Last week I wrote about the added value of uptempo songs.  This week the news is that you may have more of those uptempo songs than you realize.

Meaning this: a strong ballad can often be converted pretty easily into an uptempo or dance song.  Add a 4 on the floor dance or club beat at a faster tempo (120-140 bpm, or higher, depending on the genre) to your ballad and you may have something that really works, without changing the words or melody at all (or very little).

If you perform your own songs – and don’t perform ‘dance’ music, this may not work so easily for your style.  But it might give you something that another artist will cover.  Be prepared – it might sound really weird at first.  Give yourself a chance to get used to it.  And of course it may not work at all.

But it’s kind of amazing how easily many ballads slip comfortably into dance grooves – think Heaven, Unbreak My Heart, How Do I Live, many others.  Almost every hit song gets a Dance remix and many songs have been hits both ways.

I think one of the reasons ballads work as uptempo songs is that writers tend to be very careful about the melodies and words to a ballad… and often can be looser with the melodies and lyrics to uptempo tunes.  So the writing on ballads is often more developed and refined.  Ideally we’d be giving that same level of attention to all of our songs… but sometimes that doesn’t happen.

If a melody is strong the feeling of it is always there, even at a much faster tempo than written.  And, as I’ve said many times: The Melody Really Matters!… no matter what tempo or genre of music you’re in. (For example, most people don’t think of it this way, but the fantastic melodies of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Kurt Cobain – not something often noted in a so-called grunge song – are a big part of its greatness.)

Speaking very generally, in my opinion most songwriters tend to play their songs at tempos that are too slow anyway… so don’t be afraid to try to speed things up… and particularly to try a dance tempo/production on a ballad.  What have you got to lose?

Thanks again to Eric Beall for the idea for this post.  The flaws in the execution are all mine!