All language subtitles for MasterClass John Legend Teaches Songwriting_Full

[DISTANT CHEERING]

[MUSIC SLOWLY BUILDS]

[PLAYING PIANO]

JOHN LEGEND: Music can put
so much beauty in the world.

It's kind of like a
spiritual exercise.

It's not as logical as
therapy, or reading,

or some other things that we do.

It's hard to explain the
power that music has.

It inspires us, makes us
feel something, makes us cry,

makes us dance.

And that is such a
powerful gift that we

have music in our lives.

[MUSIC - COMMON &
JOHN LEGEND, "GLORY"]

(SINGING) Selma is now for
every man, woman, and child.

Even Jesus got his crown--

JOHN LEGEND: Music
can be people's way

of voicing their frustration,
their anger, their passion,

their love, their
desire for justice.

The idea that we're all
striving for a better world,

to love each other more, to
see each other more clearly,

and to care about justice
and equality for each other.

Some of my songs
have been about that.

And we are not going
back, we are going forward!

[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]

(SINGING) One road
when the glory comes.

JOHN LEGEND: I wrote these
songs inspired by people

out there fighting, people
trying to change the world.

And in turn, when I put
them out into the world,

those songs help inspire
some of those same people

to keep fighting.

To know that I'm with them, and
that our music can help them

keep keeping on.

[PLAYING PIANO]

Whether you want to make a
moment or start a movement,

this songwriting
class is for you.

[PLAYING PIANO]

I was inspired by all these
great leaders and activists

who fought for justice.

And I also was
inspired by musicians

who wanted to use their music
to make the world better.

So I was growing up, you
know, in the '80s and '90s.

I knew that Stevie
Wonder, for instance,

wrote "Happy Birthday"
as a way of advocating

for a holiday for Dr.
Martin Luther King.

I knew that so many
musicians marched

with Dr. King and other
civil rights activists,

and so I believed
that part of my role

as a successful
musician could be

me making my community
stronger and better,

and fighting for
equality and justice.

So I wrote this essay
at 15, envisioning

where I wanted to be in
my life when I was older.

How I was going to
make Black history.

I'll read you a little
bit of the essay.

I said, "It is important
for strong men and women

to be in the
forefront and to lead

in the struggle for success.

I plan to impact society by
developing my own character

and being a leader in
the community by example.

I plan to use my social
skills and my musical talents

to be a positive role model
for my fellow Afro-Americans.

I envision a successful
musical career

that will allow me to
attain high visibility

in the community.

This, in turn, will put me in
a position of great influence,

which I will utilize
in order to be

an advocate for the Advancement
of Blacks in America.

And I plan to be one of
these future Black history

makers of tomorrow."

Did you win the contest?

I won the local
competition, yes.

I got first place
in the Dayton area.

I guess it went to the National,
and I didn't win that one.

[LAUGHS]

I've learned so
much since I was 15.

But one thing that stayed
true was I wanted to do this,

and here I am doing it.

And if you find your voice, and
if you figure out who you are,

and if you stand
out from the rest--

not just fit in, not just
try to follow the trends--

but if you stand
out, then I think

that's the way to
establish yourself

with longevity and
with real impact.

[PLAYING PIANO]

In this class, you're going
to learn about songwriting.

What comprises a song--

the melody, the chord
progression, the lyrics.

If you think about roses
are red, violets are blue,

we're going to talk
about structure,

how songs are put together,
what patterns we can recognize.

So it's kind of like A,
B, C, B rhyme structure.

(SINGING) --let it wash
through the valley,

soar to the mountains--

We're going to talk about how
to take your song from being

just a song to an arranged song
that is put out on a record.

Oh, I like that one.

Let's use that one.

(SINGING) You know that love--

We're going to talk about
genre, and blending genres,

and using your
different influences

to make up your own style
and your point of view.

And hopefully we'll make all
of you better songwriters,

better musicians, and
better recording artists.

I just wrote a brand
new song called "Free,"

and I wrote it in response
to the invasion of Ukraine

by Russia.

I was watching the news.

I was moved by
what I was seeing.

I was so inspired by people
fighting for freedom, people

fighting for their democracy.

So inspired by Russians
protesting in the street,

knowing that they could
get arrested for it.

And I was thinking about
all of those things,

about how we need
peace, we need freedom,

we need to fight against
racism and fight for equality.

And I wanted to write a song
called "Free" in response

to that.

And I'm going to
talk with you today

about my writing
process for this song,

and how I take the song
into a full recording

that I'll put out
into the world.

(SINGING) Rain down freedom,
rain down 'til we're all free.

Free.

I developed my process
through trial and error.

I just started trying
to write songs.

They were not great
songs at the time.

But you have to start somewhere,
and your first song is probably

not going to be your best song.

But if you start, then
you can start figuring out

what works for you.

And I decided that the verse
should be in those same chords.

I'm hopefully going to
give you some shortcuts

so you don't have to have too
much error on the way to you

figuring things out.

So I decided I'm going
to use the idea of peace

as, like, a physical thing.

You can follow along in
my songwriting process,

and use that process to
help you write a song.

And then I end it
with (SINGING) let

it fly across the sky, a
banner so high that even

the rockets will see.

Songs are chords of who we are.

They're such an important
part of our humanity.

You can share yours
with the world.

[PLAYING PIANO]

I'm John Legend, and
this is MasterClass.

(SINGING): I give you all of me.

And you give me all of you.

Oh-oh.

Melody is such a core
part of songwriting.

It's a core part of how
we take in a song, how

we understand what a song is.

It in many ways defines what
the song is to a lot of people.

A lot of times I will come
up with melodic ideas,

hooky moments in the
song, before I come up

with what the subject
matter will be.

Most of my songs start
with a melody, and then

some sort of hook
that has a lyric.

And then I build out a
concept around that lyric,

with that lyric as the theme.

(SINGING): We're
just ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

So, let's talk
about what a song is.

In my mind, if we're
talking about popular music,

we're talking about
songs with vocals.

A song is the chord
progression, it's the lyric,

and it's the vocal melody.

So, that means even if someone
arranged it differently

with different instruments, if
they applied a different beat

to it, it would still
be the same song

because it has the
same chord progression,

has the same vocal melody,
and has the same lyric.

So, that's what is
transferable about that song.

No matter who covers
it that song is a song,

and that's the thing that
is the core of songwriting.

So, what is the melody?

Melody is the part that
the vocalist sings.

It's the notes.

It's the sequence of
notes and the rhythm

of the sequence of those notes
that the singer is singing.

And if it's an
instrumental song,

it might be the
sequence of notes

that the saxophone player or
whoever is the lead instrument

that stands out.

So, for "All of Me," the
melody of the chorus is--

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

So, not only it's a
sequence of notes,

but it's a rhythmic
structure of those notes.

So, they fall at certain
points in the measure.

And some are extended longer.

Some are more rapid fire.

So, all of those
components of the thing

that you're singing
along to, the main melody

that the vocalist is singing
or that the lead instrument is

playing, that is the melody.

It's those sequences of notes
and the rhythmic arrangement

of those sequences of
notes that are the standout

sing along-able part of a song.

And so, part of
what you're trying

to do when you write
a song is not only

write something that
you'll sound good doing,

but that when people hear it, it
makes them want to sing it too.

So, I just wrote a song with
Charlie Puth and Ryan Tedder

and Ian Kirkpatrick,
and they were primarily

writing chords and the beat.

And I came up with
melodies for the song.

So the beat was--

[PLAYING NOTES]

Up tempo song.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING):
She sold out.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

I'm trying to make a
melody that rides the beat.

I'm trying to make a
melody that is catchy.

I'm trying to have enough
space between the lines

so that it makes it even
more catchy and accessible

and has the right rhythmic
approach to what the beat is.

The beat is a fun party groove.

The keyboards are
doing this cool kind

of Pharrell kind of thing.

And I wanted the
melody to play off

of those elements
in a way that works.

Think about all
the songs you love.

Listen to them.

Think about what makes
them cool to you.

Think about what makes you
want to sing along to them,

and then try to do that try.

Try.

And I think if you just
sing along to the music,

sing along to the beat,
and you start coming up

with things that feel
good that you could hear

other people singing
along with you,

those are some of the clues
to, oh, this melody will work.

I could hear other people
singing it with me.

We did a really cool thing at
the end of the chorus of that

song, where we say, (SINGING)
She's so-o-o-o dope.

Now, that's kind
of hard to sing,

but when I took it
home to my daughter,

she was singing that part.

That was the thing that
really stood out to her.

She's five years old.

So, if you write
the right melody,

it will be something that makes
someone want to sing along.

It'll be a thing
that they remember.

It'll be catchy.

It'll feel good to them.

[PLAYING "ALL OF ME"]

Melody is crucial.

I spend a lot of time thinking
about the right melody.

And if we don't have
the right melody,

we don't have the right song.

It's not going to work.

[MUMBLE SINGING]

When I start a song,
most of my songs

start with a mumble track.

[MUMBLE SINGING]

When I sing a
melody, sometimes I'm

mouthing things that
don't make sense.

It's like gibberish, but
it sounds like words.

The only thing I'm
worried about is

the melody when I'm doing that.

I'm not thinking about what's
the song going to be about yet.

I'm thinking, what is
it going to sound like?

What is the flow of my voice
going to be over this track?

So, you notice with
"Ordinary People,"

there's a pattern, a
similar rhythm as we

progress through the verse.

But the notes change.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

So, the next line on
a different chord is--

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

Then--

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

So, it's like a little
neat package of--

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

Stay on that.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

Each stanza feels like
it's a neat package,

and it has a pattern to it
that's repetitive in some ways.

And it's easy for
people to grab on to.

Next time we do that
stanza, again, same melody.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

And then, when I'm
thinking about the melody

for the next part, the
chords stay the same.

But I'm going to
switch up the melody.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

And you notice it has a
different spacing and rhythm

too.

So, I was doing
more conversational

[VOCALIZING MELODY].

It's almost like I'm talking.

And then, this is more
singy and more rhythmic.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

There's more jumps
between the notes too.

That's a melodic change.

So, the other ones, the notes
were right next to each other.

[VOCALIZING AND PLAYING MELODY]

Nothing was more than a whole
tone away from each other.

And with the pre-chorus,
I jumped around.

[PLAYING MELODY]

So, what doing that
different melody did

was add complication,
add tension, add momentum

to the song, so we could
build to the chorus.

And then the chorus,
again, sweeping chorus.

[SCATTING MELODY]

Fewer notes.

Less conversational.

No one talks like this.

(SINGING): We don't
know which way to go.

More sweeping, more grand,
more higher in my register.

So, these are some of the
melodic considerations

that we have as I'm
doing the mumble track.

And I'm thinking,
well, how is this going

to feel over that section.

How is this going to feel?

And what feels
more like a chorus?

So, I'm thinking of
all those things,

and then I figure
out what the lyrics

are going to be after
I figure all that out.

There's a song called "Again"
on my second album "Once Again."

I started writing it when I
was in a random interview,

slash, play a couple of
songs for us session.

I was out promoting "Get
Lifted," my first album.

And the first song I wrote
for my second album was

a song called "Again," and
all it started with was--

[PLAYING MELODY]

So, I started playing that,
then I started saying--

[MUMBLE SINGING]

So, I knew I wanted
to say, "again."

Then I said, (SINGING)
and I'm doing it again.

Because I'm doing it again.

That I'm doing it again.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

So, those are the chords, and
I started singing that melody

over those chords.

That was written first.

And then, I started
thinking about the verse.

And I wanted the verse to
be more conversational.

(SINGING): First
time [MUMBLE SINGING]

That's not really a
great classic melody.

It's more like a conversation.

It's like someone's talking.

But then once the verse is
done, we move to the pre-chorus.

And it starts to
be more melodic.

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

And we went from a lower
verse, more rapid fire,

more conversational, to a
more sing-songy pre-chorus,

middle of the range.

And then, the chorus
has the most space.

(SINGING): And I'm
doing it again.

It's higher.

It's more passionate.

It's more spacious.

And of course, people will
remember that because there's

not a lot of information.

You give them less
information in the chorus

because that makes it easier
for them to remember it.

So less melodic information--

[VOCALIZING MELODY]

And a break-- bum, bum, bum,
bum, [VOCALIZING MELODY],,

bum, break, break, break,
break, [VOCALIZING MELODY]

So again, these melodies
and these melodic structures

and patterns lend
themselves more

to either being a verse, or
a pre-chorus, or a chorus.

And you can tell
what they are just

by the relationship they
have to the other parts

within the melodic
structure of the song.

Melody is so defining
to every song

that you need to spend a
lot of your mental energy

and your creative
energy coming up

with the right
melodies for your song.

Think of it as really the
lifeblood of the song.

The lyrics are very
important, and I spend a lot

of time thinking about lyrics.

But the melody is the package
that the lyrics come in.

It's the-- it's the
vehicle for these lyrics.

And you need to make sure
that the melody is right.

Those notes that the
lead singer is singing,

those are the defining
notes of the song.

And if those don't work,
then your song doesn't work.

[THEME MUSIC]

JOHN LEGEND (VOICEOVER):
Throughout the class,

I'm going to give
assignments that will help

you write a song along with me.

Your first assignment is to
make your own mumble track.

Remember, you don't
need to know the subject

matter or the lyrics just yet.

Focus on how the song
sounds, and craft

a melody that will make people
want to sing along with you.

[PIANO MUSIC]

JOHN LEGEND: Let's talk
about song structure.

Song structure is happening
whether you realize it or not.

Most songs adhere to one or
two different structures,

particularly in popular music.

It's the order in which the
different sections of the song

are presented, what
their relationships are

to each other, and then how that
makes an entire song together.

What's usually happening
in a song in popular music

is there's a verse, there is a--

kind of an A section and
a B section of that verse.

Sometimes we call the B
section the pre-chorus.

So in kind of
songwriter's shorthand

we're usually
calling it the pre.

So we have a verse and a pre,
which all lead into the chorus.

Or you could just call it the
A and the B section of a verse

that lead into a chorus.

Chorus also can be
called the refrain,

but it's the main
thing that tells you

the theme of the song.

It's the thing that's
usually the most easily sung

to part of the song.

For "All of Me," the chorus is--

[PIANO MUSIC]

(SINGING) All of me
loves all of you.

Love your curves
and all your edges,

all your perfect imperfections.

Give your all to me.

I'll give my all to you.

You're my end and my beginning.

Even when I lose, I'm winning.

And this you could
call the post,

but it's also quite hooky.

(SINGING) 'Cause I
give you all of me.

And you give me all of you.

Oh.

Again, a lot of times that post
is the most singalongable part

of the song.

The chorus is
obviously something

you want everyone to sing along
to, but that post is like, oh,

it's a chant.

It's a thing that everybody can
know the words to immediately

and you have them sing
along to that too.

And then, oftentimes, we
usually will go back to a verse

again, so verse two
in the same format.

Sometimes I like to shorten
verse two so we get back

to the chorus more quickly
the second time around

after we've established the
lyrical theme of the song.

Sometimes I'll change the
melody of the second verse

to kind of add a new
layer to the song.

And then usually we'll
go back to the chorus

again, call that
the second chorus,

and do that post-chorus again.

And then a lot of
songs have a bridge,

and the British call
it the middle eight.

[LAUGHS] But usually it's a
kind of variation that sends us

to a different
direction in the song,

and it often adds tension
and complexity to the song

so that it feels even more
exciting when you come back

to the chorus because you've
gone somewhere different

and you land back at
that familiar spot.

So for "All of Me,"
the bridge was--

(SINGING) Cards on the table,
we're both showing hearts.

Risking it all,
though it's hard.

So it's introducing
a new melody.

It actually is the same chord
progression as the pre-chorus.

(SINGING) My head's under
water but I'm breathing fine.

Cards on the table, we're
both showing hearts.

So same chord progression
with different melody.

So it adds tension, it adds
complexity, it adds urgency,

and then we land right
back at the chorus.

(SINGING) Because all of me--

And a lot of times I'll do that
third chorus after the bridge.

After that big bridge I'll
bring it down a little bit.

So when I do it live, I
kind of whisper that part.

(SINGING) 'Cause all
of me loves all of you,

love your curves
and all your edges,

all your perfect imperfections.

You know?

So bring it down.

So a lot of times the song
will have that structure.

So we've got intro,
verse, pre-chorus, chorus,

post-chorus, and then
do all that again,

so verse, pre-chorus,
chorus, and then a bridge.

And then use the end with the
chorus and the post-chorus

again.

So that's how a lot of pop
songs, a lot of R&B songs

are structured.

And it doesn't have
to be that way.

There are plenty
of other songs that

are structured differently.

A lot of classic kind of
show tunes and jazz songs

have a little bit
of a different form.

They don't have a traditional
verse, chorus, verse, chorus

thing.

So there's all kinds of
ways to write a song.

But I'm speaking from
my own experience,

and the way I
typically write songs,

and the way most of my peers
in pop and soul write songs.

And it's usually that format.

[PIANO MUSIC]

[VOCALIZING]

"Ordinary People"
started with chords.

So these are the chords.

[PIANO MUSIC]

So I'd already written--

(SINGING) We're just
ordinary people.

Same chords.

[VOCALIZING]

Then I'd do the verse.

[VOCALIZING]

A lot of times, though,
some of the things

you'll notice in a lot of
songs is that the chorus

is higher in your register.

The pitches are higher.

They sound bigger, they sound
more vibrant, more urgent.

And then the verses
oftentimes are

in a lower part of your
register and they're

more conversational.

So-- [VOCALIZING]

So it's more conversational.

[VOCALIZING]

Less singy.

[VOCALIZING]

Here comes the
pre-chorus, same chords.

[VOCALIZING]

It's building momentum.

[VOCALIZING]

(SINGING) But I think
we should take it slow.

We're just ordinary people.

So a few things happen there.

[VOCALIZING] So, one, we
started out more conversational.

We started out lower
in our register.

[VOCALIZING]

And then we moved
to a pre-chorus,

which added tension, lifted
the melody a little bit more,

added momentum.

It was more punchy--

[VOCALIZING]

--more repetitive
in the pattern.

And then it was
elevating the song

until we could crescendo
with this chorus that

was the biggest part of the
song, that had the most soaring

melody and carried
the lyrical hook,

and the thing that is the
signature of the song that

is the most identifiable
if someone asks you what's

"Ordinary People" sound like.

(SINGING) We're just
ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

Hey.

So that's how we built
the verses, the chorus

of "Ordinary People."

And then, for the bridge,
we decided to complicate it.

(SINGING) Maybe
we'll live and learn.

New chords--

(SINGING) Maybe
we'll crash and burn.

Maybe you'll stay,
maybe you'll leave.

Maybe you'll return.

Maybe another fight,
maybe we won't survive,

but maybe we'll go.

We never know.

Baby, you and I, we're
just ordinary people.

This was the most
urgent part of the song.

It added tension.

It changed the chords.

It added complexity
and, again, crescendoed

at this big moment that led
us right back to the chorus.

[PIANO MUSIC]

So that's the structure
of "Ordinary People."

If you listen to
the recording, it

starts with an
instrumental introduction--

(SINGING) Girl, I'm
in love with you.

Then I sing the verse.

(SINGING) This
ain't the honeymoon.

It's more conversational,
lower register.

(SINGING) I know I misbehaved.

Then I sing the pre-chorus,
which adds tension,

adds energy in the middle
of my range and leads up

to the chorus--

(SINGING) We're just
ordinary people.

--which is more soaring--

(SINGING) We don't
know which way to go.

--higher notes, more memorable.

And then--

(SINGING) Take it slow.

--the post-chorus, chorus which
has everybody singing along

at the show.

(SINGING) Take it slow, oh, oh.

Then we repeat a
bunch of that form.

We go to the verse again.

We go to the pre-chorus again.

We go to the chorus again.

We go to the post-chorus.

And then we complicate it.

We add tension, we
add even more energy,

and add new chord
progressions with the bridge.

And then we end it with the
chorus and post-chorus again,

and everybody's happy.

(SINGING) This time
we'll take it's slow.

All these things I'm
explaining to you,

they're really based on
tradition and custom.

And these are kind of tricks
that I use to write songs,

but you can change these things.

Sometimes the verse can be
maybe in a higher register

than the chorus.

Who knows?

Maybe the song works if I
don't have the pre-chorus,

for instance, where I
don't build from low verse

to mid pre-chorus
to high chorus.

Every song is not going
to follow the same form,

but you want the
transitions to flow.

