Right on! A few years of learning guitar and piano really inspired me to think through what I like to listen to and why. It turns out that I appreciate it very much when a song has these elements: Strong lyrical content and inspirational depth and complexity in its musical structure combined with an awesome melody.
Here are a few examples of pieces I like to listen to:
- Lose Yourself, Eminem
- The Sound of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel’s
- House of the Rising Sun, The Animals
- Somewhere over the Rainbow, Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole
- Foolish Games, Jewel
- Dust in the Wind, Kansas
- Hotel California, The Eagles
- Wind of Change, Scorpions
- Alone, Heart
- Gangsta’s Paradise, Coolio
- Wicked Game, Chris Isaak
- The Story, Brandi Carlile
- Mad World, Gary Jules
- Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler
- California Dreaming, Mamas and Papas
- Doctor My Eyes, Jackson Browne
- Yesterday, The Beatles
- Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton
- Losing my Religion, R.E.M
- Hello, Lionel Richie
- Don’t Speak, No Doubt
- Papa Don’t Preach, Madonna
- Ordinary World, Duran Duran
- Zombie, Cranberries
- Dream On, Aerosmith
- Clocks, Coldplay
- Somebody I used to know, Gotye
- Riders on the Storm, The Doors
- Lay all your love on me, ABBA
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door, Bob Dylan
- Someone like you, Adele
- Hello, Evanescence
- Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
- Sve Smo Mogli Mi, Jadranka Stojakovic
- Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits
- Red Right Hand, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
- Kingdom of Gold, Mark Knopfler
Now recently, I have been interested in writing my own lyrics and music with the help of my instructor friend. When he hands me a musical scale, I tend to think of ways I can create a melodic line out of it. I play around with intervals and transpose the same patterns to another key.
I am not a musical theorist; however, I do believe given what I have experienced up to this point, that intervals are the key to every emotion we attempt to communicate with our music. The second next thing is time. The time it takes to go from one interval to another is as important!
The rest is up to you!
[12/29/2023] I plan on adding songs on here as I remember. This list can and will grow.
Johnny Harbieh 