't flattened out or straightened out too much because we've
[19:28] gone too high. Um, that might be the one telling me was the the tempo that felt such a great experiment to go through those other BPMs just to see what the
[19:41] options are and feel the changes as we make them. Now, here's another thing to consider. Finding the right tempo for your song isn't just about finding the right tempo for one section of your song. We need to look at tempo across
[19:54] the whole song form and the other sections because what feels right for this section may not feel right for the next section. So let's imagine now we're moving into a chorus. Let's say that those chords we were just playing are
[20:10] chords for the chorus. Now because I've chords for the chorus. Now because I've got this groove,
[20:25] that kind of vibe. Something in me wants to now subdivide to go to a new set of chords. I'm going to go to this chord here.
[20:54] finger picking pattern. I'm changing the subdivisions. subdivisions. Let's see how that feels at 69.3.
[21:21] little. It feels like the the chorus wants to push a little more. And that makes sense because a lot of choruses do feel like they want to have a a little increase in energy or a little increase in urgency because after all, the chorus
[21:35] is there to communicate the central message of the song. So, this is an interesting moment where I'm just going to raise it to 71 and see what happens.
[22:18] felt like it had a little extra propulsion of arpeggiation or that kind of finger picking pattern.
[22:32] So then we'd go back to 69.3. Um, and that would be the template that I now start to impose on this song as I'm developing it. 69.3, let's say, for the verse, 71
[22:51] for the chorus. That's less than 2 BPM between the two sections. And yet, it feels significant. It feels like when I was trying to play those chorus chords at 69.3 BPM, it it was dragging. It wasn't allowing those chorus chords to
[23:05] really to move the way they needed to move. So now we have our template 69.3 for the verse, 71 for the chorus. And I actually for you to experiment with as a songwriter because what's happened with
[23:20] recorded music in the last 20, 30 years is we've gotten really comfortable with putting everything on the grid. We've gotten really good at using our DAWs to gotten really good at using our DAWs to just lock everything in to the grid that
[23:34] is laid out and having that grid be across the whole song form with nothing ever changing. We've also gotten really and locking everything to that grid
[23:46] not how a lot of us heard music growing up. And some of those songs that have become much loved hits over many, many decades. They were created without the use of a grid. They were recorded live in a studio. They weren't quantized. The
[24:02] music that really shaped so much of our culture was created in a very different way to the way we create modern music now, especially modern pop music. And a great example of this is the Beatles. When you listen to a song like A Day in
[24:14] the Life, you can tell that song is not to a grid. The verse sections at the beginning of the song are hovering somewhere between 77 and 79 BPM. And you can listen through that song, get your metronome out, and tap tempo. You'll see
[24:27] long, or at least it's pushing and pulling between 77 and 79 fairly consistently going back and forth. And so, we can't lock into one specific Then when you get to the middle section of that song, it changes entirely. It
[24:44] goes up to somewhere between 83 and 84 BPM. And again, it's not locking into an exact tempo, but it's around that 83 84 BPM mark. But that change, that's a 5 BPM change from the beginning of the song to the middle section of the song.
[24:58] The Beatles are feeling that the song wants to increase in tempo because they're not locked to a grid. They're not having the grid dictate how the energy of that song should develop. And so it allows them to create that
[25:14] momentum, create that energy, create that lift by increasing the BPM as they move into the middle section of the song. And then for the rest of the song, when we come back to the verses, we really settle back at around 82 BPM. We
[25:28] don't ever go back to the original 77 to 79 BPM because the song has changed. It's developed. it's moved on. So, think about this when you're recording your music that if you lock everything into the grid all the way through and the
[25:42] song starts at one tempo and finishes at exactly the same tempo, you are depriving yourself the opportunity to create these momentum changes, these mood shifts and these these energy lifts
[25:54] or or cutbacks as you move through the song form. the music we're making really has an opportunity to breathe and to create push and pull tension and release when we're not simply locked in to that grid. Okay, so let's try one more
[26:07] grid. Okay, so let's try one more example. And with this one, let's go to a swung time feel. Let's go to something in 68. And so in the metronome, I'm just going to change it to 68
[26:20] because 68 is it's a different kind of feel. It's a different kind of pulse. It's got way more side to side motion than a 44. more side to side motion than a 44. Let's go up to 150 BPM.