You want it to sound like
they belong together.

You want the section that
comes before another section

to suggest that section
so it feels like,

OK, this makes sense.

So that's how I think
about songwriting.

And, again, part
of it's just taste,

part of it's just
instinct, part of it's

just having this bank, this
library of music in your head

that helps you figure out what
works and what doesn't work.

[PIANO MUSIC]

When you structure the song,
what you're trying to do

is build a story.

It's a musical story
and a lyrical story.

So part of the build
is, like I said,

a lot of times we start low,
we go mid, then we go high.

But also the musical story
is partly about space.

So a lot of times there's
more syllables to verses,

whereas the chorus
usually soars more

and there's fewer syllables
per measure of the song.

The lyric in "Ordinary
People," it's

talking about the relationship.

It's conversational.

Girl, I'm in love with you,
but this ain't the honeymoon.

We're past the
infatuation phase.

We're right in
the thick of love.

At times we get sick of love.

It seems like we
argue every day.

So it's really having a
conversation with the person

you're talking to in the song.

We're just ordinary
people-- it's more sweeping

and it's more of
a grand statement.

That is the chorus, you
know, the anchor of the song.

That's the thing that people
are going to sing along to

and it should feel bigger.

It should feel more
universal, more sweeping,

whereas your verses
can be more specific.

And the pre-chorus of "Ordinary
People" is very specific.

I hang up, you call.

We rise and we fall.

We feel like just walking away.

As our love advances,
we take second chances.

Though it's not a fantasy, you
know, I just want you to stay.

It's more rapid fire.

It's more storytelling.

And then the chorus
usually tends

to be more sweeping in its
themes, kind of summing up

the mood of the song,
the theme of the song,

the message of the song.

So I've shown you
traditional structures

for writing popular music.

And a project you
should do right now

is go and learn some of
the songs that you love.

Not just learn them
to sing along to them,

but try to break down
the structure of the song

so you understand what
did they do for the verse.

What were the chords for that?

What do they do
for the pre-chorus?

Did they have a pre-chorus?

What did they do for the chorus?

Did they have a bridge?

Did they have a vamp at the end?

Understand how some of your
favorite songs are structured.

If you learn that about a
bunch of songs that you love,

then it will help
you think about how

to employ those same structures
in the songs that you write.

It's important to
figure out the subject

matter of your songs.

It's important to figure out
what stories you want to tell.

And how you want to present
your stories to the world

through song.

Sometimes, I don't know
what the subject matter is

when I start writing the song.

So sometimes I'll start
with a musical idea.

The musical idea may
be a chord progression

that I play on the piano.

It may be a chord
progression that a guitarist

plays that I'm co-writing with.

Sometimes I write
with producers.

And in popular music, R&B,
hip hop, a lot of music

is producer composed.

So the producer will come
with what we call a beat.

The beat is not just the
drums, not just the percussion,

but it's the entire
instrumental idea.

We may add to it.

We may change it.

But it's a chord
progression, it's

instruments, it's percussion.

It's just a full
instrumental track often.

And that can inspire me to
write a melody, and a lyric,

and come up with
a subject for it.

There are all kinds
of musical beds

that kind of pushed me
toward certain lyrical ideas,

and subject matter, and melody.

And they can come
from different places.

Some of them are coming
from me individually.

Some of them are coming
from my co-writers.

Some of them are
coming from producers

who are also co-writers.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "ORDINARY
PEOPLE"]

We're just ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

With ordinary
people for instance.

I just started just
humming melodic ideas

before I came up with the
idea for "Ordinary People."

and once I said, we're
just ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

Then I figured, oh,
let's write about the ups

and downs of love.

I was informed by my
parents getting divorced,

and remarried, and
divorced again.

The ups and downs of love
that everyone goes through,

that became the subject matter.

But it was driven by music,
then melody, then me singing,

we're just ordinary people.

And then once I
figured out that line,

I decided that line would
be kind of the signature

line, the hook of the song, then
I built the concept of the song

around that.

But I came up with
the melody for that

before I came up
with that lyric.

And then that lyric led me to
a subject matter, to a concept,

to a context, that I
would provide around

that lyrical hook.

And it's funny
because Kanye, who

was my executive producer
for my first five albums,

he didn't love the idea
of "Ordinary People."

He was like, can we figure
it out a different word

than ordinary?

But I was like, no.

I feel like this is going
to be the right word

combination for this chorus.

And of course, I was right.

But he does give really
good advice on music.

And I've listened to
a lot of his advice,

and take it into account.

But for this one I
disagreed with him.

But it's just instinct
that tells you,

yeah, this works as of chorus.

This works as a lyric that
I can build a song around.

And the only way you
know that, only way you

develop that instinct,
is one, you've

listened to a lot of music.

You've kind of built up
a library of influences

that mean a lot to you.

And you see what
works in their songs.

And then you start to
try things yourself,

and see what works for you.

I want my subject
matter to be relatable.

So that means when I'm
telling my own story,

it may be based on my
own personal experience

or what I've observed
in the world.

But I want it to be something
that resonates with you too.

And I want to imagine that my
own specific experience can

be applied to your life,
and can be something

that interests you,
and inspires you,

and connects with
your own experience.

So we take the specific and
try to make it universal.

We take what's personal,
and try to make it

in a way that is relatable
to everybody out there.

And so I think subject matter
is really important because it

means a lot to other
people when they're

listening to your
music, and they feel

like you're telling your truth.

And you're telling
it in a way that

connects with their own truth.

What's interesting is you
also can write about something

that's timely,
that's in the moment,

that's inspired by what's
happening in the moment.

But also write it in a
way that it will apply

to many different moments.

And be timeless.

I was watching the
Russians invade Ukraine.

Seeing the refugees
fleeing their country.

I was seeing these
troops come in trying

to destroy these communities.

I was seeing brave Russian
protesters out in the streets.

I was seeing the way
that African migrants

were treated differently.

I was seeing all of this.

And thinking about freedom,
and thinking about what

it means to live in peace.

And for us to live together
in a way that all of us

can live to our
fullest potential.

And so one of the songs that
I'm going to show you today

is a song called "Free."

So when I started
writing "Free," again,

I started with a melody
and a lyrical hook.

And the first thing I
wrote was, "there is a God.

I'm just saying, Lord."

You know, I didn't know
what I was going to say.

Then I said free, free, free.

And then when I sat
down at the piano,

I started playing the chords.

And I started singing whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, no, on.

And then again, I'm
singing in gibberish.

But the gibberish
led me to Moses.

Now when I thought
about Moses, if you

think about the Old
Testament, the story of Exodus

is a story of the
Jews being liberated

from slavery in Egypt.

And Moses was the
leader of that exodus.

And that story has not
only been meaningful

to the Jewish
community, but it's

been very meaningful to the
African-American community.

So the African-American
community

is taught Christianity as
they're enslaved in America.

Let my people go

But the effect was
African-Americans

found inspiration in
the story of Exodus.

And so a lot of our spirituals
from that time period,

a lot of the songs that we
sang about freedom, the songs

that we sang about being
liberated from slavery,

were inspired by the Old
Testament story of Moses

in Exodus.

And so there's a song
called "Go Down Moses."

[MUSIC - "GO DOWN MOSES"]

Go down Moses.

Way down in Egypt land.

This of "Go Down Moses"
is sung by Marian Anderson.

She was a groundbreaking
African-American artist

who performed at the
1963 March on Washington

where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Gave his I Have a Dream speech.

She was an inspiration to
African-Americans striving

for liberation and equality.

And back in the early 1920s, she
recorded this amazing version

of the song.

And I wanted to
include that line

to throwback to this
timeless concept of Moses

and the Jewish liberation story.

I was also speaking
about my ancestors.

And our liberation from
slavery in America, and the way

that we connected the story of
Exodus with our own liberation.

So you can see how
the war in Ukraine

led me to think about
the subject of freedom.

And how in different times
throughout our history

we've had to fight for it.

Sing across the sky
a chorus so high.

And everyone will
know their worth.

I wanted "Free" to respond
to this singular moment.

And I wanted it to be able to
be played five years from now

when we have another moment that
calls for this kind of song.

I wanted it to be played
10 years from now,

100 years from now, when
we have another moment.

So it was a timely song
that I wrote in a way

that I want it to be timeless.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "FREE"]

We're all free.

I want the song to work.

So I want it to work in all
the ways that it has to work.

So musically I want it to work.

I want it to be musically
astute, and something

I'm proud of.

That I love singing
and that I hope

other people will love singing.

I want the lyrics to
stand the test of time,

and not feel like
they're so of the moment

that they will be useless
5 or 10 years from now.

I want it to connect with
as many people as possible.

And if I have lyric in there
that's distracting, or too

divisive, it might not work.

But you can't be afraid
of being provocative.

You can't be afraid
of being interesting.

You can't sand out
all the rough edges.

You can't bleach out all the
interesting things of a song.

You have to make it
provocative and interesting.

If you're too worried
about who you might offend,

or who might think it's
appropriate or inappropriate,

then you may cleanse all the
goodness out of the song.

If you think about
Olivia Rodrigo.

The first song
she comes out with

is this "Driver's License" song.

That's the one that blew up
and made a big impression

on the world.

And it was about
being a young person

and going through a breakup.

And seeing that person
with someone else.

And I feel like it was
such a perfect first song

to blow up for an artist because
it was really well written.

It was a beautiful song.

But it said something
about who that artist

could be in the world.

And what they could
stand for in the world.

And then she made a
whole album that kind of

had that same feeling.

And so every artist
has to know what

they want to say in the world.

For me, the first big song that
I had was "Ordinary People."

That song was a piano ballad.

It was about the ups
and downs of love.

It was relatable.

And I think that became
a signature for me.

And that signature is carried
through my entire career.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "ORDINARY
PEOPLE"]

This ain't a movie.

No.

No fairy tale conclusionm y'all.

So my advice
for subject matter

is, one, think about
what you want to say.

What you want to put
out in the world.

Who you are.

All the influences
that have informed

your thoughts, your
musical style, all of that.

And then figure out how
to craft a song that

channels all those feelings,
all those inspirations, all

those influences.

And subject matter
will be really

important for figuring out
how you go out in the world.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "FREE"]

Rain down freedom.

Rain down.

We're all free.

We're all free.

I think your songwriting
has to reflect who you are,

what you believe, your truths.

They have to come
through in the music.

And my belief is
that an audience can

tell when you're
being yourself, when

you're being true to
yourself, and when you're not.

And I think it's better,
it's always better,

it's always more
enjoyable, it always

makes more sense when you
feel like the artist is

being themselves.

And what they're
writing, what they're

singing, if they didn't write
it, what they're singing

is true.

So let's talk about point
of view, your point of view.

What is your point of view?

Part of it is just who you are.

So you are a 17-year-old
kid living in the suburbs.

And you're in high
school right now.

You might be dating someone.

You might have grown up
listening to whatever your dad

and mom like to listen to.

So part of your point of
view is informed by that.

Part of it's informed by what
you're listening to now, so

the stuff you find
that's current,

that's cool on the radio.

You may be a big
Billie Eilish fan.

You may be a big H.E.R. fan.

Whatever you are, like that's
part of your point of view too.

So you respond to
certain kinds of music.

Certain kinds of
music appeals to you.

Certain kinds of
music speak to you.

And you feel like those
artists know who you

are and speak your language.

So all of these things
go to your point of view.

Then part of it
is just the story

you're experiencing right now.

So you may have gone through
a tough breakup just now.

So part of your point of
view is in this moment,

you're feeling pain.

You're feeling lost.

You're feeling longing.

You're feeling insecurity,
whatever that feeling is.

You may be in love right now.

So you're telling that story.

I'm a father now.

So I'm thinking about my kids
and fatherhood sometimes when

I'm writing, not all the time.

But sometimes my
point of view is

informed by being
a dad to two kids

and thinking about the world
I want them to live in.

So your point of
view is informed

by all of these things.

But part of it is a
musical point of view.

I think your musical
point of view

is the intersection
of your influences,

and then what you
are able to create,

and what your voice
is able to do.

So part of it could be you
might love Stevie Wonder.

But you can't really
sing like Stevie Wonder.

And you don't really express
yourself like Stevie Wonder.

So maybe your point of view is
not really Stevie Wonder point

of view because you're
not able to kind of voice

that and channel that
in a way that works.

But you just love Stevie Wonder.

But certain artists really
do inform your point of view

because you're like, not only
do I respond to their music,

not only do I love their music.

But it sounds like
something that I

would love to create too.

It sounds like something I would
sound good singing, something

that would sound good playing.

So I think all of that
informs your point of view.

Your point of
view as an artist

is formed by all
of your experiences

and your musical
inspirations combined.

And whether you're writing for
yourself or for someone else,

the more you clarify
your point of view

and write music from that
singular perspective, the more

likely the sincerity
of your lyrics

will break through the noise.

When we think
about the artists

that we love, the artists
that break through,

they tend to have a
point of view that really

resonates with the audience.

And not only does their
point of view resonate

with the audience,
but it all works.

It all fits.

So the songs that
they put out connect

with who they are,
connect with what

they want to say to
the world, and what

message they want to
put out to the world.

And there's an audience out
there that wants to hear that

and wants to feel that.

Nina Simone said the
duty of an artist

is to reflect the
times we live in.

And I think there's all
kinds of roles artists play.

So part of it is to reflect
the times we live in.

Part of it's to imagine
a different future.

Part of it is to tell stories
that resonate with people, that

connect with their
lives, and help

them think about
their own lives,

but also just help
you as an artist tell

your own personal story
and your own point of view.

Art can help people
fall in love.

Art can help people think
about love differently.

Art can do a lot of things.

And I think some of
my music has been

about helping people think
about love differently,

think about their
relationships differently.

Some of my music has
been celebrating love,

celebrating sensuality,
celebrating romance.

Some of my music has
been specifically

about imagining a better future,
where we are more free, more

loving, more kind to each
other, and where we come closer

to equality and a
more empathetic world.

And music can do
all sorts of things.

Art can do all sorts of things.

But I think you have to
have some sort of idea what

you want your art to do.

Some art is just for fun.

I love songs that make me
dance, and make me feel good,

and make life just
more enjoyable.

And sometimes it's
not some serious song

about the state of the world.

But it's just something that
feels good, has a great groove,

has a fun lyric, a clever lyric.

And it makes me feel good
when I'm driving in the car.

So I think art can do
all sorts of things.

And I think every
artist should have

a sense about what they
want their art to do,

what they want to say, who
they want to be in the world.

But there are multiple
things you can be

and multiple things you
can put out in the world.

If you want to
make people dance,

if you want to make
people feel good,

that will guide the
way you write the song.

If you want to speak to a
political issue in a way that's

really inspiring
and moving, knowing

that as you're starting
to write the song

will help you write
it more effectively.

So if you want to
write about love

and do it in a way
that communicates

your personal feelings
and some of the conflicts

and the complexities that
you're going through right now

in your own relationship, if you
want to do that in a way that

communicates that effectively
with your audience,

makes them feel your
struggle and also connect

with your struggle,
then you need

to know that as you're starting
to write the song because it

will help you think about what
the lyric should be to help

both tell your story
in a way that's

specific and personal to you,
but also in a way that connects

with the universal themes
that you're talking about.

(SINGING) And there is a God.

You can use your song
writing as a form of activism,

if you're saying, how can
I contribute, how can I

be a part of something.

And who knows what will
happen with that song.

But that's one way
that an artist,

that a songwriter can
contribute to a movement.

My activism started-- my
activism was inspired first

by reading.

So I started by reading
about civil rights

heroes and abolitionist heroes
in Black history in America

who stood up and said, we
need to change this country.

We've been excluded
for too long.

We've been oppressed
for too long.

We've been denied our
rights for too long.

And we're going to do
something about it.

So they marched.

They formed coalitions.

They lobbied for legislation.

And they made
significant change.

And I was inspired by them.

I read about them.

I chose to read about them.

We would go to the library.

I could pick out
whatever books I wanted.

And I chose to read about
them because they inspired me.

They made me envision what
a meaningful life was.

And I think every
artist, every person

can go through life
looking for ways

they can make the world better.

And some of it may
be in their day job.

But some of it may be things
you do outside of your day job,

where you can see problems
that you want fixed.

Maybe it's in your community.

Maybe you see you
have a homelessness

problem in your community.

And rather than just
complaining because you

don't like the aesthetics of
seeing someone who doesn't have

a home living on the
street, figure out a way

that you can do
something about it.

And art is part of that.

It's not the only
thing we can do.

There are other things
that are important to do.

But I think art is an important
way to respond to injustice

and respond to pain and anger.

Write, write something about it.

That will help you and might
help somebody else too.

(SINGING) One day when the
glory comes, it will be ours.

It will be ours.

One of the things that
happened when I wrote "Glory",

I wrote that song with Common.

And we wrote it for a
film called "Selma".

So one, we were inspired by
Martin Luther King, inspired

by John Lewis and
everybody else that

was marching with them
for voting rights in Selma

back then.

Secondly, we were
inspired by people

who were marching in
Ferguson during that time,

mourning the death
and protesting

the death of Michael Brown
at the hands of the police.

Now, we were inspired by them.

We wrote about their work.

And then we made a
song that in turn

was used by activists
marching for later Black Lives

Matter rallies, when we were
protesting the death of George

Floyd and other folks
that are too many to name

in this conversation.

"Glory" was the soundtrack
for a lot of people marching.

So did we make political change
happen by writing that song?

I don't know if we did.

But we certainly
inspired people.

We were a soundtrack for people.

And we wrote the songs
inspired by the activists.

Before we dig
deeper into "Glory",

I want you to think about
your musical point of view.

What style of music
do you listen to?

What style of music
would you like to make?

Do you want to make music
that's influenced and inspired

by those artists you love?

Who are you writing for?

What do you want people to feel?

What do you care about?

And what do you want
your songwriting to do?

Try to answer these questions
and then continue on

with the class.

JOHN LEGEND: (SINGING) One
day, when the glory comes,

it will be ours,
it will be ours.

Oh, one day, when the war
is won, we will be sure.

We will be sure.

Oh, glory.

Whoa.

The interesting thing
about writing "Glory"--

one, I love writing
for movies, because I

love an assignment where there's
a little bit more clarity

about what we want.

Because writing a song otherwise
can be quite open-ended,

and the open-endedness is
actually harder than having

a specific intent.

Knowing exactly where it's
going to fall in the movie,

knowing what the
movie's about, knowing

what the motivations of the
characters are in the movie--

it can help focus your
songwriting in a way

that a more
open-ended songwriting

exercise isn't as focused.

So when I got the
assignment for "Glory,"

it was via a phone call
from my friend, Common.

So Common calls me up.

He's an actor in
the film, "Selma."

He's in communication
with the director

of the film, Ava DuVernay.

And she's saying, I
need a closing song.

I need something
special that's going

to sum this film up and be
our closing song for the film.

And of course, the film
was about Dr. King.

I knew that.

But they sent me a
rough cut of the film.

I got to watch it and really
understand the tone of it

and the direction of it.

And then, Common and
I got on the phone,

and we talked a little bit.

He said, I was thinking of a few
different ideas for the song.

And he said a few
different words,

and one of the words
he said was "glory."

So his saying that
word made me think,

oh, I want to write a
song called, "Glory."

And so again, this is helping
me focus my creativity,

because I have a kind
of an anchor word

that I'm going to
base the song on.

(SINGING) Oh, glory.

It was about the idea that we
haven't won this battle yet

for equality, for justice,
but we're going to win it,

and we're going to celebrate.

Oh, glory.

Again, this is another
song that kind of hearkens

back to my background as a
gospel singer and a gospel

songwriter.

And I'm incorporating some
of the language of music

from the church and writing
this song about the Civil Rights

movement.

Oh, glory.

One day, when the glory
comes, it will be ours.

We're going to
celebrate together

when we achieve what
we're trying to achieve.

Now, part of me knows
that we may never actually

achieve this utopian ideal
of equality and justice

for everybody.

But the song is a
song about hope, song,

about believing
that it's possible

and aiming toward that hope
being a strategy for activism,

saying, we don't know
if we'll ever get there,

but we're going to keep
fighting until we do.

And so that's what
the song is about.

(SINGING) Oh, one day, when the
war is won, we will be sure.

We will be sure.

Oh, glory.

So when I did the original
version of the song,

it was just me
singing that chorus,

leaving space for Common,
me singing another chorus,

leaving space for Common,
and then me singing a bridge.

