User:Mslovin

Story-to-Song (STS) is a method of songwriting that takes a spoken story and turns it into a song. A composing guide works with a participant to shape the participant’s story into a song.The final product is a song that gives voice to an experience from a person’s life. This song can be given as a gift and shared with members of their community. Participants do not need musical training.

The Story-to-Song method was devised by Marieke Slovin and Malcolm Brooks from an earlier version of songwriting where Malcolm used stories to help overcome creative blocks which Malcolm called "autoethnographic songwriting." In their work together, Marieke suggested a name that would be easier for people to understand and that would focus on the two most important parts of this method: story and song. The method has been called Story-to-Song ever since and has been used to help people write songs around the world since 2010.

While each songwriting experience is unique, Marieke and Malcolm have found I that there are stages to this songwriting process. During each stage, emotion and meaning are bestowed upon the words of the story through the discovery and creation of a melody, a musical key, a chord progression, rhythm, groove, and arrangement of lyrics taken directly from the story itself. There are also moments when the storyteller, guiding composer, or both may have difficulty moving forward—moments the researchers deem being stuck—followed by moments when a shift occurs that allows for continued movement within that stage or on to the next stage—a breakthrough.

The stages identified thus far include:

1. Storyteller shares a story, which is captured verbatim by guide. 2. Promising melodic germs, along with rhythm and groove, are revealed from a recording of participant singing text. 3. Chorus structure is developed. 4. Verse structure is developed. 5. Verses and chorus are arranged in a way that captures essence of story. 6. Run through of verses and choruses 7. Chords and strumming pattern 8. Performable work of music for voice and accompaniment

Resources cited: http://storytosong.com/

http://documentarysongwriter.org/wp/