Knowra Singer-songwriter Singer-songwriter A musician who writes and performs songs, often shaping both lyrics and music. Singer-songwriters commonly present songs as personal or artistic expressions.
Songwriting : The creation of lyrics, melodies, and other elements of a song. It is the compositional work singer-songwriters usually undertake themselves.
Woody Guthrie : An American folk musician known for songs about working people, migration, and social justice. His direct, topical writing became a model for later folk singer-songwriters.
Interpretive singer : A vocalist whose central role is performing songs written by others. The contrast highlights the singer-songwriter’s usual responsibility for composition.
Troubadour : A medieval poet-musician, especially one associated with composing and performing courtly songs in Occitania. The troubadour offers an earlier model of the poet who performs original songs.
Acoustic music : Music produced primarily with instruments whose sound is not electronically amplified or synthesized. Solo singer-songwriters often use acoustic arrangements to foreground voice and lyrics.
Song : A musical composition, usually involving a vocal melody and lyrics. The song is the work a singer-songwriter creates and performs.
Joni Mitchell : A Canadian singer-songwriter whose work spans folk, pop, and jazz-influenced music. Her shifting tunings and harmonic language expanded the form’s musical possibilities.
Ghostwriter : A writer who creates work publicly credited to another person. Singer-songwriters ordinarily perform work they claim as their own, unlike hidden authors.
Blues : An African American musical tradition built around expressive vocals, recurring forms, and distinctive phrasing. Blues traditions shaped later singer-songwriters’ approaches to personal voice and song form.
One-person band : A performer who creates the effect of an ensemble by playing multiple instruments or using looping technology. Some singer-songwriters build full arrangements alone during live performances.
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