(SINGING) Now, the
war is not over.

Victory isn't won.

But we'll fight
on to the finish.

And then, when it's all
done, we'll cry, glory.

Oh, glory.

So I wrote that chorus,
I wrote the bridge.

And a lot of times when
you're collaborating

with a hip hop artist,
that's all your job is to do.

And then, you let the rapper
come up with their verse.

And so I send the
instrumental and my vocals

to Common, and then in the
space where I'm not singing,

he writes his verses.

And we have a song.

Now, sometimes as a
singer-songwriter,

I'll maybe suggest some
ideas for the rappers.

But most times the emcee will
have their own point of view

and things they want to say.

I believe Common actually
wrote a little bit of the verse

with Rhymefest as well.

They worked together
on writing the rhymes.

But I was inspired by Common,
because the first thing that

triggered me writing
the chorus was

Common saying that word, glory.

And then, he was inspired by
me, because he was writing

based on what he heard me sing.

And so I didn't have to interact
with him as he was writing

the verse, but we were
influencing each other

when we were writing
our parts to the song.

He sent it back to me,
and I was listening to it,

and I was like, man, this is--

this is amazing, what he did.

I just was like, this
is out of this world.

Like, when I said I get
that out-of-body experience,

it was that.

I just had this image of Dr.
King reaching for the sky.

So I started the song
off hands to the heavens.

No, man, no weapon,
formed against,

yes, glory is destined.

I felt like I was writing for
the people of the Civil Rights

movement and writing for the
moment, what was happening.

Once we wrote the song, I
called Ava and said, yo,

I got something for you.

And I played a little
bit over the phone,

and she was editing
the movie, literally.

I sent the music over to her.

We went over there,
like, 15 minutes later.

She had put it at the
end of the movie already

to see how I look.

And I could tell
how happy Ava was,

and we all just felt
the energy of it.

I approached my lyric for
"Glory," the part that I sing,

trying to make it timeless,
trying to evoke some

of the spiritual songs that
helped fuel the Civil Rights

movement back in the '50s
and '06s, trying to make it

inspirational.

And I didn't reference any
time period in my lyrics,

but Common--

I think when you rap, you
can be a little more specific

and detailed in
what you're saying.

Because my part of the
song is the chorus.

It's more sweeping
and more open-ended.

And then, the rap verses
can get into more detail

and tell the story with
a little more precision.

So one style is more
hymnal, spiritual, gospel,

intentionally more timeless.

And then, Common's style was
intentionally more timely.

It was more in response
to specific stories,

specifically Dr.
King, specifically

Michael Brown, specifically
Ferguson, specifically Selma.

And rappers, because
there's just more content,

there's more
syllables per measure,

they can just get more
information out to people,

and it should be more specific.

(SINGING) Oh, glory.

Whoa.

There was no percussion
in this track.

We wanted it to sound kind of
simple and kind of like a hymn.

And we felt like
having no drums was

the best way to realize
what we're trying

to achieve with this song.

But we did record
it to a click, which

is a recording trick that helps
you kind of keep the time.

And especially when you're
working with an emcee,

timing and the click is very
important for them to make sure

their flow is right,
and that they're riding

the beat in the right way.

So he was able to
rap to a click.

I played the piano to a click.

A click as a metronome,
essentially, that's

keeping the time.

And that was the
recording technique

that we used to make sure that
the recording came out right.

When you are given the
responsibility of closing

a film about Dr. King--

we haven't made a lot
of films about Dr. King.

And so one, it's a huge
responsibility for Ava DuVernay

to take on as a director
and for everybody involved.

You want to do
this right, and you

want to honor the legacy
of someone who's meant

so much to so many people.

So I wanted it to be
up to that moment.

I wanted it to meet the moment
that it was being asked to me,

to be able to close this
film in a way that did honor

to the subject of the film.

And I wanted it to inspire
people and move people.

And wow, it succeeded
beyond my wildest dreams.

Not only did it
help close the film,

but we won the
Oscar for "Glory,"

for Best Song
written for a film.

Recently, John and
I got to go to Selma

and perform "Glory,"
on the same bridge

that Dr. King and the people
of the Civil Rights movement

marched on 50 years ago.

This bridge was once a
landmark of a divided nation.

But now, it's a
symbol for change.

Thank you.

When I performed
that song with Common,

and I looked out in the
audience-- even at the Oscars,

with all these famous actors
and people who have seen

everything-- they were just
weeping out in the audience--

like, serious tears out there.

And it was an amazing,
inspiring moment--

one of the most moving moments
I've ever had in my career--

being on that stage and
feeling the connection

that I felt with everyone in the
audience, the connection to Dr.

King's story, the connection
to this beautiful film--

and feeling like we had created
something that really did

meet the moment.

(SINGING) Oh, glory.

When you think
about point of view,

my point of view
writing that song

was as someone who
studied the movement, who

was inspired by the movement.

My point of view was also
informed by watching the film.

So I got to sit
there and watch it.

And then, it was
informed by my upbringing

as a gospel musician.

I understood the structures
and patterns and tropes

of hymns and spirituals,
especially the ones

that were used as fuel for
the Civil Rights movement.

And so my point of
view, writing that song,

was informed by all that,
all that upbringing, all

that information, all that study
that I had done over the years.

Now, everybody's
songwriting is informed

by their point of view.

And your point of view
is all of those things,

all those inspirations, all
those things you've read.

Maybe you've read great
novelists and poets

that their language has spoken
to you in a certain way,

and you're able to
incorporate that

into the way you write songs.

Maybe you've been raised
on certain songwriters.

Maybe it's Bob Dylan.

Maybe it's Stevie Wonder.

Maybe it's Lennon and McCartney.

So you're listening to
them, and your point of view

is informed by them.

Because you start
to think, well this

is how songs are
supposed to sound.

And I understand the
vocabulary and the vernacular

of this type of
songwriting, and it informs

who I am as a songwriter.

So that's how you
form a point of view.

All that information, all that
listening, all that analysis,

and then you can take that and
create your own music with it.

[PIANO PLAYING]

JOHN LEGEND (VOICEOVER):
Anyone can write a song.

But how do you
write a good song?

How do you inspire people to
take action or fall in love

through your music?

I believe it all
starts with knowing

who you are as an artist,
what your style is,

and how you want
to impact people

with your voice or your writing.

I started as a musician
when I was a very young boy.

I grew up in a musical family.

I grew up in the church.

And I was exposed to
music all the time.

I was surrounded
by people who loved

music and who played it every
week in our church services.

Music was such a huge part
of the way we interacted

with each other, showed
our love for each other,

and our love for God,
and our community.

Music was everything.

It was such a core
part of who we were.

I would watch television and see
these big stars on television.

and I would want to
be where they were.

I envisioned myself
on the Grammys.

I envisioned myself
on Star Search.

I wanted to be in those places.

And I wanted to sing for people.

And I wasn't great at it yet,
but I was practicing piano

at home, taking piano lessons
from a local music store,

learning gospel piano
from my grandmother.

And then eventually,
I became a songwriter.

I wrote romantic songs for the
girls I was trying to hit on.

I wrote whenever I could.

And part of the reason I wrote
was because I loved singing

and I wanted to compose the
things that I was singing.

And more and more,
as I kept singing,

kept being encouraged by being
out there in front of audiences

and feeling their love
that they gave me,

and feeling like I
could successfully

put on a performance, the
more I was like, yeah,

I really want to do this.

And then as I got
older and older,

I started to zero in
on what worked for me.

And part of it came
through my collaborations.

So one of my early collaborators
was a guy named Dave Tozer.

He loved classic soul
and classic reggae

and a little bit of rock.

And then I started working with
Kanye who loved classic soul

and merging that with hip hop.

And so when you listen
to my Get Lifted album,

you'll hear both of their
influences in my work then.

And then as I grew,
I incorporated

all that they had
put in me, and then

started working with
different people as well,

and getting different ideas
from different people,

and bouncing different
ideas off of those people,

and kind of soaking up
different people's creativity.

And all of their influence is
what makes me who I am today.

[PIANO PLAYING]

"Ordinary People" was actually
the second single we released.

"Used to Love You" was the
first song we released.

It did OK.

It got a little play
on the R&B charts.

But "Ordinary People" was the
song that really broke through.

And "Ordinary
People" broke through

I think because it sounded
so different than everything

else that was on the radio.

(SINGING) Girl I'm
in love with you.

This ain't the honeymoon.

We're past the
infatuation phase.

There was no other piano
ballad on any R&B stations

at that time.

It was just me by myself singing
raw, unfiltered on the piano.

And in fact, "Ordinary
People" wasn't the result

of a bunch of takes, like
I normally do on a song,

because I was originally
intending it simply

as a demo to send
back to will.I.am

and he was going to
produce it up and make

a full version of it.

But we ended up deciding that
the demo was exactly what we

wanted to put out.

(SINGING) take it slow.

We're just ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

It took off in Chicago.

And then it started taking
off all across the country.

And then, by the time
the album came out,

it had started to take over
for "Used to Love You,"

even though "Used to Love You"
was a song we were promoting.

"Ordinary People" was
going up "Used to Love

You" was coming down.

And then "Ordinary People"
became a much bigger song

and really the signature song
from the beginning of my career

that helped define who I
was in the public sphere.

So as a songwriter, when
you're listening to music,

you're not just learning
how to play the song.

What you're doing is
you're trying to understand

how these chords work together.

What kind of patterns
do you notice

that really work for you.

When is a minor
chord more effective.

When is a major
chord more effective.

What chord leads to
another logically.

And what feels right when you
go from one chord to the next.

A lot of these things you
can intuitively understand,

because you feel them.

You feel what this chord
makes you sense in the song--

that it's getting darker.

That it's getting sadder.

That it's getting happier.

That it's getting brighter.

That it's opening up.

You can hear what
these chords are doing.

But a lot of times,
you're not thinking

about the theory behind it.

And so, once you start
to pick out the chords,

then you can
understand, oh, this

is what this chord
makes me feel.

This is what this
progression makes me feel.

And then you start to understand
how songs are structured

and how they're put together.

So that's breaking
down the chords.

But you can also break down the
melodic structure of the song.

Some of them are more sweeping.

Some of them are
more conversational.

And those are melodic
choices, rhythmic choices,

that the songwriter is making.

And if you start to
think about those things,

then you can start
thinking about how

you would write a song and
apply those structures,

those melodic
structures, to your song.

First of all, don't be
afraid of imitating.

So if you have favorite artists,
and you love what they do,

you may start your
early experimentation

by really doing an imitation
of your favorite artist.

But what, hopefully, will
happen as you are imitating some

of these artists, you
start to figure out

what your voice does that's
different from their voice.

You start to figure
out what you like,

that may be some
kind of combination

of your favorite artist and
not just a direct imitation

of any single one of them.

And you just figure out how to
bring things together, bring

different influences together.

And so, you'll eventually
get to the point

where you're not
directly imitating

one particular artist.

But I think early on
in your experimentation

as a songwriter, as a performer,
it's fine to imitate somebody.

My friend Quincy Jones
says, steal from the best.

Basically, that means you'll
start out by imitating.

Just learn their song.

Try to sing it
like they sing it.

And then eventually,
I think, what

will happen is you'll
start to figure out,

well, I don't actually sing
exactly like that person.

My voice does different things.

I'm better at this thing.

I'm not so good at this thing.

So you start to figure out
where you fit in as you're

imitating someone else's style.

And then you start to
develop your own style

and what works for you.

I love Stevie Wonder, but I
can't sing as high as him.

I don't do all the
runs that he does.

I have a different
tone in my voice.

My tone is a little heavier
and rougher than his.

So a lot of things are different
about me and Stevie Wonder,

but I started out, early
on, trying to imitate him,

trying to imitate
Marvin Gaye, trying

to imitate Luther Vandross.

Those are some of
the people I wanted

to imitate when I was younger.

But eventually, what happens
is as you keep developing, keep

growing as a performer, all
those influences are still

there but they become just you.

[PIANO PLAYING]

My greatest influence musically
was actually my grandmother,

my maternal grandmother.

She was our church
organist and she

was showing me how to play
gospel piano, gospel organ.

So she was starting to train
me pretty early on in my life

to take up the reins
after she left.

When you're hearing
me play the piano,

you're hearing my grandmother
playing through me.

A lot of her stylistic choices,
a lot of that gospel flavor

that I add to pretty much
everything I do, it's from her.

And so, you're hearing
her when you hear me.

[PIANO PLAYING]

All those influences are there,
but they become your style.

You know I'm a coach on The
Voice and one of the things

that we do is cover songs.

And a lot of times
a way of defining

who you are stylistically
when you're not

writing your own songs and
singing your own original music

is what kind of spin do you put
on the songs that you cover.

So you can make affirmative
stylistic choices

that help define
who you are and what

your style is to your listener.

When you're making a song
your own, when you're

trying to cover it, one,
you have to figure out

what key to sing it in.

And sometimes, your voice may
not be the exact same range

and register that the
artist you're covering is.

I'm going to cover
Joni Mitchell's tune

and I have to change the key.

So first of all,
you change the key.

Secondly, you start to
fool around with it.

If you play an instrument, how
are you going to play the song.

How are you going to
sing the song that

may be similar to that
artist but maybe different.

How does it fit within
your vocal range.

And what are some
of the things you

would do differently than
the original artist would do.

Maybe you have a specific
stylistic approach

you're going with.

Maybe you want to
make it more gospel.

Maybe you want to
make it more soulful.

Maybe you want to
make it more country.

Maybe you want to make
it more kind of folky.

So there are all kinds of
approaches you can take.

And if you say, if you say, this
is my treatment for this song.

I want to make it more folky.

And what are some of
the tropes of folk music

that I can incorporate into my
interpretation of this Stevie

Wonder's song, for instance.

You could do that.

You can make Stevie
Wonder sound more folk

by changing the
instrumentation, changing

some of the vocal styling.

Some of that stuff can happen.

And it's happened over the
years and it's beautiful.

It's really cool when people
kind of strip down the song

and make a new cover of it that
reimagines the context for it.

And when you have that idea
and you execute it really well,

it can be really beautiful.

And one of the songs
that I used to cover,

that I used to study and
listen to and was inspired by,

was a song called "Love's
in Need," by Stevie Wonder.

So Stevie Wonder made
this beautiful song

and it had some of the things
that I love about music.

It had those cool harmonies.

(SINGING) Doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo doo.

So that appealed to the a
capella geek slash gospel choir

arranger in me.

And I love the subject matter.

I love that it was a song about
making the world a better place

and spreading love
around the world.

And I think Stevie
did a great job

on a lot of songs of spreading
that message of love.

[PIANO PLAYING]

And then, of course, I
just love Stevie Wonder.

The chords are beautiful.

His singing is beautiful.

And I wanted to try
to sing that song.

So I started learning to play
it and learning to sing it.

(SINGING) Good morn
or evening, friends.

Here's your friendly announcer.

I was a student at the
University of Pennsylvania.

I was directing a
choir at a church.

And one of my choir members,
her name was Tara Michelle,

and she was friends
with Lauryn Hill.

And Terra invited me to
go to the studio with her.

We drove to where Lauryn
Hill was recording her album.

And she was taking a break.

And Tara said,
why don't you play

a couple of songs for Lauryn.

So I went over and sat at
the piano and the first song

I played was "Love's in Need."

(SINGING) we know that
love's in need of love today.

Then I played
an original song.

And right after
that, Lauryn asked

me to play on the song
they were working on.

And that song happened
to be, "Everything

is Everything," which was a
big single on The Miseducation

of Lauryn Hill.

It won all the Grammys.

It was just the talk
of the music world.

And I got to say that
I was on that album.

And that was the first
album, I was ever a part

of that saw the light of day.

[PIANO PLAYING]

One of the things
I do when I cover

Stevie Wonder is change the
key because I sing lower

than Stevie does.

(SINGING) Good morn
or evening, friends.

I put a little
gospel style on it.

And then, you see what
works when you play it live.

And then you work on it a
little bit, tweak a little bit,

and then try to
get better at it.

(SINGING) --to everybody what
I'm about to say could mean

the world's disaster, could turn
your joy and laughter to tears

and pain.

You know that love's
in need of love today.

This type of reinterpretation
of a song makes it yours.

And it's a good
exercise as you start

to develop your own style.

Sing it slower, faster, play
it on a different instrument,

and experiment with alternate
phrasings of the lyrics.

(SINGING) Breaking
many hearts.

Stop it, please, before
it's gone too far.

I've written all
kinds of songs.

But I think, at
my core, I'm still

that kid that grew up
in the church in Ohio

singing soulful gospel songs.

[PIANO PLAYING]

Finding your style
is so important.

It's informed by the
artists you've listened to,

the artists you love.

It's informed by
your own abilities,

what your vocal range is,
what your voice can do.

And it's inspired
by who you want

to be in the world,
what you want

to represent, what
kind of music do you

want people to know you for.

These are the kinds of things
you're thinking about when

you're defining your style.

(SINGING) We know
that love's in need--

Now that you've been
listening to your favorite songs

and identifying what
makes them great,

it's time to perform
your own cover.

And try switching it up
from the original version.

Even if you don't
play an instrument,

you can sing it a capella.

(SINGING) Amazing grace--

Covering songs is a great
way to find your own style.

It's been a major part
of my musical journey.

And I would like for you to
share your covers with me.

(SINGING) But now I see.

Lyrics are crucial.

Obviously, they can strike
to your emotional core

in a certain way.

The melody means something.

The music means something.

But you have to say
something in the song.

You have to say
something that connects

to what the feeling that
you want people to feel is.

Some songs-- the lyric is more
fun and playful and irreverent.

I've got a song called,
"So Dope," where I'm just

talking about how fine a
girl is, and how sexy she is,

and how much I want
to be with her,

and how addicted I am
to how great she is.

(SINGING) She's so dope.

Wanna be her dope fiend.

She showed me what dope mean.

And the song is not supposed
to be as deep and as spiritual

as "Free" is, but it needs
to be effective in doing

what it's supposed to do.

It's more of a party song.

It needs to be
effective at that.

It needs to be effective at
communicating the sentiment

that you're trying to
communicate through that song.

And I have all kinds of songs.

I have songs that are sexier.

I have songs that are more
playful, more party, more

dance-driven.

And then, I have songs that
are these intimate, heartfelt

ballads about commitment,
about love, about freedom.

All of those songs--

they have different
moods, but your lyric

needs to really capture
that mood, tell that story,

and connect with the
music and the melody

to make a beautiful song.

So I approach lyric writing
by starting with the melody.

I mumble those
nonsensical mumble tracks.

[SINGS] And so it establishes
a structure within which

the lyrics are going to live.

So I don't know what
those lyrics are

going to be quite
yet, but I know

what they'll sound like, what
the bounce of them will be.

Like, the rhythm, the spacing
will be the notes on the scale

that those lyrics will hit--

I know all of that.

And then, I usually
write the lyric.

Sometimes I'll even write
the chorus lyric and melody

at the exact same time.

So with "Free"--

(SINGING) There is a god.

I did not mumble that part.

I just sang that.

That was a line
that came to me as I

was thinking about what the
melody of the line would be.

It came at the same time.

(SINGING) There is a god.

And I'm saying, Lord.

So before I even
sat at the piano,

I sang that into my phone.

But after that, I had
to think about, well,

what exactly do I want to say?

I knew I wanted to write
something inspired by what

was happening in Ukraine.

I knew that this
invasion by Russia

had galvanized the
world, and we were

seeing all these images that
were so scary and harrowing.

And I wanted to write an anthem
for freedom and for peace.

I started with that
there is a god.

And when I first wrote it,
I said, if there is a god.

(SINGING) If there is a god,
and I'm just saying, Lord.

Eventually, I changed
it to, that there

is a god, not because I'm
trying to assert whether or not

god exists in the song,
but I wanted the song

to be written like a prayer.

And so I thought, it
will be odd for me

to say, if there is
a god, but to make

an affirmative
statement in this prayer

that I'm praying to someone that
hopefully is listening and is

going to rain down
peace and freedom on me.

So when I started writing the
lyric to the rest of the song,

I start with the melody.

(SINGING) Bom, bom,
bom, bom, bom, bom.

And then, in my mumble track,
one of the things I said

sounded like Moses to me.

And it triggered in my
mind, go down, Moses.

I thought of that
and incorporated that

into the beginning of
the lyric for "Free."

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

Then, I said, hmm, what should
I say have to, go down, Moses?

