by Suzann Kale

We all need to know. Songwriters need to build "money note" possibilities into their songs. Singers have to find the "money note" sections of each song and work on those sections to make them totally ring. The producer who takes the song into the studio will immediately be able to spot the "money notes" and bring them out in production.

What Are Money Notes?

In pop, R & B, country, some rock, and certainly in opera, there are certain songs that dynamically build to a climax. That climax can be emotional, stirred by the lyrics; it can be musical, created by perhaps a large interval jump that wasn't there in previous verses. Money notes can occur if you're repeating a chorus and surprise the listener by taking it up half a step, which is a dramatic dynamic and usually gets audiences very excited.

Money notes are small sections – usually one section per song, often toward the end of the song -  that move the audience dramatically.

It's when a singer is holding a high note with no vibrato, and she holds it and holds it, and people start to go nuts, and then she breaks into a vibrato and lets go of the note. The more of a challenge that high note is to the singer's range, the crazier it makes the audience. But the singer holds onto that note like a trooper and when the vibrato breaks in and lets the audience relax, they can't help but applaud.

Or take the beginning of the third chorus in Whitney Houston's version of I Will Always Love You (written by Dolly Parton). The song is building from the very beginning, but here we have a sudden silence, then one drumbeat, and then Whitney belting out the title line with a blazing intensity.

On a more subtle level, money notes can even be the first few measures of a song as it comes out of the "shout chorus" toward the end. In pop music, a "shout chorus" is a section where a verse is suddenly done without reverb and without instrumental accompaniment. Toward the end of Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Starting Something, a chorus repeats the phrase "mama se mama sa mu machu sa." Then suddenly the same phrase is sung a capella and in your face for 16 bars. When the instruments come back in after the 16 bars, it's a rush. What can I say. It's the kind of dynamic that sends chills down your back.

Singers: How to Build a Money Note Section into Your Song

Not all songs have money notes. Not all genres need money notes. But if your producer wants them, you as a singer or singer-songwriter must create them.

They key is in the song's dynamics. Singers must go through each song carefully as they study and prepare the song, and analyze the dynamics. Even if you are also the song's composer, you need to go through it separately for dynamics. Where does it build? Where have you placed the most emotionally important verse? Where does the song calm down?

Like a three-act play in live theatre, often a song will start at a certain lower level and then build over the length of the piece, to a climax. After the climax comes perhaps one more softer section or maybe a gentle fade out. This leaves the listener with a complete "story" that has moved them emotionally. 

So when you analyze the song you're working on, look for the build. Use that pencil and mark your chart with crescendo and decrescendo marks. Write in where you will sing softly and where you will belt. Then memorize the dynamics as accurately as you memorize lyrics. That's a must!

Elements of Money Notes

 - The song builds up to them

 - They often involve singing higher notes and holding them

 - They are different from "hooks," in that hooks are repeated over the course of a song. Money note sections happen once.

 - They are exceptionally stirring, either in emotion, in musical surprise, or in vocal expertise.

It's not easy to nail that money note. It takes a strong voice, and a singer who is totally focused on the emotion of the song. If you choose to put money notes into your song, you need to go for it full-force. The money note is a strong dramatic statement, and both the composer and the singer need to be fearless.

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This article was first published by Songwriters' Connection E-Tips Newsletter.

(c) 2010 Suzann Kale. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission from the author.