Songwriter’s Secrets: Rocking Vocal Rhythms
Part of the songwriters secrets series, this article outlines the 2 methods for writing vocal rhythms, and 3 exercises to practice this important skill.
Sabrina Peña Young
An intermedia composer, percussionist, author, and obsessive sci-fi buff, Sabrina Peña Young creates mind-bending electroacoustic works that have been heard throughout Australia, Asia, North America, and Europe in media festivals, radio, film, dance clubs, random boom boxes in France - and as not-so-pleasant background music.
Critics have described her music as “daunting,” and “marvelously abstract,” and she has received a wide range of awards for her compositions, including New Genre Award from the International Alliance for Women in Music for her work "Creation" and the Cintas Foundation's Brandon Fradd Fellowship in Music Composition, as well as awards and nominations for her film-making work.
Sabrina has a passion for writing too, and recently published "The Feminine Musique: Multimedia and Women Today", available at Amazon.com. She has also written for the Kapralova Society Journal, Percussive Notes, Panpipes, the IAWM Music Journal, the SEAMUS Music Journal, and various fine arts websites.
Learn more about Sabrina:
Posts by Sabrina Peña Young
Songwriter’s Secrets: Mastering the Melody
Part of the songwriters secrets series, this tutorial explains how to write a catchy melody with examples and exercises to help you through the process.
Songwriter’s Secrets: Lyrics
A complete guide to writing lyrics in 3 easy steps. Each step contains exercises to help you write catchy, original lyrics, and avoid the 3 basic blunders.
How to Write a Song Even If You Don’t Know Music Theory
Learn to write a song. This article goes through exercises and examples to help those with no music theory write great lyrics, melodies and harmonies.
Songwriter’s Secrets: How to Write a Song Without an Instrument
It is possible to write a song even without an instrument – this article explains how you can do it just using listening skills and modern technology.
Songwriter’s Secrets: The Song Writing Process
Follow Sabrina Peña Young as she guides you step by step through the song writing and recording process using the example song Pink Slips and Baby Shoes.
Songwriter’s Secrets: First Steps in Song Writing
The first step to writing a new song is getting the lyrics down. Try these exercises and tips for finding inspiration and widening your rhyming vocabulary.
Songwriter’s Secrets: Introduction to Songwriting
Want to write a song, but not sure where to start? In this series songwriter Sabrina Peña Young guides us through writing lyrics, melodies and harmonies.
Talking Rhythm: Series Recap
The final part of our Talking Rhythm series, a recap of the count chant and Kodály methods using jazz and rock examples with practice audio and scores.
Talking Rhythm: Syncopated Rhythms and the Kodály Method
Take your rhythm counting to the next level and learn how to count syncopated rhythms using the Kodály method. With example audio clips and score notation.
Talking Rhythm: The Kodály Method
Learn how to count rhythms using the Kodály method. Includes a chart with the Kodály rhythm syllables, audio clips and score notation to help you practice.
Counting Triplets and Compound Rhythms
Learn how to read and count triplet and compound rhythms in this part of our Talking Rhythm series. With these exercises it’s as easy as counting 1, 2, 3.