I want to stay with that.

I like certain things
to repeat in my verses.

So--

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

And I said, I'm going to change
it, but not change it too much.

(SINGING) Way down, Moses.

And then, use the
old spiritual line.

(SINGING) Go down to Egypt land.

So I'm basically
borrowing the lyric

from "Go Down, Moses,"
the spiritual song,

for that first stanza.

And then, I'm going to
complicate it and bury

it just enough in a way
that rhymes with Moses,

but it's a new
thought, a new idea.

And it's about peace, and not
about liberation from slavery.

So--

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to Egypt land.

Then, my next stanza
is, lay down, soldiers.

Lay down those weapons.

Let peace rush in.

So--

(SINGING) Lay down, soldiers.

Lay down those weapons.

Let peace rush in.

So I moved from the
idea of liberation

from slavery as
the first stanza.

The second stanza
is about the idea

of being against
war and for peace,

and telling the soldiers
to lay down their weapons.

And then, I say,
let peace rush in.

So I start to think of peace
visually as a thing that

can rush in to a valley.

So--

(SINGING) Let it wash
through the valley.

What could it also do?

What other
topographical elements

could I include in this
physical description

of what peace could do?

(SINGING) Let it wash to the
valley, soar to the mountain,

fall in the deepest blue sea.

So let peace cover the earth,
wash through the valley,

soar to the mountain, fall
in the deepest blue sea,

and then go above the mountain.

(SINGING) Let it
fly across the sky.

A banner so high--

A banner-- it's like the sky
writers flying across the sky.

A banner so high, that
even the rockets will see.

Now, I thought about rockets
as rockets in outer space,

but also thinking again
about these missiles that

are being rained down
on innocent civilians

in the Ukraine, thinking
about rockets in both the--

I wanted the banner to fly
so high that they can see it

from outer space, but also
even these missiles will see--

(SINGING) that there is a god.

I'm back to my refrain.

(SINGING) And I'm
just saying, Lord.

I'm praying for rain.

Again, it's like
a physical thing,

like the peace washing
through the valley.

(SINGING) Rain down, freedom,
rain down, till we're all free.

Free.

Free.

I wanted that--

(SINGING) Rain down, freedom,
rain down, till we're all--

I wanted that to be as
clean as it could be.

I had other lines that were
a little more complicated,

but I decided to simplify to--

(SINGING) Till we're all free.

Free.

Free.

Now, why did I make that
melody so kind of weird?

I wanted the melody on that
part of "free" to be free,

so that it slightly
changed every time.

It sounded like I was just
flowing with the wind,

like letting the wind carry
me, letting my notes be

free, just like the word, free.

I kind of thought of
people like Joni Mitchell

when I was thinking of how
I would sing that line, just

letting it be free and
let it blow with the wind,

let that melody blow.

And the lyric is simple.

It's just free.

(SINGING) Free.

Free.

Free.

And then, land right back there
with "free" one more time.

So now, let's talk about
the second-verse lyrics.

So we've gone with the
spiritual, beginning, go down,

Moses, way down, Moses,
go down to Egypt land.

Then, we moved to
talking about peace.

Lay down, soldiers.

Lay down those weapons.

Let peace rush in.

And then, we talked
about what peace

was going to do to cover
the earth with peace.

Wash through the valley,
soar to the mountain,

fall in the deepest blue
sea, fly across the sky--

a banner so high, that
even people in outer space,

and even these missiles
would see that there's a god,

and he's going to rain down
freedom on the entire earth

now.

This is all
aspirational, of course.

Because the whole
world isn't free.

The whole world is in that
peace, but it's an aspiration.

It's a prayer.

It's a hope that there's a power
on this earth that will bring

peace and freedom to the world.

now the second verse, I wanted
to cover different subjects.

So I want to think
about poverty.

I want to think about people
who are homeless and struggling.

I want to think about people who
are locked up in our prisons.

So I said--

(SINGING) Low down, broken.

Notice, "go down, Moses," "low
down, broken" basically rhyme.

So I'm keeping a pattern.

Even when they
don't need to rhyme,

I'm keeping this
pattern, because I

think it's an effective way
to tie the song together.

(SINGING) Low down broken,
homeless, floating.

Again, these lyrics sort of
rhyme with our first verse.

But they're a new
subject, and they

complicate this idea even more.

So we go from wanting freedom
from slavery, to peace,

to addressing poverty, and
then the next line is--

(SINGING) Caged bird
singing, break chains

so we can do our holy dance.

Now, you notice, I
changed the melody

slightly just to complicate it.

All the other melodies
of the verses were--

[VOCALIZES]

But when I thought
about the caged bird,

I thought I should free that
melody from the other melodies

that I've been
singing prior to that.

So I said--

(SINGING) Caged bird singing,
break chains so we can--

Remember the poem, "I Know
Why the Caged Bird Sings"--

I was thinking of that.

(SINGING) Caged bird singing.

Break chains, so we can--

Again, break chains-- of
course, the caged bird

is a person locked up
in our prison system.

But also, I'm thinking
about break chains,

as in our original
inspiration, which

is the songs about slavery.

(SINGING) Break chains, so
we can do our holy dance--

Do our holy dance.

I just had to throw
that in there.

If you've ever gone to
church, folks do a holy dance.

And you want to be free,
so you can do that dance.

And I took this idea of
singing and dancing to lead me

into the next pre-chorus.

So--

(SINGING) Let them ring
through the valley.

So all those caged birds who
are now able to sing and dance--

I want that song to
ring through the valley.

And I'm still using the
valley, the mountain, the core

of the earth, the sky--

I'm using a lot of
the same lyrical ideas

that I use in the pre-chorus
for the first verse,

but I'm changing them subtly.

So I'm saying, let them
ring through the valley.

Then, I say, soar
to the mountain,

like I did in the first verse.

And then, I say, pierce
to the core of the earth.

So I leave the deepest
blue sea behind.

And I say, let them pierce
to the core of the earth.

I want this song
to be so resonant

that it's covering the entire
earth and piercing to its core.

And then, I say--

(SINGING) Let them
sing across the sky.

"A chorus so high," instead
of a "banner so high,"

in the first verse.

(SINGING) A chorus so high, that
everyone will know their worth.

So all these people that
society has deemed worthless

and forgotten about
and left behind--

we want these
caged birds to sing

a chorus that's so
resonant, that everyone will

realize their worth, and that--

(SINGING) There is a god.

And we're just saying, Lord.

Rain down freedom, rain down.

We're back to the chorus.

So that's basically all
the lyric for "Free."

The only thing we
do at the end is,

we do a musical arrangement
where there's a vamp,

and the choir is going--

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free, free.

And I start adlibbing.

(SINGING) Oh, Lord.

Free, free, free, free.

And these are just adlibs,
but they add to the song.

(SINGING) Freedom to
love, freedom to give,

freedom to live.

Then, I come back
to, go down, Moses.

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

And I change this line.

I say--

(SINGING) Go down to every land.

I started with, "go
down to Egypt land,"

but I ended it with,
"go down to every land."

And then, I came
back to our refrain.

Tell them there is a god.

And then, I suddenly
changed this to,

"and I'm just praying, Lord."

(SINGING) And I'm
just praying, Lord.

Made it personal again.

And I made it a prayer,
instead of, "I'm saying,"

or "we're saying."

(SINGING) Rain down freedom,
rain down, till we're all free.

And that's our song.

Those are the lyrics
for "Free," and that's

how I thought about the subject
matter, the lyrical patterns

of the song, and
how to craft that

into an entire piece of work-- a
work of art that told the story

that I wanted to tell.

There are a lot
of things happening

when you're writing a song.

So sometimes you're
setting up a scene.

So you want people to see
where you are in this story.

You want to describe
the club you're

in when you meet this girl.

You want to give details
about the argument

that you're having with someone
or the moment that you're in so

that people understand the
perspective that you're

writing from.

And then sometimes the
lyric has a conceit to it.

So let's talk about
my song "Again"

and talk about the
lyric writing for that.

So for "Again," the simple
idea, the simple conceit

was about time.

So--

[PLAYS CHORD ON PIANO]

(SINGING) the first time we
ever got a chance to be alone

we knew--

Telling the story.

But every time I'm
talking about a time.

(SINGING) --it was wrong to do.

I guess that's why
I was drawn to you.

The second time leads to the
third, the fifth, the seven

time.

So I'm talking about the
story as a series of times.

The first time the second
time leads to the third,

the fifth, the seventh time.

Why did I skip from
three to five to seven?

Honestly, because I needed
a two-syllable number.

And the first one is seven.

So (SINGING) the second
time leads to the third,

the fifth, the seventh time.

I didn't want to say the third,
the fourth, the fifth time.

The seventh sounds better.

So you always have to
think about how it sounds,

in addition to what
you're trying to say.

So-- (SINGING) The second
time leads to the third,

the fifth, the seventh time.

And someone pointed out
my next three numbers

after the second were
three, five, seven,

which is like a gun.

[LAUGHS] But I didn't
do that on purpose.

But interesting that
that ended up happening.

(SINGING) The second
time leads to the third,

the fifth, the seventh time.

I feel so alive.

It won't last.

But it's all right.

And then the next part, I'm
coming out of "it won't last.

But it's all right."

So what can I do with
the next melding?

(SINGING) Fleeting joy
and fading ecstasy.

So I already say--

I already establish it won't
last, but it's all right.

I'm just going to enjoy
this fleeting moment.

(SINGING) Fleeting joy
and fading ecstasy.

Then (SINGING) Here
goes again, oh.

Using again.

(SINGING) Sneaking fruit
from the forbidden tree,

sweet taste of sin.

Of course forbidden tree--

I'm a church boy.

Forbidden tree, it's about
Adam and Eve and fruit

from the forbidden tree
and the sweet taste of sin.

(SINGING) And I'm
doing it again.

Simple.

(SINGING) And I'm
doing it again.

Repetitive. (SINGING)
And I'm doing it again.

Said it would end.

But here it goes again.

So you notice the lyric is all
about each time, this time,

first time, second time, third
time, fifth time, seventh time.

So it's about doing
something again and again.

Second verse, I start with--

(SINGING) This time you told me
you saw me at the same hotel.

Same motel, sorry.

So we start with
a couple that when

they start their
relationship, they

were cheating on someone else.

And so that can lead
to trust issues.

If you know that
the person you're

with cheated to be with
you, you're thinking,

oh, they might do that again.

So the second verse I start
with, this time you told me

you saw me at the same motel.

You said you knew me well,
and I had that familiar smell.

Ooh!

(SINGING) This time you told me
you saw me at the same motel.

The No-Tell Motel. (SINGING)
You said you knew me well,

and I had that familiar smell.

Everything rhymes.

But it's telling the story
and it's fitting the melody.

Then, the next line, you ask
me (SINGING) how am I ever

going to learn to put
my trust in you like you

want me to 'cause I know
what you're prone to do.

So I know what
you're like because I

know how we got together.

That's why I don't trust you.

(SINGING) Accusations
fly like bullets do--

my three, five, seven--

(SINGING) here we go again.

Oh.

But you know me because
you're doing it too.

The cycle never ends.

It never ends.

Oh, you're doing it again.

Again, so that second verse,
it complicated the story.

It started with, oh, we
have this sexy relationship.

Ooh, it was forbidden
fruit because we were

with somebody else when we met.

And that was all sexy and
great until we get together,

and we have trust issues
because what we know what

we did before to be together.

And so we're
building the tension.

The accusations are
flying like bullets do.

We're still using our time.

So we went from first
time to second time,

third, fifth, seventh
time to this time.

And then we go back
to our chorus again.

Okay, then the bridge.

It is the climax.

(SINGING) Damn I love
you, but this is crazy.

I have to fight
you almost daily.

We break up so fast, and
we make up so passionately.

Why can't we just
trust each other.

You can't hate me
and be my lover.

Passion ends.

The pain begins.

I come back, and
we're doing it again.

So the bridge is, like,
run, more rapid-fire lyrics.

It's building tension, building
energy, and then landing again

at our chorus, (SINGING)
doing it again.

And then what I
did in this song,

that I don't do
in a lot of songs,

is I end with kind
of a closing verse.

So (SINGING) each time you call
me home in a sweet refrain--

What did I do?

I came back to time.

So I had first
time, second time,

third, fifth, seventh
time, this time.

And then I started this
verse with each time.

(SINGING) Each time you call
me home in a sweet refrain--

and this part is mellower--
(SINGING) saying things

will change.

You'll take away the pain.

Ooh!

Then we flashback-- to
the first time-- (SINGING)

you put your spell on me.

You envelop me.

You feel good as hell to me.

You feel good as hell.

So what am I saying there?

Of course I'm
saying good as hell.

That's just an expression.

But of course, what I'm
saying is, it's bad.

It's wrong.

It's-- something's bad about
it, but if it feels good.

(SINGING) You envelop me.

Envelop?

Who uses that in the song?
(SINGING) Oh, you envelop me.

You feel good as hell to me.

So probably the first song
in the history of mankind

that rhymes envelop me
with good as hell to me.

But it works in this moment
because envelop is, like, sexy.

It's passionate.

It's intimate.

And then good as hell to me,
it's like it brings it home.

It feels like it's a vernacular
expression that feels, like,

familiar but also helps
tell the story of it being

bad and good at the same time.

(SINGING) You feel
good as hell to me.

One moment leads
to another few--

one moment leads
to another few--

(SINGING) here we go again, oh.

Again, playing with time, one
moment leads to another few.

(SINGING) Leaving you,
it's oh, so hard to do.

I just can't pretend--

can't pretend.

I keep doing it again.

Then we go back to the chorus.

And we just repeat
that again and again

and end it with a--
(SINGING) oh-oh, oh, oh.

Oh, I'm doing it again.

I said it would end.

Oh-oh, oh, oh-- and
finally break it down--

(SINGING) oh, I'm
doing it again.

I said it would end.

But here it goes again--

again.

So that's the lyrical
story to "Again."

You'll notice there
are patterns that we

maintain throughout
the song that help us--

help us write, in a way,
because it gives you a--

it gives you a structure that
helps guide your writing.

You're not just
writing in a vacuum.

You're writing to a structure.

So the melody's
giving me structure.

I've already established that.

You know what you
want it to sound like.

But you also give
yourself lyrical structure

when you have little
patterns that you repeat.

With "Again," it was playing
with time-- first time,

second time, third time,
fifth time, seventh time,

each moment, each time, one
moment leads to another few.

That was the lyrical structure
and lyrical framework

that helped me write this song.

So when you're writing
lyrics, one thing

to think about, after you've
established the melody--

some people write the
lyrics first, by the way.

I write differently
from other people.

But some people write
the lyrics first.

And then they write
a melody to that.

Like, Elton John, he would get
his lyrics from his co-writer

and then write melodies
to make those lyrics work.

But for me, I always
start with a melody.

It gives me the
structure for my lyrics.

And then my lyrics, I
figure out a pattern

that helps me tell the
story in a way that

has some repetition and
some constancy to it.

And then it helps me
write the entire lyric.

Now it's your turn.

Using any song structure
that feels right to you,

start a song that uses a
lyrical motif or theme.

This can be the same song
you've been working on

or a brand-new idea.

The more you write,
the more likely

you'll be to stumble
across greatness.

JOHN LEGEND: If you want to
stand out as a songwriter,

you can use tools from
the songwriters' toolkit--

rhyme schemes, word
choice, and your personal

experiences-- to write lyrics
that are unmistakably your own.

So let's talk about rhyming.

First of all, you don't
have to rhyme your lyrics.

If you don't want
to, you can just

let these lyrics float
out in space, rhymeless.

However, you'll notice
when you listen to songs

and the lyrics don't
rhyme, it feels like--

you feel like you're kind
of just left hanging,

and you feel a bit of unease.

Now, maybe that's what
you're trying to accomplish

with your listener.

Maybe that's what
you're trying to do.

So go for it.

Don't rhyme your lyrics.

If you don't want people to
feel that sense of resolve,

you want them to be kind
of hanging on the edge,

then maybe don't rhyme them.

But my advice is,
generally speaking,

make those lyrics rhyme.

It works better.

It sings better.

It feels better.

The audience enjoys it better.

So you want your
lyrics to rhyme,

but there are all
kinds of schemes.

So you think about patterns.

You can do, like, an AABA,
or you can do an ABAB,

or you can do a AABB.

So basically, all
those letters mean are,

the two things that
rhyme with each other

are in the same letter.

If you think about
"roses or red,

violets are blue, sugar
is sweet, and so are you,"

the first and the third line
don't rhyme with each other,

but the second and the fourth
line do rhyme with each other.

So it's kind of like a
ABCB rhyme structure.

So if-- (SINGING) first time we
ever got a chance to be alone,

we knew it was wrong to do.

I guess that's why
I was drawn to you.

So those all run
with each other.

(SINGING) First time we ever
got a chance to be alone,

we knew it was wrong to do.

I guess that's why
I was drawn to you.

So you think about that.

I said, first time we ever
got a chance to be alone,

we knew it was wrong to do.

And then-- so "do"
rhymed with "new,"

but then I said, "I guess
that's why I was drawn to you."

So "drawn to you" rhymes
with "wrong to do."

So I, like,
complicated the rhyme.

So-- (SINGING) first time we
ever got a chance to be alone,

we knew it was wrong to do.

(SPEAKING) Just rhyme the
last syllable. (SINGING) I

guess that's why I was
drawn to you. (SPEAKING)

I rhyme the last three
syllables. (SINGING)

And then, I start
a new rhyme scheme.

First time leads to the third,
the fifth, the seventh time.

Time.

I feel so alive.

Kind of rhymes with "time."

It won't last, but
it's all right.

Kind of rhymes with "alive."

OK, so that one, I just
rhymed time, live, and right.

And then-- (SINGING) fleeting
joy and fading ecstasy.

Here it goes again, oh.

Sneaking fruit from
the forbidden tree--

So the only thing I rhymed
there was "ecstasy,"

and "forbidden tree."

(SINGING) Here we
goes again, oh.

Sneaking fruit from
the forbidden tree,

sweet taste of sin--

So "here it goes again," rhymes
with "sweet taste of sin,"

and "forbidden tree"
rhymed with "ecstasy."

So I found places
to get the rhyme,

but it was kind of
different each time.

And it all makes sense
when you finish it,

and it all feels right,
and it flows right.

And that's why we rhyme things.

Because we want
it to feel right.

You want it to flow right.

And you kind of know
it when you hear it.

(SINGING) Fleeting joy
and fading ecstasy,

here it goes again, oh.

Sneaking fruit from
the forbidden tree.

Sweet taste of sin.

There are rhyming
dictionaries online.

So they're not as adventurous
sometimes as I might be.

But you may get ideas by
going to, like, Rhymezone,

or these different rhyming
dictionaries online.

You may get ideas from
consulting a thesaurus.

There are even
songwriting programs out

there that not only help
with rhymes, but all kinds

of other ideas, too.

So you can use some of those
things as hacks and tricks

to help you come up with
rhymes, come up with structures,

for your song.

But you know what rhymes.

And if you have a decent
amount of vocabulary,

and you're well-read,
and you've listened

to a lot of other
songs, then you'll

have a lot of the
vocabulary you need.

But sometimes you can go online
and find some decent hacks

and tricks to help you
finish that rhyme that you

want to finish.

When you think about
the words you choose

to use, a lot of
times, you're thinking

about the language,
the vernacular,

that the rest of the song is in.

So me writing "Dope"
is completely different

from me writing "Free."

The vernacular that I'm using--

I'm using more slang in "Dope."

I'm not being bound to, like,
proper English all the time.

I start the song with, she
roll up, it's automatic.

My mood is on ecstatic.

That's not really a sentence you
would say in English, normally.

But in a song, it kind of
sounds like it makes sense.

(SINGING) She lightning,
straight to the vein.

She beautiful, she magic.

She chemical reactive.

Again, I'm cutting
off the S from "she."

I'm just saying, she.

(SINGING) She
beautiful, she magic.

She chemical reactive.

I'm burning out in her flame.

So the vernacular of
"Dope" is different

than me writing "Free," which--

I'm adopting more of a
hymnal, spiritual vernacular.

I'm singing about the mountains
and the sea and the sky,

and it's all more
florid language.

It's more spiritual language.

It's more traditional
and classic language.

And so different
songs that are trying

to capture different
moods can have

different vernacular for them.

And then, a song like
"Ordinary People,"

it's more conversational
about the ins and outs

of a relationship.