[27:01] Now, the interesting thing about a 68 is that it has this side to side. 1 2 3 4 5 that it has this side to side. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6. And that set of chords,
[27:13] 6 1 2 3 4 5 6. And that set of chords, we've got a D to a C over G, we've got a D to a C over G, G, A minor, ending on an E minor. Now, ending on that E minor for me makes it sound sad. The the the leadup.
[27:34] and E minor really makes it feel darker than if we had resolved obviously to a C chord or a G chord. So
[27:47] G chord. So that affects the mood. it affects the groove potentially. And now as we start playing around with the BPM, we're going to be mindful of the fact that we like that E minor, you know, creating a
[28:00] slightly darker feel and we need to support that feeling with the tempo choices. So, let's go up again. Let's go up to 160.
[28:38] it's pushing along noticeably quicker. What happens if we just keep going up What happens if we just keep going up for a minute? Let's go up to 180.
[29:13] Now, there's something really satisfying about that tempo, especially landing on the E minor, because it's it's I don't know, it's got attitude in it. That 180 BPM might be perfect if we end up going with a lyrical idea that has a little
[29:26] bit more grit in it, requires a little bit more attitude. We could, just for interest, see what happens if we go up again. Let's go up happens if we go up again. Let's go up to 190.
[30:17] you've gone too far or or certainly I was feeling in that moment that I knew 200 was too far. 190 was still, you know, in the ballpark of having fun. 200 just feels it feels a bit silly. Having said that,
[30:32] if we were writing in a different genre or if I wanted to turn this idea into a different kind of genre, that might feel appropriate. Something a little more appropriate. Something a little more indie rock
[31:02] wasn't so silly after all. But it's a long way away from where we started back down here at 150. Now if I go all the way back down there. way back down there. Oh my goodness.
[31:39] because we've been going up to that much higher BPM. If we kept going down the other way, let's go. Just just we'll shortcut down to 130.
[32:27] totally different attitude. It's a totally different mood that it creates. And I find as a songwriter, this is so wonderful to have these options when you're playing around with a chord progression because so often we we start
[32:40] a chord progression when we're writing a song and whatever tempo we start playing song and whatever tempo we start playing it at, we just leave it there. But when you start moving it up and down different BPMs and really creating quite
[32:54] just helps us keep the songwriting process interesting. It helps it feel alive for us so that we don't just keep defaulting to the same patterns and the same grooves and the same things we're used to doing. So, if I was looking at a
[33:08] used to doing. So, if I was looking at a lyrical idea and looking to matchmake a lyrical idea with that music, I might go to my titles to my titles uh and just scan down and see see what I
[33:20] like the look of. You know, I've got some titles here. Love without armor. Suppose forever ends. Too heavy to hold. Too heavy to hold.
[33:35] one because that for me, I've got a note here that says this guilt is too heavy to hold. Um, so it's about remorse. It's a song Um, so it's about remorse. It's a song title or an idea about regret, remorse.
[33:49] It's got that kind of mood. The fact that the word heavy is there, it's now going to dictate which tempo feels appropriate when we're laying out the music because we want the music to match the mood of the lyrics, the intent
[34:04] of the lyrics. We don't want to mismatch. So, we could go back up. Let's go back up to, you know, 190. We could do that kind to, you know, 190. We could do that kind of uptempo vibe.
[34:37] lyric too heavy to hold and and what that feels like in terms of the themes of guilt and remorse, that tempo feels inappropriate. It feels like a mismatch. But if we go back down, if we go back down to that 135
[35:25] That feels appropriate. That feels like a beautiful tempo with the appropriate gravitas and drama to support a title like Too Heavy to Hold with those themes like Too Heavy to Hold with those themes of regret and remorse. So,
[35:38] until I introduced that title idea, it really wasn't clear which one was the appropriate tempo. I needed to introduce the lyrical idea, check in with what
[35:50] mood that lyrical idea was creating or what the themes were attached to that lyrical idea, and then make a choice about tempo based on how I wanted to about tempo based on how I wanted to match those two moods or match the music
[36:03] each other. And this is something I would encourage you to do with your next song. Look at the music you're creating. Really ask some questions of yourself about the mood that music is creating. Ask yourself what kind of lyrical ideas
[36:17] you might be playing around with. It might be a title. It might be a phrase. And then see if there's a mood match between the two or see if there's a mismatch between the two. And if there is a mismatch, changing the tempo,
[36:31] finding the pulse that really supports that lyrical idea is often the thing that unlocks the songwriting process and helps drive that song forward. Happy
[36:43] helps drive that song forward. Happy songwriting. Bye.