[00:01] sitting around a nice warm fire. The sun is setting. You're surrounded by friends because you're the songwriter in the index of songs you know how to play, what you're really doing is asking
[00:15] yourself this simple question. Which songs are going to sound great with just guitar and voice? Which songs with all the layers of production removed, stripped back to the bare bones, will still sound great? And this is the
[00:28] camping trip, but you're actually at home working on a new song, the campfire test is an imaginary scenario that we songwriters can run to analyze the structure of our song and put some of the key elements under a bright
[00:43] something really important, which is to separate songwriting from production. Now, in certain genres and in certain styles of music making, production and songwriting go hand in hand. But there are other times when we really need to
[00:57] separately. And when we do this, when we separate production from songwriting, we can then ask a series of really valuable questions about the songwriting process. Is this song in the best form? Are the chords well chosen and appropriate? Is
[01:12] the melody captivating and memorable? Are the lyrics impactful and really saying what I want them to say? Now, there are some artists whose entire catalog passes the campfire test easily. Bob Dylan is a classic example because
[01:25] so many of his songs were written and have been performed solo on guitar. So we're used to hearing those songs with just guitar and voice and a little bit of harmonica. Another example might be Elton John who again can play most of
[01:39] his catalog sitting at the piano where we're just hearing the chords, the melody and the lyrics. And then there are bands like Radio Head, one of my all-time favorite bands, who have songs like Karma Police, which can absolutely
[01:51] be stripped back and played in a setting like this. This is what you get. [Music] This is what you get.
[02:11] This is what you get when you mess with us. the album King of Limbs, which is a mesmerizing blend of glitchy textures
[02:24] and drum beats and poly rhythms and synthy sounds and of course Tom York's ethereal voice navigating its way through all of those bits. And rather than those bits being the icing on top of the cake, those elements are the
[02:40] cake. They're the ingredients that are crucial to the song. And so taking them away, stripping down that song to a set of chords and a melody and a set of of chords and a melody and a set of lyrics, it just doesn't work or it
[02:56] that's a loud bird. So, how is the campfire test useful for songwriters? Well, rather than think of it as a gauntlet your song has to run, perhaps think about it like a question you can ask. What happens when I apply
[03:10] the campfire test to this song? And asking this question allows you to then see which elements in your song are doing the heavy lifting or which elements you need to do the heavy lifting. If the song feels like it wants
[03:23] to be expressed as a minimal kind of ballad, well then you're going to need the lyrics and the melody and the chords to really do some heavy lifting. You have to pay close attention to each of those three elements. You can't sit
[03:36] when the drums come in because the drums may never come in. And this is sometimes writing our songs. We can think too far ahead sometimes about the production and almost lean on the production like a band-aid that's going to cover some of
[03:51] these areas that are a little bit loose, a little bit sloppy, areas that we possibly should have paid more attention to and given more care to. Just a quick reminder that our online songwriting community is now hosting weekly song
[04:04] songwriter who's looking to get meaningful, highquality feedback on free trial, so you can come along, jump into one of the sessions, and join our growing community of songwriters from all over the world. You'll find a link
[04:19] see you there. A beautiful song that's had lots of success is the Barbie song, What Was I Made For? written by Billy Eyish and Phineas. And that's a great example of a song where it really is very stripped
[04:33] back and you can really hear the chords and the melody and the lyrics so clearly, yet there is production supporting all of those elements, but the production doesn't stand out as the point. The production is there
[04:45] emphasizing and bringing to life those elements, but those elements, the really do feel like the point of that song. They're the parts we're supposed to be paying most attention to. And if we just think about that song and how
[04:57] clearly all the elements are laid out, you've got that beautiful melody. I used to float, now I just fall down. now I just fall down. [Music]
[05:22] [Music] really beautiful, really clear what each of those elements are there to do. On the other hand, if you're working on a have some glitchy drums and ambient
[05:36] textures driving it, then this is great information to have as you start to some deliberate choices about the arrangement and also go forward with that song, knowing that production isn't there to just cover things up. it's
[05:50] actually there as an integral part of the process. Now, you might be thinking that songs with just piano and voice or guitar and voice are obviously going to pass the campfire test. And songs with drums and bass and synths and all sorts
[06:03] of other things are not going to pass the campfire test. But that's not necessarily true because the campfire test is all about trying to get at the heart of the song. trying to get at the heart of which elements are really
[06:16] driving the song, the most important elements, the hierarchy of elements in each song. Take Come Together by the Beatles. That song has such a famous drum groove at the beginning. And yet, we can still apply the campfire test and
[06:29] strip it back and look at what is really driving that song. Look at the bass, look at the lyrics and the melody. See if we can bring it all together and create this minimal version that still carries the song forward.
[06:45] carries the song forward. [Music]
[06:58] Yeah. Come on flat top. He come up slowly. He got your eyeball. He got holy roller. hair down to his knees.
[07:10] hair down to his knees. Got to be a joker. He can do what he Got to be a joker. He can do what he please. Come together right now over me.
[07:29] well-known songs is such a valuable exercise for all songwriters because it really highlights which elements are doing the heavy lifting. Which elements in that song are driving it forward. Which of the elements we care about and
[07:42] are drawn to that make that song iconic? Think about the song My Girl and that incredible baseline.
[08:05] those elements, the baseline, the lyrics, the melody. And so, of course, there are harmonies, there are horns and strings and all these other things that come in later on, but really the heart and soul of the song is in that baseline
[08:19] and in that melody and those lyrics. And so that is one of those songs that we could apply the campfire test to and arrange for just guitar and voice or piano and voice. Even with a rock classic like Sweet Child of Mine, we can
[08:32] ask the campfire test question. And yes, the song is recognizable because of that incredible electric guitar intro. But if you think about the chorus, the hook still survives just playing basic chords and keeping the rhythm going. Oh,
[08:49] sweet child of mine. [Music] [Music] Oh, oh, oh, sweet child of mine.
[09:03] the campfire test and break down these basic elements of a song, it makes you realize how malleable some of these songs are, it makes you realize why you can do covers in different genres and at different tempos. I mean, those chords
[09:16] there, we could really have some fun with that and mess with it and make it, I don't know, faster and punkier, you know, know, sweet mind.
[09:31] sweet child. Or we could maybe make it a ballad.
[09:43] [Music] Oh, Oh, sweet child of mine.
[09:56] really important that when you've just got a beautiful set of chords, a beautiful melody, and some lyrics, those elements are transferable to different tempos. We can try them out in different styles and genres. Some of
[10:11] those songs that we all love, the ones that are really embedded with lots of makes it so quirky and unusual and interesting, those songs are almost one-offs. They can't really be messed with and arranged in different ways. The
[10:25] the production is such an integral part of the song. And so, it is a real artist and you're putting together some cover material to perform at certain shows, you'll find out very quickly which songs really lend themselves to
[10:40] being played solo and which songs don't. And every time you do apply to Campfire trying to arrange a complex song in a very minimal way, you learn a lot as a craft and you learn a lot about which elements are driving that song forward.
[10:56] So, as you're writing your next song, ask yourself some of these questions. like it wants to take? How much of a role does production play in the creation of this song? Am I using production to perhaps cover up some of
[11:10] these elements that I know need more attention? And if I was forced to play this song around the campfire, what would that sound like? Happy would that sound like? Happy songwriting. Bye.