And so it's like,
I'm talking to her.

Girl, I'm in love with you.

This ain't the honeymoon.

We're past the
infatuation phase.

We're right in the
thick of love at times.

We get sick of love.

It seems like we
argue every day.

Like, you could say
that in a sentence,

and it would make perfect sense.

Some songs are less
like a spoken sentence

and more singsongy,
but "Ordinary People,"

the language is very
everyday vocabulary,

everyday vernacular,
the way you would

talk to someone in an intimate
conversation about what we're

talking about, which
is-- whoo, like,

relationships can
be hard sometimes.

Let's talk about it.

So one of the things
I always talk about

with great songwriting
is the idea

of taking what's personal to
you and making it universal.

What's so interesting
about songwriting

is a lot of our songs are about
some of the same subjects.

A lot of us write
about relationships.

A lot of us write about
love, about the connection

we feel to other human beings,
particularly our paramours--

people we are dating or marrying
or in romantic partnership

with.

We sing about what
it's like to want them,

what it's like to
lose them, what it's

like to have sex with them.

We sing about so many aspects
of these romantic relationships.

It may be intimidating,
because you're

like, how can I write something
new about a subject that's

as old as our species is?

We've been mating
and falling in love

and being connected to
our partners for so long.

How do I write something new?

And the question
is a good question,

and it's an
intimidating question.

But you just kind of do.

And the thing about
songwriting is

it doesn't have to
be completely new.

Nothing's completely new.

You're listening to
all these other songs.

You're stealing ideas from them.

You're borrowing ideas.

You're taking ideas and
remixing them and flipping them,

and then writing your
own version of that song.

And so the ideal song, in
my opinion, has familiarity.

So some elements that we
feel like we've heard before,

but also freshness.

So the combination of
being fresh and familiar

is what we're aiming for.

The combination of being
personal and universal

is also what we're aiming for.

So if you think about
familiar and fresh,

I wrote a song called "So Dope."

I've never heard an R&B song
that exactly said, she so dope,

as the main course.

But we've had a jillion
songs that say, she's fine,

she's outstanding, she's
beautiful, she's this.

But I decided I would
call it, "She So Dope."

And then, kind of base
the chorus around the idea

that I'm addicted to her, which,
of course, plenty of songs

have kind of played on
the language of addiction.

So I really leaned into it.

(SINGING) She's so dope.

I want to be her dope fiend.

She showed me what dope mean.

She's so dope.

She can be my dope queen.

We can make a dope scene.

So I play with this word,
dope, because of course, we

use dope as an adjective,
particularly in my generation.

We use dope as an adjective
to say, it's good.

We love it.

Just like some
people say she's bad,

she's whatever, people say
over the years, she's fine.

She's dope.

So we've been saying
that for years now,

and I decided to
be a fun concept

to play with for a song.

And then, I also
structured "Dope"

in different ways,
of course, using

the idea of drugs and addiction,
but in a fun, sexy way,

and we played with that.

Made her the dope queen, and
I could be her dope fiend.

And we can make a dope scene.

All those rhymes
work really well.

I want to be her dope fiend.

She showed me what dope mean.

And notice part of my rhyming
is just using the same word.

I want to be her dope fiend.

She showed me what dope mean.

She could be my dope queen.

We can make a dope scene.

So we're using dope as part
of the rhyme structure,

but we're changing
that second syllable

to be another thing that rhymes
with fiend, scene, queen, mean.

So "All of Me" was
written as I was

about to get married to Chrissy.

So most of you probably
know I'm married

to Chrissy Teigen.
She's a wonderful woman,

and we have been together
for quite a long time.

And we got engaged in 2011,
and we got married in 2013.

So in between us getting
engaged and us getting married,

I was working on my album,
"Love in the Future."

And I wanted to write
a song for Chrissy.

(SINGING) What would I do
without your smart mouth

drawing me in and
you kicking me out?

You got my--

I wanted the lyric for
"All of Me" to be personal.

So I start the song
with, what would I

do without your smart mouth.

I know from the first
line of the song,

I know who I'm talking to.

She knows who I'm talking to.

And what would I do
without your smart mouth?

Anybody who knows my wife
knows that's personal.

And you're drawing me in,
and you're kicking me out.

And we started to make this
whole song about a push

and pull.

So you're drawing me in.

You're kicking me out.

You've got my head spinning.

No kidding, I
can't pin you down.

So this love is
kind of confusing,

and it's a little
bit topsy turvy.

There's a push and a pull.

What's going on in
that beautiful mind?

I'm on your magical
mystery ride.

And I'm so dizzy, I
don't know what hit me.

But I'll be all right.

So the whole idea of
the song is that, yes,

this is a disruption, but
it's a good disruption.

Yes, this is confusing, but
it's a joyful confusion.

And so you're playing with
that kind of push and pull

of it being a challenge,
but it also being awesome.

And then, my head's underwater.

But I'm breathing fine.

Again, it's not exactly logical,
but there is a push and a pull.

Because you're saying,
like, this is a challenge,

this is difficult.
But I'm enjoying it.

You're crazy, and
I'm out of my mind.

Because all of me
loves all of you.

And it's all about
reciprocity, push, pull.

Love your curves and your edges.

So the things that around
and voluptuous and beautiful,

the things that are edgy--

I love those, too.

Love your perfect
imperfections-- again,

contradictory, oxymoronic
things, pushing and pulling.

Give your all to me, and
I'll give my all to you.

You're my end and my beginning.

Even when I lose, I'm winning.

So again, the pattern is, we're
doing push and pull throughout.

We're saying, even when I'm
challenged, I'm enjoying it.

Even when things are difficult,
I'm finding the pleasure in it.

And then, the second
verse is, how many times

do I have to tell you?

Even when you're crying,
you're beautiful, too.

The world's beating you
down, and I'm around

through every mood.

So that is about that
time in our lives

when we need to be the
shoulder that our loved

ones need to cry on.

And you know, I've seen Chrissy
go through all sorts of things.

We've experienced all
sorts of things together.

We've lost a pregnancy.

We've had family members or
pets or whatever pass away.

And we have to be
there for each other,

and that part of the
verse is about what

it means to commit to be
there for someone else.

You're my downfall, you're my
muse, my worst distraction,

my rhythm and my blues.

So again, we're doing
more push and pull.

Downfall, muse, worst
distraction, my rhythm

and blues.

So you're like my
inspiration, but you're also

my worst distraction.

So again, pushing, pulling--

using things that are kind of
contradictory to say you're

all of these things.

And so you're my
downfall, you're

my muse, my worst distraction,
my rhythm and blues.

I can't stop singing.

It's ringing in my head for you.

So again, the final stanza of
the verse is basically saying,

you inspire me, and you
inspired me to write this song.

And then, we go
back to the course.

A lot of times, we'll
use the same pre-chorus.

My head's underwater,
but I'm breathing fine.

You're crazy, and
I'm out of my mind.

And we go back to the chorus.

All of me loves all of you.

So you think about some of the
things I did in these lyrics.

So much of what I did
was about push and pull.

And why did I do
a push and pull?

Because it's the all that
I'm trying to encompass.

It's the ups and the downs.

It's the same things we talked
about in "Ordinary People,"

where we're right in the
thick of love at times.

We get sick of love.

It seems like we
argue every day.

So there's these
ups and these downs

that we all experience and love.

And there's this
push and this pull.

There's this challenge
that you feel

when you're with someone
that really does challenge

you, and make you
think, and make

you question your assumptions.

And then, the joy in that is
that if it works, all of that

is what makes you
love the person.

And then, you hope that
they love all of you

at the same time.

So the bridge lyric--

I use the same chord progression
as I used in the pre-chorus.

So--

(PLAYING PIANO, SINGING)
My head's underwater,

but I'm breathing fine.

You're crazy, and
I'm out of my mind--

Same progression.

--'cause on the table,
we're both showing hearts.

Risking it all,
though it's hard.

So what I was able to do with
that was, because there was

already a change in the
chords for the pre-chorus,

I didn't want to
introduce another change.

Because we've had the chord
progression for the verse.

We've had the chord
progression for the pre-chorus.

We've had the chord
progression for the chorus.

So that's already three
chord progressions.

I didn't want to
introduce a new chord

progression for the bridge,
so I just use the same one

as the pre-chorus.

And it feels right in the
spot, because it feels new,

because I changed the melody.

(SINGING) Hearts on the table,
with both showing hearts.

And it's more emphatic.

Risking it, although it's hard.

Because the notes are
higher, and I sing it

in my full voice
on the recording,

and it feels more
emphatic, it kind of

is the climactic
moment of the song.

And then, we go
back to the chorus.

All of me loves all of you.

(SINGING) Because all
of me loves all of you.

Love your curves
and all your edges,

all your perfect imperfections.

Give your all to me.

I'll give my all to you.

You're my end and my
beginning, even when I lose my

[INAUDIBLE].

It's personal,
and it's specific.

But what the song has
proven is that you

can take that
specific experience

that personal
experience and create

a song that's still really
universal and really relatable.

So this song has been played
at everybody's wedding.

It's been played
for Valentine's Day

and any time someone's
expressing this kind of love

to someone.

And if you do it
right, and we're

lucky in our lives to
have a song, one song,

that's a fraction of the
success of "All of Me,"

but if you do it right,
that's what you accomplish.

You take what's personal to you.

You take your point of
view, take your experience,

and make something
that is universal.

So let's just review what we've
been talking about with lyrics.

First of all, when
I write lyrics,

they are structured around a
melody that I've already built.

So the melody is helping me
write the lyrics by showing me

what the pattern, the rhythm,
the flow of the lyrics

is going to be.

And then, I try to get the
lyrics to tell a story.

A lot of times, that story is
shaped by a lyrical conceit.

So in "Free," we talked
about the spiritual.

We talked about
"Go Down, Moses."

And again, we talked
about the idea of time

and of repeating the same
mistakes over and over again,

and about this cycle repeating.

It's sexy.

It's wrong.

It's ah.

And the lyrics reflect that.

So every song, I
think, needs to have

an idea that's guiding the
lyrics, a structure that's

guiding the lyrics.

And then, I think they
should rhyme, too.

I mean, I've told you you can
write songs that don't rhyme,

but pretty much, write
songs that rhyme.

It feels better to the listener.

It feels better to everybody.

And I think if you
think about your lyrics

doing multiple
things, accomplishing

multiple things,
which is singing well,

telling the story properly, and
being well-written lyrics that

on a taste level
are really good,

then you can write
really good lyrics.

In this lesson, we learned
about using your rhymes

and vernacular as tools to write
songs about everyday moments.

To practice these skills,
I want you to write lyrics

about a personal experience.

How can you share this story
in a way that is unique to you

as an artist?

Now, I've been talking
a lot about songwriting,

but just know that even
though I'm here by myself,

I cowrite a lot.

I'm a promiscuous collaborator.

I love to collaborate
with other writers,

with producers, with
other musicians.

I feel like I get great
energy from other people.

I get great ideas
from other people,

and it gets me out of
any songwriting ruts

that I might be in because
if you can be sparked

by another idea
from another person,

it can push you in a
direction you may not

have gone by yourself, and I
think that's really helpful.

And I think it makes me
more prolific as a writer,

and it makes the
end result better.

So when you're starting out as
a songwriter, you're thinking,

well, I don't know
any producers,

or I haven't built
these relationships yet.

I don't a bunch of
other musicians.

Well, it's time to start
going out there and getting

to know them.

So go to jam sessions,
go to maybe--

to school.

People go to Berklee, people go
to Juilliard for this reason,

so they can be around
other musicians

and be inspired by them.

But it could also just be a
group of folks you get together

with and jam with.

And so you start to
make relationships

with other musicians.

You start to find people who
speak your language musically,

who make you better, who
you relate to personally,

who want to make the same kind
of music you want to make,

and you start to
create together.

Some of my best songs I wrote by
myself, so a couple of the ones

I've been illustrating
to you today,

"Again" and "Free", I
wrote completely by myself.

But I wrote "Ordinary
People" with Will.I.Am.

I wrote "All of
Me" with Toby Gad.

I've written a lot of my
newer songs on my new album

with other people, and I
think it's really important

to find collaborators
that you connect

with who maybe bring something
different to the table

than what you bring.

So you have your
own point of view,

you have your own background,
your own experience.

I grew up in the church.

I grew up with soul music.

You know, so I have
my own background,

but it's cool to
work with people

who have different backgrounds
and can bring something

different to the
table that complements

your own skill as a writer
and your own point of view.

And you can make
something together

that's even more interesting
and exciting than what

you would do on your own.

One of the things I like
to do when I'm co-writing

with someone is we
open a Google Document

so that we can edit live
on the same document

and share those changes
as we're making them.

But you need to be
a good communicator

and a good collaborator.

And then sometimes, you may
have written the full song,

but you need someone else to
help you arrange it or produce

it, or you need a
guitarist, or a pianist,

or a drummer to help
you realize your vision.

You may need a producer to
help you realize your vision,

so you need to start to develop
a vocabulary for explaining

the things you want.

Sometimes we use the
vocabulary of references.

So you're like, I want this to
sound like "Got to Give it Up"

by Marvin Gaye.

I want this to sound like
"Boogie On Reggae Woman"

by Stevie Wonder.

I want this to sound
classic like Nat King Cole,

like a crooner.

I want this to sound
like Aretha Franklin.

And so you'll maybe even play
that reference for someone,

and say, can we make it
kind of sound like this?

I want this kind of drum fill.

All of these references can
be a part of your vocabulary,

the way you communicate what you
want with your collaborators.

(SINGING) Girl, I love you.

JOHN LEGEND: I met Kanye
through his cousin.

His cousin was my roommate.

I went to college with him.

So His cousin
introduces me to Kanye.

Kanye had just moved to
New York from Chicago.

I had just moved from Boston.

And we started working together.

We were different.

He made beats.

He didn't really
play an instrument,

but he was really
good at programming

and using samples to make
dope hip hop beats that

had soul influence on them.

And I was really good
at playing the piano,

and singing, and more
traditional songwriting.

And he was rapping,
I was singing,

and together, we were, like,
a really great combination.

And so you find people
like that in your life

where you've been practicing,
you've been preparing,

but you working with that
person makes you better

and complements the things
that you're good at.

Then that's where you'll find
these magical collaborations.

So to start finding
those people,

you've got to go
out into the world.

You've got to go
to jam sessions.

You've got to go see live music.

You've got to make relationships
with other creators.

And as you start
to do that, you'll

find people that
oh, OK, we vibe.

We vibe together.

Let's do something.

Let's create.

And you'll find
great collaborators.

So when you're figuring
out collaborators, one,

I have to say, I'm
an easy collaborator,

so I get along with
just about everybody.

There's almost no one I can't
get along with and find a way

to connect with.

So I'm easygoing.

I'm humble.

Even though I've had a lot
of success in my career,

I don't go in there trying
to bigfoot other writers even

though they may be less
successful than me.

I go in there open to their
ideas, and I am kind to them,

I'm generous, and
humble around them,

and I really listen to what
they have to contribute.

So if you go into a writing
session with that attitude,

I think you can write
with all types of people

and you don't have to
be so super selective.

But maybe you are a very
particular type of person

and you need a
particular type of person

in the room with you when you
write, and a lot of people

won't mesh well with you.

That's fine too.

Just know who you are,
and know the types

of people that work with you.

You want people that
are good, so they need

to be good at what they do.

They need to have good ideas.

Good melodic ideas,
good lyrical ideas.

That means they need to have
good taste, good instincts,

and a good sensibility
so that they

won't be like, yeah, that's dope
when it's not really that good.

So you want people
that are good,

but you want people that
personality wise you mesh with,

and I think it's
good to find people

who have different
skills than you have so

that they'll push you
to do things you may not

have done on your own.

A lot of times, I'll decide
to write with a younger writer

because, like, you know,
I'm 43, and the kind

of peak age for, like,
popular music success

is probably your 20s and 30s.

And so, like, I
know that I'm older

than a lot of current
artists right now,

and I think it's good to
bring, like, young energy

into the room to write
with me to kind of push

me to be thinking more
like a 25-year-old

would be thinking right
now, or like a 32-year-old

would be thinking.

I have different
experiences, and I

have a different
musical background,

and it's cool to get other
sensibilities, other points

of view in the room with you.

And I think it can
make you better.

Particularly when I'm doing
like an up tempo song that's

meant to be on pop radio
or urban mainstream radio,

I want to write
with someone who is

fluent in the vernacular
of what's current

and what's of this moment.

And I still bring my
timeless, you know,

I am who I am
sensibilities, but when

I marry that with
someone who may

be a bit fresher and
a bit more current,

then we can come
up with something

that's really cool for me.

Nice, John.

I bet some of y'all
are wondering why--

these two up on stage together
doesn't even make sense,

but we actually
write songs together.

We write songs.

We wrote one before and
we wrote one recently.

I feel like we should--

JOHN LEGEND: There are
occasions when it doesn't work,

but even-- even times
when I'm like, oh, I

don't know if this
person is bringing

that much to the table, I end
up finishing the song anyway

because I can finish
a song by myself.

So sometimes my co-writer only
gives me like a couple ideas

that I run with, and
then I do the rest,

but those two little
ideas may actually

be the key to unlocking
the potential of the song.

So this is why I'm so
open to collaboration

because even if I
end up contributing

most of the creative
energy, even if they do,

it doesn't matter.

Like, if we stumble upon
something really great because

of our chemistry and what we--
what the collision of our two

styles and the collaboration
of our two styles creates,

then we're all
the better for it.

When writing music, think about
embracing more than one genre

in order to expand
your audience.

I started in gospel music,
but I embraced other genres

like soul, hip hop, and R&B.

Sometimes, people blend genres.

So a common thing is for
hip hop and soul to blend.

So that's a lot of what my
career has been based on,

and especially some of
my earliest work, where

I was working with hip hop
producers who a lot of times

sampled soul music.

So they incorporated soul
through their use of sampling,

and then they used
hip hop, drums,

and some traditions of
hip hop production mixed

with these soul samples and
then me singing soulfully

on top of it.

That was genre blending.

I work with country artists,
I work with pop writers,

I work with hip hop producers.

If you're working
with different people

and bringing different energies
and influences into the room,

then it makes genre
blending even easier.

You may feel like you
can't individually

do all the genre
blending, but if you're

bringing someone else
in the room, that's

part of what their role can be.

They can complement what you do.

I wasn't a hip hop
producer, but I

was able to bring Kanye,
and will.I.am, and Hit-Boy

into the room.

They brought some of
that hip hop influence,

I brought my soulfulness.

And we made something
beautiful together.

One of the defining things about
soul music in the last 20 years

is that we work with a lot of
people that work in hip hop

as well.

And so there's been a
lot of back and forth--

some exchanges.

So now you hear a lot of
rappers singing, for instance.

So you're hearing them kind of
blend some of the tropes of R&B

into hip hop.

And then I think a
lot of R&B artists

still blend a lot of
the hip hop tropes

into what we do as
R&B and soul artists.

So you hear that
as a genre blend.

You'll hear some jazz
influence in R&B as well.

In country music, you'll hear
some R&B and hip hop influence

as well.

Some of the country singers
are rapping and doing

more soulful things
on their music.

You'll hear rock influence
in some of these other genres

as well.

Pop and rock, I think, a
lot of times blend together.

Pop and R&B, a lot
of times they're

blended together as well.

So you kind of know
it when you hear it.

You hear different parts
of different traditions

kind of blending together.

I think Ariana Grande is a
great blender of pop and R&B.

And I think genre
blending is part

of what makes music, pop music.

Because when I'm
saying pop music,

I'm not saying it
in the genre since,

I'm saying it in
the popular sense.

So part of what
makes music popular

is that it's not just one thing
that's targeted toward a niche

audience, it's more global
and it pulls influences

from different parts
of the music landscape.

So I think genre blending
is an important way

of making your music
have a broader reach.

Genre a lot of times is
about the stylistic approach

to arranging and
producing the song

more so than it is about
the actual core song itself.

That's why you can hear
Aretha Franklin cover

Simon and Garfunkel
or you can hear

Nina Simone sing a show tune.

And she changes the
genre by her style--

by her stylistic choices
even though the song

was written for another genre.

[PIANO PLAYING]

[SINGING "AMAZING GRACE"]

Amazing grace.

The song "Amazing
Grace," for example,

a traditional
gospel song usually

performed in traditional
gospel style.

[TRUMPETS PLAYING]

You can take that
same gospel song

and arrange it to sound
like Dixieland jazz.

[SINGING]

Twas grace that taught.

You can do a gospel
song as a country song

if you arrange it
like a country song.

Or change up the instrumentation
into something more unexpected

and take the song
into new directions.

[JAZZ PLAYING]

All you have to do is arrange
it differently and sing it

differently and it becomes
an R&B song or a country song

depending on who's doing it.

There are some
songwriting tropes

that are part of a genre.

And so I won't say that
songwriting isn't genre

specific, because there
are some tropes that

are very genre specific.

And there's some traditions
that are very genre specific.

[COUNTRY SONG PLAYING]

[SINGING]

Closing time and I'm
just starting my--

For instance, with country
music, there's often a story

being told with a
twist at the end.

The storytelling is paramount
and it's more personal.

[HIP HOP MUSIC PLAYING]

[SINGING]

Oh, you got that good good.

Hip hop is very
autobiographical,

so it's a lot about who you are.

Built, of course, with
slang and swagger,

those are some of the
tropes that you'll notice

in different styles of music.

I think genre isn't as much
a distinction in songwriting

as it is in arranging
and producing.

Because when you start
arranging and producing a song,

that's when you're
starting to kind of send it

in a certain direction
stylistically.

I think it's really cool if
you're able to not just listen

to your core genre--

so my core genre is soul
music informed by gospel, R&B,

whatever you want to call
it-- that is my core music.

So that's the music that
I grew up listening to.

That was the music I was
making from the very beginning.

And it informs everything I do--
even when I collaborate with

other artists, when I work with
pop artists, Latin artists--

whatever it is, I'm always
coming from a perspective

as a soul singer.

And so every one of
you is going to come

from a different perspective
based on the music

that you love the
most, the music that's

at your core, the music that
represents the artists who

you love the most.

Everybody's going to
have a different core

genre that is theirs,
that they feel

like that's their home genre.

However, I think all of
us should be listening

to other genres,
all of us should

be studying what makes
those songs work, studying

what makes those productions
work, those arrangements work.

I have a core style, but
I listen to other stuff.

And that stuff influences me.

Like, listening to Joni
Mitchell influences some

of the things I do vocally.

Or listening to Jeff
Buckley influences some

of the things I do vocally--

even though my main influences
are Stevie Wonder, and Marvin

Gaye, and Nina Simone.

Some of them are just different.

And I will hear myself
doing little things

that I know I got from
listening to Jeff Buckley.

And I think that's cool.

I think it makes
you a cooler artist

if you're able to do that.

Because music is music.

There's only 12 notes
on this keyboard,

and everybody's making music
from the same basic palette.

And we're finding different
ways to express ourselves.

There's different
ways to arrange songs.

There's different ways to
make them feel like they're

more R&B, or they're more
country, or they're more jazz,

or they're more that.

But music is music.

And so many songs work
in different genres.

So many ideas and
so many sounds just

feel good despite
whatever genre they are.

And so I think
any great musician

is going to have something
that's at their core,

but also an understanding,
and an appreciation,

and have spent some time
listening to other genres.

When you know you
want to write a song,

and you have subject matter,
and you have something

you want to say, you have to
think about who you are, first

of all.

So what do I sound best doing?

What am I comfortable doing?

What is the music that
feels like home to me,

that I speak in that voice,
I sing in that voice,

I write in that voice?

So I think you'll know that
based on who you listen to.

If you listen to a
lot of Joni Mitchell,

for instance, you may be
more like a folky type singer

songwriter that does
that kind of song.

And if you love
that kind of song,

you sing well in
that genre, then

you may want to
write it like that.

If you are more into
Dua Lipa, and you

feel like your vibe is more of
kind of a modern disco thing,

and you're making
basically dance pop music,

then that's your thing and
you sound good doing it,

then maybe you should be
writing in that genre.

I think once you
understand who you

are, which is this confluence of
all the things you've listened

to, the way you were raised,
the music your parents played--

who you are is all
of those things.

And then the artist
that you love

right now, the artist
you're responding to,

you're listening to right now,
that will inform who you are

when you think about genre
and the type of music

you want to do.

JOHN LEGEND: (SINGING) Go
down, Moses, way down, Moses.

Welcome to the vocal booth.

We're here.

We have a mic.

We have headphones.

We have padded walls.

All of these things
are here to make sure

that we isolate the sound that
you're making with your voice,

so that no other extra
noise corrupts that.

So you can hear exactly
what you're singing,

and also, later be
able to manipulate it

individually rather than as
part of an entire recording.

So we're going to record
the vocal, lead vocal,

and backing vocal right
here in this vocal booth.

So what's in the vocal booth?

What am I using?

Really, it's as simple as the
microphone and the headphones.

Usually, when you have
a headphone set up,

you have some sort of
controls for your headphones.

Some are just volume controls,
where you want it louder,

or you want it softer.

Some actually allow you to mix
the levels of the instruments,

or your voice, or the
click track or the drums,

or whatever other
elements are in the song.

It allows you to have some
control over that mix.

So we have a microphone.

We have headphones,
and sometimes, we

have a little, tiny mixing
board for our headphones.

So we can control
our own levels.

And then after that, have
what you want in there.

I like to have water.

I like to have,
sometimes, some tea,

depending on how my
voice is feeling.

SPEAKER: All of
that said, you don't

need a professional vocal booth
to record your vocals at home.

Find a room to make the best
sounding recording you can

and make sure you
can communicate

the content of your song.

JOHN LEGEND: And you can still
through engineering and all

the other things
make it sound good,

but I guess the ideal
circumstance for recording

vocals is in some sort of booth.

But don't let that stop you.

(SINGING) Yeah, yeah, oh.

I think everyone should
warm up before you

try to record a song, before
you try to sing any time.

I even warm up.

When I'm on tour, I warm
up before my interviews,

because you have to get
your voice used to working.

And particularly, when
you're singing a two hour

show the night
before and you've got

to do an interview the
next day, your voice

is kind of tired and
a little beat up.

So you've got to warm it up so
you're ready to vocalize again.

So what I usually
do, sometimes, I'll

do a live video chat
with my instructor,

and we'll do, like, 45 minutes
to an hour, where we warm up.

And we work on specific
vocal techniques.

And then, a lot
of times, I don't

have the time to kind
of schedule with him,

but I'll use the recordings
that he sends me.

And I'll listen to him in my
car on the way to the studio,

or I'll listen to them,
while I'm taking a shower

and sing in the bathroom,
while I'm getting dressed.

But either way, I want
to warm up for, at least,

a half hour prior to
recording any vocals,

prior to me writing,
prior to me going

to the studio for that day.

So some of the things
we do, usually, I'm

listening to him tell me to
do it, and then I sing it.

But it's things, like we start
usually in a lighter voice.

(SINGING) Yeee.

So we start just kind of
easing your voice into the day,

doing some falsetto
things, and then

we usually do some things, where
we transition from falsetto

to chest voice and
back to falsetto,

just doing little
things that will

help get us ready for the day.

So we'll go--

(SINGING) We, we, we, we, we,
we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we.

And then we'll start singing
scales and different notes that

fall in your falsetto
range and then

some that fall in
your chest voice.

And then, finally,
we start to build

to the heaviest and
loudest part of your range.

So then we'll start doing
some of those higher notes,

but in your chest voice.

So--

(SINGING) Me, me, me, me, me,
me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,

me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,
me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,

me.

And those are some
of the things I

do as I'm really trying to open
it all up, so my chest voice is

ringing out.

And I can hit some of those
higher notes in my chest voice.

And then by the time
I'm done with all

of that, usually, after
about a half an hour or maybe

40 minutes, I feel
like, OK, now, I'm

ready to do vocals today.

I like to be relatively
close to the mic.

Some singers like to go
kind of back and forth.

I make my engineer
do all the work.

So if I'm going to
be loud, he just

has to turn the pick up
level of the microphone down,

so it doesn't distort too much.

I don't like to move too much.

I like to be pretty
close to the mic,

and I like it to catch
every little nuance

of every little thing I do.

But if I'm going to be
loud, I have to tell him,

so that he turns the
recording level down,

so that it doesn't blow the
mic out and sound distorted.

So I usually stand
about the same distance.

But I know some singers
that, when they're quiet,

they'll come up here,
and when they're loud,

they'll come way back here.

I'll do a little
bit of that, but I

make my engineer do
some of that work to.

But everybody's different.

So I'm never satisfied with
the first take of anything.

And I believe that, if I'm
going to deliver the best

final vocal for a song, and I'm
going to do five, six, seven,

eight, nine, 10 takes
of each section,

I'm going to go section
by section, focus on it,

try different ideas, see
which one feels better,

execute it to the
best of my ability,

then move on to
the next section.

And then I'll go into
the control room,

sit with my engineer, and we'll
make a composite track that

is the best of the
best of each of those

takes for each section.

So when I'm recording vocals
for free, I start with my piano,

because I need some kind
of foundation to sing to.

And I have the chords and the
accompaniment around my voice,

and now, I'm going to
do a bunch of takes

of each section of the song,
try to get it exactly right,

phrase it exactly right.

Sometimes, I rewrite the
lyric in this moment,

because I'm like,
ooh, that isn't sing

the way I thought it would
sing when I was writing it.

I need to try a different
expression in this moment.

I need to try a different
phrasing in this moment.

I'll do a bunch of
those things as I'm

doing multiple takes of
that section of the song,

and then, when I
feel like, oh, I've

got a few really good takes
that are keepers, then

I move on to the next section.

Sometimes, I'll record the
song, the chorus first,

because that's the thing I
wrote first as we've talked

about with my writing process.

I usually have written
the chorus first,

so I may have recorded the
chorus early on in the process

and then go back in and
do the verses later.

But a lot of times, I'll
just record a very rough demo

of the chorus, and then a
very rough demo of the verse

melodies, and then a rough
demo of the verse lyrics.

And then, once I've
done all those roughs,

I'll go back in and then start
from the beginning of the song

and do my multiple
takes section by section

in order of the song.

So now, I'm putting
my headphones on.

This way, I can
isolate the sound.

So I don't want to
record these vocals

and have the piano track
from the instrumental playing

in the mic that I'm singing in.

So I want this mic to
only hear my voice,

so I'm listening to the piano
in here in my headphones.

And then this mic is only
hearing my naked voice,

so it's recording my
naked voice in a track.

Like it can be isolated, and
affected, and all the things

you want to do to manipulate it.

It could all happen in one
track without being corrupted

by other noises, like
the drums, or the piano,

or any other instruments
that are part of the song.

So that's why we use headphones.

That's why we record
the vocals separately

from the instrumental,
so that we

can isolate them and
manipulate them in isolation.

And I'll start doing
takes of my first verse.

(SINGING) Go down,
Moses, way down,

Moses, go down to Egypt land.

Lay down, soldiers,
lay down those weapons,

let peace rushing.

So now, you've heard me
do one take of the verse,

and I'm not satisfied with it.

I'm going to try a
few different takes.

Keep trying a few
different ideas.

I may do a slightly different
variation each time.

I may do a little bit different
rhythmic approach each time

just finding what works
the best for the song,

so I'll do another take.

(SINGING) Go down,
Moses, way down, Moses.

Go down to Egypt land.

Lay down, soldiers,
lay down those weapons,

let peace rushing.

OK, so some of
the things you may

notice about what I'm doing,
I'm not singing very loudly

for this part of the song.

So I want to start this song in
a very kind of prayerful mood,

so it's a little quieter.

It's a little more
contemplative,

and it's not me
singing full force.

It's me choosing to enter the
saw in a very subtle, mellow,

understated way, and now, I'm
going to get a little bigger

in the pre-chorus.

(SINGING) Lay down those
weapons, let peace rush in.

Let it wash to the
valley to the mountains,

fall in the deepest blue sea.

Let it fly across
the sky, a banner

so high that even
the rockets will see.

So that's a take
of the pre-chorus,

and you'll notice that's a
bigger section of the song.

It's more sweeping.

It has higher notes, and I
still don't want to oversing.

I don't want to sing too hard.

But those big notes,
I want to make sure

they pierce through, so I'm
doing that with the song.

My engineer will play, usually,
it's what we call pre-roll.

So you have a little
bit of pre-roll

before you start
singing, again, and what

you want with the pre-roll
is just enough of what you've

done in the prior
section to make

sure you're in the same space.

And then you want it close
enough to the section

you're singing
now that you don't

have to wait a long time
every time you do a new take,

listening to what you've
already done before.

So we have a little
bit of pre-roll.

I usually do a measure
or two, so a measure

is usually four counts.

And two measures is eight
counts, unless it's six, eight.

But most songs are in
the four, four signature,

so I usually have
either a measure or two

before I start
singing the next part,

listening to what
we've done before.

(SINGING) Lay down, soldiers,
just lay down those weapons,

let peace rush in.

Let it wash to the valley
side to the mountain,

fall in the deepest blue sea.

Let it fly across
the sky, a banner

so high that even
the rockets will see.

All right, so now that
I've done a bunch of takes

of the pre-chorus, now, I'm
ready to move on to the chorus.

What am I trying to
accomplish with the chorus?

Again, it's prayerful.

It's reminiscent of these
spirituals and hymns,

and you want it to feel
powerful and inspiring.

So I'm going to let my vibrato
ring out when it's right.

I want to sound
anointed as we used

to say in church, anointed.

You want to feel that anointing.

Here we go.

(SINGING) Let it fly
across the sky, a banner

so high that even the rockets
will see, that there is a God,

and I'm just saying, Lord,
rain down freedom, rain down.

So we're all free, free, free.

So that free part
of the song, where

I'm doing all those windy
things in my falsetto voice,

I've made a choice to make each
of those a little different

from the last one.

So those times when I'm singing
free are literally free.

I want them to be a little
bit freed from melody

and free from structure and
allow my voice to just find

its place in the song.

That's how I'm
singing that part.

Let's try that section again.

(SINGING) Even rockets will
see that there is a God,

and I'm just saying,
Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down till we're
all free, free, free.

OK, so we've done a few
takes of the chorus.

We've allowed ourselves to be
free at that end of the course.

Let the freedom ring
out, and now, we're

going to go to verse
two and sing, again,

that melody, the whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

whoa, whoa.

We're going to sing
that melody, again,

and again, I'm going back
into a more subdued tone,

a little mellower, a
little more prayerful.

And we'll see how it goes.

(SINGING) Free, low down,
broken, homeless, floating,

lost and thrown a chance.

Yeah, caged bird
singing, break chains,

so we can do our holy dance.

So you remember, when we wrote
the second stanza of verse two,

we changed the
melody a little bit.

It adds a little
emphasis to this section,

and it's the idea of
the caged bird singing,

like I want to
break out of this.

And in some way, we're breaking
out of the melodic structure

and saying, let's loosen it up a
little bit for this last stanza

of our second verse.

Let's try it again.

(SINGING) Free, low down,
broken, homeless, floating,

lost and thrown a chance.

A caged bird singing
break chains,

so we can do our holy dance.

OK, so now, we're going to
go back to our pre-chorus.

This pre-chorus is written
a little differently,

but a similar melody,
and similar tone,

and similar approach that we
had to our first pre-chorus.

Let's try it.

(SINGING) Do our holy dance.

Let them ring through
the valley side

to the mountain pierced
through the core of the Earth.

Let him sing across the
sky a chorus so high

that every one will know their
worth and that there is a God.

OK, you notice I've done a
couple of little, subtle things

that turned up the
urgency a little bit.

I sang a little more
emphatically on the pre-chorus.

I sang a little bit
more emphatically

on the second verse,
and all of that

is building the energy
and the momentum

till we get to the next
section of the song.

So now, we're going to
do the second chorus,

and I'm envisioning that
we'll have background

singers on this part.

It'll start to build the
arrangement a little bit more.

So that's another
reason why I wanted

to build up the energy
for my lead vocal,

so that we set the stage
for the choir to join in

and everybody to sing along.

(SINGING) Everyone
will know their worth

and that there is a God,
and we're just saying,

Lord, rain down freedom, rain
down till we're all free, free,

free.

So you notice, I did
some different things

on this chorus.

I changed the melody
up a little bit,

and then, when I
did my free section,

I even went higher
on that last free.

I went to (SINGING) free,
instead of (SINGING) free.

Again, I'm building up the song.

I'm building to a climax,
taking some more liberties

with the melody, making
it more emphatic and more

urgent in the second
chorus, making it more free.

Let's try it again.

(SINGING) Everyone
will know their worth

and that there is a God,
and we're just saying,

Lord, rain down freedom, rain
down till we're all free, free,

free.

You'll notice, I also am ending
this free with an octave higher

than I ended the
first chorus' free.

So (SINGING) free, free, that's
how I ended the first chorus.

On this chorus, I
ended it (SINGING)

free, and then up
here, (SINGING) free.

So again, adding, elevating,
taking the song places,

subtle changes that make each
section a little different,

add complexity and
layers to the song.

This next section
is going to be more

of like a vamp that is led by
what the choir, the backing

vocals are singing rather
than what the lead vocalist is

doing.

So I would rather record
the backing vocals first,

so that as a lead vocalist, I'm
more responding and coloring

around what the backing
vocals are going to do.

So I won't record this
part as a lead vocalist,

until I've already done
the backing vocals.

So we'll wait to do
that, and then we'll

go to the end of the
song, finish the song out.

Then I'll go back, and
do the backing vocals,

and build the ad
lib on top of that.

(SINGING) And that there is
a God, and I'm just praying,

Lord, rang down
freedom, rain down

till we're all free,
free till we're all free.

So what have I done?

So now that we've had this
climactic choir section,

I break the song down more.

So I sing fewer things.

My free part is
less busy, and it's

more simple, and more
intimate, and heartfelt.

So it's like the song is built
from prayerful, intimate, built

up, built up, built up, built
up, built up, choir comes in.

It's as big as
it's going to get,

even though it never gets
huge, but it's as big

as it's going to get.

And then at the end, I'm
going to break it back down,

simplify it, make it more
personal, and heartfelt,

and intimate.

And that's how we in the song.

Not all songwriters
consider themselves singers,

but recording your
lead vocals can

help you figure out if your
melodies or lyrics are working.

So head into your vocal booth,
whatever form that may be,

and record your demo with
a voice recorder, or even

your smartphone.

Try to do multiple vocal takes
for each line and experiment

with different vocal approaches.

[PIANO PLAYING]

JOHN LEGEND: So when
you're thinking about,

how do I use background
vocals to make this recording

sound better?

A lot of what you're
thinking about

is, where do you
need extra depth?

Where do you need extra color?

And when I'm arranging
these vocals I'm thinking,

well what would I
have had my choir

do when I was directing
the music at my church?

And so, I'm thinking of
some of those elements.

We used counter
melodies, we used

having people sing the
same notes together,

having people sing the
same words together,

but harmonize with each other.

We would build up the
arrangement when we

wanted it to be at its climax.

So, all of these
techniques that we

would use in our church choir
or in a a cappella group,

are the kind of
techniques I want

to use when I'm building
the backing vocals.

And I don't like to make
too many backing vocals

to disturb from the lead vocal,
to over complicate things

and to get too busy.

But if you use backing
vocals in the right way,

you can really
enhance the recording

and it makes everything you say
sound more emphatic, or more

inspiring, or more
powerful, based

on when you use those vocals
to enhance the lead vocal.

So now I've done all
of my lead vocals,

except for the ad lib's that
will be on top of the backing

vocals during the vamp.

So I want to record those
backing vocals first before I

do the remaining lead ad lib's.

And then I'll combine
the whole thing

and make it into a
final vocal recording.

So how do I build
these backing vocals?

This is where my gospel choir
and a cappella group training

comes in handy.

I have ideas for how to
build these arrangements.

Have ideas for what's
worked in the past for me,

and one of the things I want
to do is have like a chant.

I've done it in songs like Glory

(SINGING) Glory, glory.

And this song I'm going to do

(SINGING) Free, free, free.

OK so we're going
to do that first.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free.

Free, free, free, free,
free, free, free, free, free.

So I recorded one layer of that.

But if I wanted to sound
like a choir, and sometimes

I actually bring a choir
in but sometimes I'm

like I could do
all these myself.

And I just stacked my voice on
one track, on top of another,

on top of another,
on top of another.

So a lot of times I'll
do four in one voice.

So it sounds like four people
are singing the same note.

So I'll do a stack
of what I just sang

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]
Free, free.

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free.

[PIANO PLAYING]

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free.

One little trick, when you're
recording backing vocals

sometimes it's better
to take one ear off

so you can hear your live
voice, the voice that you're

singing at that moment
in your naked ear.

And then you can hear
everything that's

been recorded before
that in your other ear.

So for me I like to take one ear
off, record the backing vocals

so I can hear my live voice
prominently in this ear

and hear what's going on in
the recording in this ear.

I don't need to do
that for my lead

vocal, because there's not
as much going on in the track

already.

And so I'd rather hear my lead
vocal all in my headphones,

like this.

Once the lead vocals
are already there

and I'm recording
the backing vocals,

I don't want to
be too distracted

by the lead vocal and the
other things going on.

So I only let them
play in my one ear

and then my other
ear is only hearing

what's coming out of my mouth.

OK.

So now I'm going to do an
octave lower of the same note.

So free.

So what is an octave?

An octave is the same note
but in a lower register.

So it's 12 semitones
down or up from the note

you are already singing.

So I was singing free, free.

The octave is free, free, free.

So it's the same note
but in a lower register.

Here we go.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]
Free, free.

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free,

[PIANO PLAYING]

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free.

And again I recorded
those and I'm

going to do a stack
of those as well.

So I'm going to do probably
four maybe eight of those.

Four maybe eight of
the higher notes,

and then it'll sound like it's
a nice sized choir, with a lot

of people that sound like me.

[LAUGHING]

So that's how I
stack these notes.

And now I'm going to build
some counter melodies that

are going to complicate things.

Add tension, and add
energy to what I'm doing.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND] Free,
free, free, free, free.

(SINGING) Oh, Oh.

OK.

So what have I done?

1.

I kind of borrowed

(SINGING) Let it ring to the
valley, soar to the mountains,

fall to the deepest blue sea.

So it's almost the
exact same melody

but it's a more kind of
straight version of that.

(SINGING) Oh Oh Oh

It's a more kind of choir-ified
version of that lead

vocal I sang in the prechorus.

But what it's
doing is, reminding

people of a previous
melody they've

already heard, which
is a useful trick.

And building a counter melody
against the free, free, free.

All right.

Then I'll stock that.

And then I'll make it even more
emphatic in the fourth time

through.

So that was the
third time through.

The fourth time through, I'm
going to harmonize those vocals

and do something similar to the

(SINGING) Oh

But even build it
up even higher.

So this is our most
climactic moment

before we strip it back down.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND] Oh free,
free, free, free, Oh oh free.

(SINGING) Whoa

JOHN LEGEND
(VOICEOVER): So harmony

is when two voices, or
three, or four, or five,

are singing different notes
that fit within the same chord,

but are different notes.

(SINGING) Ba and Ba.

JOHN LEGEND (VOICEOVER): That's
a harmony, because those notes

fit in that same major chord.

(SINGING) Ba.

JOHN LEGEND (VOICEOVER):
And they're different notes

but they sound great together.

I love harmony.

Now that we've recorded the
backing vocals for the vamp,

now I feel like I can do
a lead vocal that adds to,

compliment's, colors, what the
choir backing vocals are doing.

So here we go.

We're going to try some of that.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]

(SINGING) Yeah.

Til we're all free.

Oh, freedom to love, freedom
to give, freedom to live.

Go down Moses, way down
Moses, go down to every land.

Tell em'.

JOHN LEGEND: OK so you saw what
I did there with the ad lib

vocal.

So not only did I
just do a couple

of little runs and yeahs
and oh's and stuff,

but I also went
back to the verse.

So you remember with
my backing vocal,

I hearken back to the
melody from the pre-chorus

but for this lead
vocal the final ad

lib before we head back
into the final chorus,

I went back to go down Moses.

So I'm reintroducing
these themes

that I've already introduced.

I'm bringing back these
ideas, these melodic,

and lyrical ideas that have
already been part of the song

and adding them on top of
the other layers of the song.

They're in the same
chord progression,

but now the choir is doing the

(SINGING) Whoa

And the

(SINGING) Free,
free, free, free.

And I'm singing

(SINGING) Go down
Moses, way down Moses.

So all of these melodies
are working together,

and it's very reminiscent
of some of the things

we used to do when I arranged
my gospel choir vocals.

But all of these melodies
are working together.

Some of them are
hearkening back to what

we've done earlier in the song.

Some of them are new ideas,
but they're all coming together

over the same chord progression
that we use for the verse,

and that is our vamp.

It builds, it builds, it
builds, until we finally

break it back down and
go back to our refrain.

There is a God, and
I'm just praying, Lord.

Rain down freedom.

Rain down til we're all free.

And I get down to the most
intimate prayerful expression

of that chorus and
we end the song.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]
Everyone will know their worth

(SINGING) And that
there is a God.

And we're just saying
Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down, till we're all free.

Free.

Free.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND]
free, free, free, free.

(SINGING) Yeah.

Til we're all free.

Oh

(SINGING) Freedom love.

Freedom to give.

Freedom to live.

Go down Moses, way down
Moses, go down to every land.

Tell em' there is a god.

I'm just praying Lord.

Right now freedom rain
down, til we're all free.

Free.

Til we're all free.

So let's talk about arranging
the vocals and the chords.

So you do have to have some kind
of either theoretical or just

instinctual understanding
of what a chord is, what

the notes that
comprise a chord are,

for you to understand
how to arrange vocals

within that chord.

Different chords,
whether major or minor,

can communicate different
emotions to your listeners.

For example, b-flat major can
convey love, hope, and optimism

for the future.

So my song "Free" is in b-flat.

And a lot of the chords
are b-flats, or e-flats,

or a-flats.

And these are all part of the
structure of a song that's

in b-flat major.

And so when I'm choosing
harmonies within any given

section, I'm trying
to match the harmonies

that the vocalists are
singing with the chords that

are the foundation of the song.

So when I'm in a
part of the song

that the chord, that
the piano is playing,

is a b-flat major chord,
then I pretty much

want my backing vocalist
to be singing notes that

are right within that chord.

They could be singing
the bop, bop, bop, bop.

So those are the triad and
the octave of that chord.

They fit within that chord.

And if they're
singing there, it'll

sound pretty good usually.

And if you start to deviate,
you can do like the fourth.

Or you can do the sixth
of that chord sometimes,

and that can be effective.

But a lot of times
the most effective way

to sing on a chord is to
sing those important notes

within the chord,
which are usually

the tonic, which in this
song would be the b-flat.

And then usually the third above
that would be the d-natural.

And then the f-natural
would be the fifth.

And usually that's what most
people consider the chord.

Sometimes you'll throw
a fourth in there,

which would be the e-flat.

Sometimes you'll throw a sixth
in there, which would be the g.

Sometimes you
throw a 7 in there,

which would be the a-flat.

Or you could throw
a major 7 in there,

which would be the a-natural.

All of those notes
could be in the chord,

but they can create
very different sounds.

And by doing that, create
very different moods.

So they have to make sense
in the composition of what

you're trying to say musically.

And you can kind of tell when
you hear it when it's off.

And so you have to think about
chord structure and the notes

that comprise a chord when
you're thinking about how do I

harmonize in my backing vocals.

When I bring in backup singers,
which I like to do a lot.

I like to have female
voices on my songs a lot.

And so I will sing a
demo version of the song.

And I'll usually
sing all the parts

that I expect the backing
vocalists to come in and do.

But I'll sing them in falsetto.

And falsetto is that
higher part of your voice.

Sometimes they call
your head voice.

That's falsetto.

Heee.

That's my more natural voice.

Chest voice we call it.

So when I am singing
the parts that I intend

for a female backup
singer to sing,

then I'll usually
singing in my falsetto.

And then I'll bring them in
usually in another session.

A lot of times what I do for
an album is have a day where

I just go in and
re-sing all the backing

vocals that I have
demoed, and have my ladies

in my band come in
and re-sing those.

So they're amazing.

They sound great.

They hear me doing it once
or twice, and they can go in

and re-sing what I sang.

And that's how I usually do it.

I don't always use the
same backing vocalists.

But I often do.

And I like to use
my singers on tour.

They're amazing.

They sound great.

And they're part of my sound.

The sound we go
on the road with.

We'll be in Vegas with.

All those things.

And so I'd rather they be on
my records than anybody else.

I know they're good.

I've auditioned them.

I've traveled the
world with them.

Why not put them on my record?

And when you're picking
backing vocalists,

you think about the different
textures they might bring.

So part of the reason I
don't like all of my vocals

to be stacks of myself, is that
I want to hear another texture.

I want to hear a female voice.

I want to hear a person that
might be raspier than me,

or less raspy than me.

I want to hear different tones
and them together with sound

better than I would sound
with my voice sounding

kind of uniform.

So that's what I
think about when

I'm thinking about who I
use for backing vocalists,

when I use someone
else other than myself,

and how to give them
the roadmap to being

the most effective and
most efficient when

we're recording the backing
vocalists in the studio.

So by the time I'm recording
the backing vocalists,

a lot of times we have
a really good idea what

the arrangement of the song is.

Usually, we've recorded
all the instruments

that we plan to record.

We may have not done the
string arrangement or the horn

arrangement.

But the main rhythm section of
the song is usually recorded.

And so the backing vocals
are one of the final touches

that we put on the song.

Even though I've
done a demo version.

Doing it with the final
vocalists on there

is kind of like a final flourish
for recording the song for me.

So there you have it.

You've see me record
my lead vocals.

I did a bunch of takes.

I thought about tone, and color,
and mood for each section.

And how to build
the story vocally.

Not just through the
way I wrote the lyrics,

but the way I express
each section of the song.

Building the story.

Elevating things.

Building tension.

Building urgency.

Climaxing.

And then coming back down.

Rain down freedom.

Rain down.

Then I talked with you about how
to arrange backing vocalists.

Thinking about the chords.

Thinking about when the
voices sing together.

When they harmonize.

When they sing in unison.

When they sing octaves.

All of those things can be
important decisions to make.

How many of each note
you want in the song.

So sometimes it sounds
better when there's

like 12 of the same voice.

Sometimes it sounds
better when it's just one.

One voice on each note.

It sounds more intimate.

It sounds closer.

But if you want it to
sound like a choir,

then you want 8, 10, 12 voices
on each note in the harmony.

So we're thinking about
all of those things.

Putting it in the right place.

Not overdoing it.

Making it complement what
the lead vocal and the rhythm

section are doing.

All those things
matter when you're

thinking about making your
song into a recording.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "FREE"]

Free.

'Till we're all free.

One of my rules
is you can't rely

on how you feel
about a song right

when you finish it because
part of what you're feeling

is the joy of
having completed it.

And so, I finished the song, and
I'm just happy that I'm, like--

I feel like I've put all
the puzzle pieces together.

Everything fits.

It feels right in this moment.

And I'm happy that I've
completed this project today.

But you can't mistake that
happiness for, oh, this song

is amazing.

You need to give
it some time, maybe

play it for some other people.

But also, just wait a week.

Listen to it again and you might
have some notes for yourself

on the song once you've had
a little distance from it.

So I think no one should
base their final opinion

on a song on their
reaction in that moment

when they've just
finished writing it.

Most of my songs, I will
write the bulk of it--

often the entirety of
it-- in one session.

So three, four
hours I sit there,

get from mumbled track to
finished song in 3 or 4 hours.

But that does not
mean the song is done.

Sometimes you'll
listen to it, you'll

think about it some more.

And you'll be, like, mm, I
want to revise this lyric.

I want to edit this.

I want to say this in a
way that works better.

Sometimes I'll play
it for someone,

and they'll say, uh,
it sounds like you're

saying blah, blah, blah.

And once I hear that,
I can't unhear it.

There's one where
I wrote a lyric,

it was like it sounded
like something more vulgar

than what I was trying to say.

And I couldn't unhear
that misinterpretation

of what I was saying.

So I had to change it just
because I didn't want it

to sound like the wrong thing.

So occasionally,
I'll write a lyric

and think, oh, I
need to change this.

I need to change that.

I changed some of the
lyric on "All of Me."

I changed some of
the lyric on "Free."

I changed some of
the lyric on plenty

of songs that have been some of
my bigger songs over the years.

And that happens usually within
the next two or three weeks.

I live with the song a bit.

I listen to the demo.

And I'm, like, this
feels a little uneasy.

And a lot of my
editing process is

about getting to the point where
nothing feels uneasy anymore.

So I'm like-- I keep listening
to it and I feel like

it's not--

the circle is not complete.

What feels like it's
leaving me hanging here?

What feels awkward?

What feels weird?

What makes me feel, uh,
like everything's not--

it's like Feng Shui for a song.

So it's like when you're
thinking about the room,

and you're thinking about
the colors and the balance

and the different
parts of the room that

make it feel like
it's completely

Feng Shui, like everything's
in the right place

and at the right balance.

You want the song to
feel like that, too.

And until it feels like that,
you're not done editing.

And as long as
you're feeling uneasy

and you feel off
about it, then you

try to find ways to
resolve that tension

and get it to actually
gel and come together.

And when that Feng
Shui is achieved,

all the balance is achieved
in the song, then you know,

okay, we've got it right.

And sometimes that might
not happen until the mix.

So maybe all the
arrangements are in place,

all the notes are there, all
the instruments are playing

what they're supposed to play.

But you need an expert mixer to
come in, play with the knobs,

play with the reverb, the
delay, the everything.

Get all the levels right
and then everything

sounds like it's in balance.

So when I think about playing
my songs for other people,

and then getting feedback
and thinking about revisions

based on that feedback, I have
a circle of people I trust.

A lot of times,
they're are producers.

So I've had people like Ryan
Tedder or Raphael Saadiq

or Kanye around as
executive producers

who helped me kind of edit.

These are people who
have been in my life

who I think are really
great musicians, who

have a great ear, and
can just, like-- mm,

I don't know about that, John.

Why don't you say
it a different way?

So I have people in
my life like that.

Also my team, my manager, my--

all the people around me that
kind of helped me creatively.

My A&R at the record label.

And then, of course,
just friends and family.

So you might play it for
your wife or even your kids.

And just people in your life who
aren't professionals at this,

but just--

they're representing
the ordinary fan

out there that may be
listening to something,

and you hear what their
thoughts are, too.

And so when I'm in a demo
process, people in my life

will hear the music and
they'll give me feedback.

And sometimes I agree with
it, sometimes, like, no.

I know better than you know.

But, you know, I think you
take all that feedback in

and it helps you come to a
better version of the song.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Way down Moses.

JOHN LEGEND: Oh,
I like that one.

Let's use that one.

Okay.

TIM MCCLAIN: Continue?

JOHN LEGEND: Yeah.

TIM MCCLAIN: Here's 7.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON TAPE):
And I'm just saying, Lord.

JOHN LEGEND: Oh,
I love that one.

OK.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON TAPE):
And I'm just saying, Lord.

TIM MCCLAIN: OK.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): I'm just saying, Lord.

JOHN LEGEND: I think three
was probably my favorite.

Okay, let's go to the next one.

Hey, everybody.

So now we're going
to do a comp vocal.

And my copilot in this process--

I'm really the co-pilot,
he's the pilot--

is Tim McClain.

He's my engineer.

We work together on everything.

He knows me very well.

I know him.

I know how to talk to him.

He knows how to
listen to me and know

what I want to do
without me even

having to say it half the time.

And that's what you want
from a good engineer.

You want them to
understand you and to make

you not have to think too much,
and they can figure it out.

Right, Tim?

Thanks for having me.

Of course.

So Tim McClain's here.

He's going to help us
demonstrate how we comp vocals.

TIM MCCLAIN: Here's take 7
of verse 1, the first stanza.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down Moses.

JOHN LEGEND: Vocal
comping is the process

of making a composite take
of all your different takes.

That would be the
master vocal take

that combines all the best
moments of the different

takes that you've done.

So what I tend to do, I'll
record maybe 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

10 takes of a verse.

And then I'll record 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10 takes of the pre-chorus.

And then I'll record 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10 takes of the chorus.

Let's go to five.

Here's five.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

JOHN LEGEND: And we
go through each take

and see which is the best
version of each line.

So I'm literally going
line by line, and saying,

what was my best
interpretation of that lyric?

What was my best
execution of that lyric?

And I want that to be
the take that we use

for that portion of the song.

I loved all of that, except
maybe land was a little flat.

And what I'm doing
on my paper, I

make a little
makeshift spreadsheet.

So I start with 7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1 since I have 7 takes.

And I'll make a
little spreadsheet,

where I'll, like,
maybe I'll just

check it if the whole
take is really good.

Or sometimes, I'll do, if there
are three lines-- so (SINGING)

go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to Egypt land.

I'll do 1 and 3 are
good, because "go down,

Moses" and "go down to Egypt
land" were really good.

But I didn't love
"way down, Moses."

Or I'll just do 1.

Or I'll just do 3, that
I like that third phrase

in the section.

Okay.

That was 4, this is 3.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

JOHN LEGEND: My key advice
revising and editing

is you're not done with the
song until it feels great.

You want it to feel in balance.

You want it to feel like every
moment works and is effective.

And that is just an
iterative process.

You have to be
open to criticism.

You have to be self-critical.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down, Moses.

Started too early.

Listen to it and think,
what's off about this?

Is there something
I need to fix?

And then go back in
and do the revisions.

Do the editing.

And then it's ready
for the world.

When you feel like,
ah, all the things

that needed to be smoothed
out are smoothed out.

All the things that needed
to be rougher and edgier

are rougher and edgier.

All the balances there between
the more sweeping sounds

and the more staccato
sounds, all those things

together are fitting into
this beautiful picture.

And the song is ready.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down to Egypt land.

Okay.

I like the last line of that.

So here's the comp
take that we chose

for this part of the verse.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to Egypt land.

JOHN LEGEND: So
I think what that

was a composite of
the first line from 7,

and then the next two
lines from take 3.

And that was our
master take that I

want to be the final
version of the song.

And then now we're going to
go to the (SINGING) free.

Okay.

Let's hear how that sounds.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING
ON TAPE): Free.

Oh, yeah, I love that one.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING
ON TAPE): Free.

Free.

I didn't quite
execute that run.

And you hear it, when I
was going down, descending,

I didn't execute it well
like I did on take eight.

So let's hear what
takes 6 sounds like.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING
ON TAPE): Free.

Ooh, I love that one, too.

That's a little bit
different melody,

but that one works, too.

I could use that one.

So what I've decided
is 2, 5, 6 and 8

are my favorites
on first listen.

Then I'll go back and
listen to them again.

And all of them are
probably keepable,

but I'm deciding which
one is more beautiful.

Which one just feels like
it fits everything else.

Which one feels
like it's telling

the story in this space of
the song in exactly the way

it needs to be told.

So part of it is some of them
may be really well-executed,

but they're a little too busy.

Some of them may
be a little pitchy,

so I'm not going to use those.

These are some of
the considerations

that I'm making when I'm
thinking about the comp.

So I'm thinking about
did I time it right?

Did I phrase it in the
most beautiful way?

Did I execute the notes well?

And then once I figure that
out, I pick what I love.

So let's play the
comp of the chorus.

Chorus one for "Free."

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): That there is a God.

And I'm just saying,
Lord, rain down freedom.

Rain down till we're all free.

Free.

Free.

Okay.

So that's our comp
for the first chorus.

And what I feel like we
accomplished with that chorus,

we sang it melodically true
to what I was thinking.

The times when I go free, I
didn't use all of my sauce

on it.

I kept it relatively
simple, so that we left room

to do more interesting
things in the second chorus

or at the end to develop
the story a little more.

And so these are some
of the considerations

I make when I'm
thinking about what

the comp should sound like.

Is it the best note,
the best moment

in that part of the song to
express the thought that I

want to express in that moment?

And so, sometimes, I
won't pick the take

that's the most intricate
or the most exciting,

because it's not time for
intricate and exciting yet.

Let's save that for later.

So these are some of the things
I think about when I'm comping.

And then I'm going to go through
every section of the song

and do the same thing-- verse
2, pre-chorus 2, chorus 2,

the vamp, all of that-- until
we have a final composite lead

vocal take.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Go down, Moses.

Okay, I think I'll
use 7, but I want

it to land a little earlier.

And then let's-- for the second
line, my favorites are 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7.

JOHN LEGEND (SINGING ON
TAPE): Way down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Oh, I like that one.

Let's use that one.

And then, go down to
Egypt land, I liked--

JOHN LEGEND: Now,
sometimes, takes

may be the best
take individually

within that specific
moment, but they might not

fit with the other takes that
you use in later moments.

So you not only have to find
the best take in that moment,

but also the best take
in that moment that

will fit with the
other best takes

in their respective moments.

So comping is a process
that usually takes us

about 30 to 45 minutes
after I've recorded a song.

And we're just going
through, line by line,

trying to find the best takes
and make it sound seamless,

like it was all one
beautiful, flawless take,

which I never do.

In this era, there
are all sorts of ways

to make a song sound
different, to elevate it,

to complicate it, to make
it sound more commercial,

to make it sound
more interesting.

There are all kinds of tricks.

Of course, a lot of
people use auto-tune now.

Auto-tune is a
device that's often

used to measure and control the
pitch in vocal and instrumental

recordings, as well
as live performances.

We sometimes use it.

I don't use it a
lot because it makes

my voice sound a little
too synthetic for my taste.

And I like the
timbre of my voice.

I like the tone of my voice.

And most of the
time, I'd rather it

sound more raw and more
rooted and more soulful.

And a lot of times, auto-tune
takes some of that away.

But I do think auto-tune
is useful sometimes.

And for certain
types of songs, I

will use auto-tune because it
makes it fit with the beat,

and makes it fit with the
genre a little bit more.

So some songs that
are more pop-leaning,

some songs that are more
dance hall or hip hop

or reggae-leaning,
sometimes auto-tune actually

is just better because it makes
it sound more of that genre.

It makes it sound more in
place with the beats that

accompany it.

So I will use auto-tune
for that, but old school,

folks just used things
like reverb and delay.

And those are just
things that kind of

create a bit of space
around what you're doing.

So reverb and delay are
simply different versions

of echoing your voice
so it sounds like you're

singing in the bathroom,
or it sounds like you're

singing in a beautiful hall.

And so reverb and delay
have been around for years.

And those things
sweeten your vocal.

They make it sound better.

They make it sound less naked
and raw, and more resonant

and beautiful.

So these are some of the
tricks we use with vocals.

But then there's
all sorts of things

you can do around your vocal.

So with the instruments,
with the beats,

with everything that
goes around your voice,

these are all the colors
that your producers,

your arrangers
are painting with.

And sometimes, the
artists themselves

are doing these things.

But I tend to use producers
and arrangers to help me.

They help bring the colors
and the different vibes

that we need.

I'm not a drum programmer.

I'm not a drum player.

I'm not a guitarist.

I want people around me
that can do those things

and do them well, and create the
right feeling around the song

so I feel like everything's
right, everything's in balance.

And all the things
that surround the song

are supporting the
song in a way that

makes the song more effective.

So how do you make
a good song great?

Here's a start.

Using the demos you've been
recording, revise your songs

and experiment
with vocal comping.

Try adding some of
the effects we've

mentioned-- auto-tune,
delay, reverb.

You can explore
countless techniques

as you continue to
write and record songs.

And if you go to
your class guide,

you'll find more
editing resources.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "ORDINARY
PEOPLE"]

(SINGING) Girl,
I'm in love with you,

but this ain't the honeymoon.

I love performing live.

In fact, I write
songs really because I

want to play them live.

[LAUGHS] I love
making the record.

I love writing the song.

It's a beautiful experience,
completing a song

and-- and seeing a
record come together.

But the culmination
of all of that work

is when you get to play
it in front of people.

And you get to see
them experience it.

You get to feel
them experience it.

And eventually,
once the record's

out there in the
world for a while,

you get to hear
them sing with you.

You get to hear them connect
was the song in the way

that they connect with it.

And it's a beautiful
experience for a songwriter

to be able to go from this
idea that you created,

this new idea that
you created in a room

by yourself or with a
couple other people,

and then see it experienced by
a few thousand people in a room.

It's pretty amazing.

[PLAYING PIANO]

When I perform my
songs live, one,

I'm trying to communicate
directly with them.

So I want them to feel my
presence, hear my voice,

connect with me.

I want to look in their eyes.

I want it to be an
experience where

we're experiencing each other.

We're communicating
to each other,

we're feeling each
other's presence.

I want the music to sound great.

So I have a great band, I
have a great musical director,

great backing
vocalists-- everybody is

really great at what they do.

So they're able to execute, not
only what we put on the record,

but elevate what we've
put on the record

and make it sound
even better live

than it sounds on the record.

And then you want
to feel that energy.

You want to feel the beat.

You want to feel the
roar of the crowd.

You want all of
that to contribute

to this euphoria, this
inspiration, this joy

that people feel when they get
to experience live music done

right.

Some of that is through
interacting with the crowd.

We do call and response.

I get them to sing
some of the song.

I get them to sing
"take it slow"

when we do "Ordinary People."

I get them to sing
the chorus back to me,

because they feel something
when they hear thousands

of other people singing
the same thing as them

without me singing with
them-- just all of them

together, like a big choir.

It's a beautiful feeling.

Sometimes we strip things down
so that the essence of the song

can be really heard.

So maybe we'll do a
version of the song that's

acoustic, even though
it's recorded differently

on the album.

So there's different
techniques that you'll

use to make it feel more alive
in the-- in the audience.

Sometimes you'll give some
color commentary before or after

the song that
contextualizes, you know,

what you were thinking
when you wrote the song.

So there's all kinds of ways
to make the live experience

elevate from what the
recorded experience was.

For the live
performance for "Free"

I want a choir to sing
with me, because I

sang all these backing
vocals and staked them up.

And they help color
the song, they

help build the
song to its climax.

And I can't do all
those things live,

so I need a choir
to sing with me.

(SINGING) Free, free,
free, free, free, free.

Hello!

Hey!

Welcome.

Thank you for being here.

Y'all ready to sing?

Yes.

We're ready to serve.

All right.

So let's just practice the
choir parts before we do the--

the actual performance.

[PLAYING PIANO]

So we'll just start at
the "there is a God" part.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "FREE"]

So, (SINGING) everyone
will know their worth,

and that there is a God.

And we're just saying,
"Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down til we're all free."

Free.

Free.

(SINGING) Free.

JOHN LEGEND: So the
components of the choir,

usually you have a soprano
voice, an alto voice, a tenor

voice, sometimes a
baritone and bass voice.

And you'll usually
have a few singers

on each of those voices,
hopefully all together

sound like a powerful choir.

(SINGING) Oh.

(SINGING) Freedom to love.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Freedom to give.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Freedom to live.

Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to every land and
tell them there is a God.

So that's it.

So let's work on that--

the division of labor there.

I think it's good to have
eight, because then you can

have two on each voice part.

Ideally you have
even more than that.

But when you have
space constraints,

when you have
budget constraints,

eight is a good number.

That's a good minimum so you
can have a couple of people

on each part.

So for the unison,
I would rather

have maybe four voices on
the (SINGING) oh, oh, oh, oh.

OK, so who's the
four gonna do it?

So I'll stay.

We can stay.

Yeah, we can.

JOHN LEGEND: Usually
there's three or four voice

parts to a song.

And if you can have a
couple people covering

each of those parts,
that'd be great.

OK, cool.

And do it kind of
lightly, kind of smoothly.

So (SINGING) oh, oh.

It can be-- and the ladies,
do it in your chest voice,

but like a light chest voice.

And then, gentlemen, do
it in your head voice, OK?

So one, two, three, four.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh oh.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Free.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah.

And then--

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So--

There should be more voices.

So it should be more--

more people harmonizing with
her on that what she's doing.

So maybe-- (SINGING)
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Is that what you're doing?

Uh-huh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, I wasn't leading
into it, but I can.

Let's go.

(SINGING) Oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

I don't remember
what I sang, so.

[LAUGHTER]

OK, we-- we were
trying to figure it out.

So (SINGING) oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So (SINGING) oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So do you want the altos in?

Yeah. (SINGING) Whoa, oh.

Do that instead.

(SINGING) Oh.

Yeah.

So (SINGING) oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh.

Yeah.

Just hold it.

Yeah. (SINGING) Oh, oh, oh.

Yeah, so let's try that.

So let's try those
two "oh, ohs."

One, two, three, four.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ah, ah, ah.

(SINGING) Ah, ah.

Yeah.

You guys, just one-- the one
time in the unison, and then

the one time split up. (SINGING)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

OK.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

And so instead of
doing the unison line,

just do a new line.

So-- so you go,
(SINGING) oh, oh, oh.

So whoever my altos are.

So (SINGING) oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

And then you go (SINGING)
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Then (SINGING) oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So rather than repeating
the unison line,

you're doing a new line.

So (SINGING) oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

So that's kind of your
second soprano line.

So (SINGING) oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Yeah, and then
the alto line would

be (SINGING) oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Let's do the first one first,
and then the second one.

So, one, two, three, four.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Yeah.

(SINGING) Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Yes!

So again.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

And then the split up.

(SINGING) Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

JOHN LEGEND: Again.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

I just want to hear
that bottom note.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh.

So (SINGING) oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

JOHN LEGEND: So who's
taking that bottom note?

We'll do that.

JOHN LEGEND: OK.

Yeah.

(SINGING) Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Yes.

And once we have that,
we'll have everything.

So let's do it together--
unison first, and then split.

One, two, three, four.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh,

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Free, free.

(SINGING) Oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

OK, we got it.

So we'll go from "everyone
will know their worth."

So (SINGING) everyone
will know their worth,

and that there is a God.

And we're just praying,
"Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down 'til we're all free.

Free.

Free.

(SINGING) Free,
free, free, free, free.

(SINGING) Yeah,
'til we're all free.

(SINGING) Free, free, free.

(SINGING) Oh.

(SINGING) Free, free.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Freedom to love.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Freedom to give.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Freedom to live.

(SINGING) Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to every land.

Tell them there is a God.

OK, beautiful.

Shall we try a take?

We shall.

We shall.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "FREE"]

(SINGING) Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to Egypt land.

Lay down, soldiers.

Lay down those weapons.

Let peace rush in.

Let it wash through the
valley, soar to the mountains,

fall in the deepest blue sea.

Let it fly across
the sky, a banner

so high that even the rockets
will see that there is a God.

And I'm just saying,
"Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down 'til we're all free."

Free.

Free.

Low down, broken, homeless,
floating, lost and thrown

to chance, yeah.

A caged bird's
singing, break chains

so we can do our holy dance.

Let them ring through the
valley, soar to the mountain,

pierce through the
core of the Earth.

Let 'em sing across
the sky a chorus

so high that everyone
will know their worth

and that there is a God.

And we're just saying,
"Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down 'til we're all free."

Free.

Free.

(SINGING) Free,
free, free, free, free.

(SINGING) 'Til we're all free.

(SINGING) Free, free.

(SINGING) Oh!

(SINGING) Free, free.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

(SINGING) Freedom to
love, freedom to give,

freedom to live.

Go down, Moses.

Way down, Moses.

Go down to every land.

Tell them there is a God.

And I'm just praying,
"Lord, rain down freedom,

rain down 'til we're all free."

Free!

'Til we're all free.

Thank you.

Thank you!

Thank you!

[APPLAUSE]

Beautiful!

We love you, John!

Love you back.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

He said, we're done.

[LAUGHS]

So the first thing you should
do after you watch this class,

maybe go pick
apart a few songs--

analyze them, listen to
how they're structured.

See if you can identify
the intro, the verse,

the pre-chorus, the chorus,
the post-chorus, if there

is one, the bridge, the
vamp, all these things

that I talked about today,
and think about how they apply

to the songs that you love.

Learn how to play
them so you know

what the chord progressions
are if you play an instrument.

And then compare
them to another song.

Do the same thing for
another song you love.

Then do it again.

Then do it again.

And then you'll start to
see some patterns in the way

that music is created, and
the way songs are written,

and you can apply those patterns
and structures and processes

to the way that you
create your own music.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "ALL OF
ME"]

(SINGING) Because I
give you all of me.

And you give me all of you.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "GLORY"]

(SINGING) Oh, one day when the
war is won, we will be sure,

we will be sure.

[MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND, "ORDINARY
PEOPLE"]

(SINGING) We're just
ordinary people.

We don't know which way to go.

Hopefully you've
enjoyed my class

telling you how I
write songs, and hoping

you can apply some
of those concepts,

some of those structures, some
of those processes to the way

that you write songs.

You can write a song.

You can do it.

You have to try.

You have to understand
some of the musical theory

and the musical underpinnings.

You have to understand some
things about song structure.

And hopefully I've provided
some of that foundation,

some of that
structure and process

you need so you can harness
the best of your creativity.

[PLAYING PIANO]

Good luck!

You can write a song.

Go write it.

If you've made it this far
and followed my framework

for writing songs,
congratulations,

you're well on your
way to becoming

a professional songwriter.

I want to leave you
with a few lessons I've

learned that helped
me in my daily life

as a songwriter,
performer, and artist.

I think of songwriting as a job.

I like to put some
structure around it.

I like to schedule
my songwriting time.

I have a family, so I
wake up in the morning

around the same time my kids do.

I take them to school
around 8:30 every morning.

And then maybe I'll
take a few calls.

After the kids go to school,
I'll have some breakfast,

warm up my voice, usually
on the way to the studio

or write when I
get to the studio,

and that'll be around noon.

And then I'll write.

And a lot of times,
I'll have collaborators

come meet me there.

We'll write together
for a few hours.

And usually, we'll have a song.

And I record it around
maybe four or five o'clock.

And then I try to
get home in time

for my kids dinner, which is
around 6:30, seven o'clock.

Now, I write songs really
quickly, probably quicker

than most people.

I usually will start a
song maybe at like 1:00 PM

and go home with a finished demo
in time for dinner with my kids

at 6:30.

So that may not be normal.

And don't expect
yourself to do that,

especially if you're early
in your songwriting process.

It might take longer
for you to do it,

but you could still
follow this same process.

And there are other ways of
songwriting and other processes

that people use, but this
is what works for me.

And I think it helps me
write more quickly because I

write with this kind of
structure and process.

And you might take longer
to do that in the beginning.

But this actually may help
you write more quickly

in the future.

But the goal is not, I
want to do this quickly,

it's to produce
something beautiful,

produce something great.

And if you need to
take your time to do,

that take your time.

You should try to write as
much as you possibly can,

and a lot of great prose
writers think the same way.

I've heard them say it too.

They say the best way to get
better at writing is to write.

And the best way to get your
writing done is to write.

Everything you create is
not going to be amazing.

You may not be as quick
at writing as I am.

But if you keep trying,
if you keep working,

you'll get better at it.

You'll create a bunch of things.

And some of them
won't be amazing.

A bunch of my songs
don't come out.

But the ones that do, the
ones that rise to the top,

hopefully they're really
good because you've

spent so much time
creating, so much time

trying that you're going to
stumble on some greatness.

I almost always finish
every song I start writing.

Occasionally, I'll just kind
of hum something in my phone

that I won't finish.

And my phone has so
many voice notes in it.

I started "Free"
with a voice note.

I started a lot of
songs with voice notes.

So I'll hum something in my
phone that I may not finish.

But once I set about
writing it in earnest, which

means me going to the
studio, me sitting down

at the piano to work on it,
I almost always finish it.

I may not use it, though.

I have a bunch of songs that
I've written and written

a full lyric to
that haven't made

an album, may never be heard.

So in that sense, I
don't finish them.

I don't finish them
as full records.

I don't finish
them as recordings

that we put out in the world.

And so there are plenty
of songs like that.

But I almost always finish
a version of the song.

I almost never don't
finish the song

unless it's just something
I've sang into my phone.

I don't like to
let things linger.

I like to finish things.

Even if they're not the
final version of the song,

I like to leave the
session knowing I

accomplished the thing
that I wanted to do,

which is I wrote a song today.

And it's kind of
an amazing feeling

because you start
the day with nothing.

And you end the day
with a brand new thing

that could change your life,
that could be heard by billions

of people around the world.

It's kind of an amazing
thing to be able to do.

And I want to accomplish that
every time I start a song.

So when I start writing a song,
I usually finish it that day.

Occasionally I'll go back
to the vault and say,

ah, this song is
better than I thought

or the song works
better for this album

than it worked for
a previous album.

For instance, for my next
album that's coming out soon,

I've probably written like 80,
85 songs, not just by myself,

but I've co-written
most of them.

And we've recorded a demo
version of all those songs.

Even if we don't make a final
version that goes on a record,

even if it never sees
the light of day,

we've written that many songs.

And I don't like to not finish.

I'm a finisher.

I try to be consistent,
no matter where I am.

I go to the same warm up ritual.

When I'm touring, I don't
talk a lot during the day,

so I would not be
doing a MasterClass

in the middle of my tour.

When I'm touring, I also
drink a lot of water

or drink a lot of tea.

I don't ingest a lot of
things that are very acidic.

I don't do a lot of alcohol
drinking on the tour.

I don't eat a lot of spicy food
because I have acid reflux.

And a lot of people
have acid reflux,

but singers notice it because
it affects their voice.

And of course, I
warm up and cool down

before and after each show.

I also like to eat
before I go out on stage.

I like to have some
warm food in my belly.

It makes me feel a little
more like grounded.

It also makes my voice
feel a little better.

I don't feel as dry.

So I always request
the same meal.

It's my ritual.

I have roasted chicken
and some vegetables

sauteed in garlic for every
meal right before my tour dates.

So I guess that's
my one superstitious

ritual that I stick to.

The best way to build
confidence in live performing

is practice, practice,
practice, practice, practice.

So a lot of your practice
should be private.

It should be with your
band or by yourself

or with a few other people.

But then develop your
chops before live

performing by playing
for small audiences,

playing for open mic nights,
playing for lower stakes

live events that
aren't as high pressure

so it kind of warms
you up into the moments

when it starts to feel like
it really is high pressure.

(SINGING) We rise and
we fall and we feel

like just walking away.

And the more you
practice, the more natural

you will become as a
performer and the less you'll

have to think about it, the less
your nerves will affect you.

(SINGING) I give you all of me.

You'll still
possibly be nervous.

I'm not going to guarantee
you won't feel nervous.

But your practice,
your preparation,

is going to be the
thing that helps you

power through the nervousness.

There were times when
I was discouraged

because people would say no.

They would tell me,
you're not ready yet.

And in some ways,
they were right

because I had to keep working
and keep honing in on my sound.

But I really felt like
we were on to something

that we had a special
sound and I had something

special to offer to the world.

And I was ready.

And some of the labels
weren't ready for me,

partly because they didn't know
exactly what box to put me in.

I'm kind of a little
different from everybody.

There were a lot of neo-soul
artists that were doing well,

but I was a little
different from them too.

Alicia Keys was a
godsend because then they

could see a direct analog for
the kind of artist I could be.

And they started
saying, yeah, you're

kind of like a male Alicia Keys.

And then Kanye was a godsend
because they could see,

as a producer, what he could add
to my music to make it edgier,

to make it more
hip hop influenced.

I think the
combination of people

like Alicia Keys showing
that this kind of music

could work and then Kanye having
such success with his project,

it made it more clear to
the record labels, okay,

we can make something
like this work.

We can make something
like John Legend work.

Sometimes you can get
discouraged by all the nos

that you're hearing.

Sometimes you can
think, well, maybe

I just need to fit in better.

Maybe I just need to be like
these other artists that

are already doing well.

And sometimes that can work.

But a lot of times,
the thing that's

going to make you
succeed is the fact

that you're not
like everybody else.

And when you come with something
a little different, something

fresh, something that
feels new to people,

sometimes that's
the thing that's

going to make you succeed.

And if you think
about all the artists

that have really broken
through, the artists

that have really made an
impact, not just also-rans

that had a little bit
of success and kind of

were following a
trend, but people

that really broke
through and lasted,

a lot of times it's because
they were different,

because they were doing things
that the labels told them,

mmm, I don't know if
this is going to work.

It's hard to stand out from
all of the rest of the noise.

And some of the ways people
are standing out are brand new.

We didn't have social
media back then.

So all I had when I was
getting signed was a website.

And you could
order my CD online.

And I would personally
mail it to you

because I was my own whatever.

And that was how I was getting
my music out to people.

But now you can put
something on TikTok,

you can put something on
all these other social media

outlets, and songs can catch on.

And it allows artists to be
creative and self-driven and

entrepreneurial as they're
promoting themselves.

And they can establish their
ability to succeed out there

before they even get any
support from a record label

or any support from
anybody with a lot of money

that can help market
and promote them.

So it's quite an
interesting time.

I think it can be tough
and confusing and hard

to break through the noise.

But it's also exciting
because there's

so much opportunity out there.