'No one perfect way': How collaboration becomes a lesson in songwriting

The mission was to write two songs in two days with a total stranger, and P.E.I. songwriter Rachel Beck had no idea how it was going to go.

"We were introduced, and about five minutes later we started writing our first song," she said.

Beck was not entirely new to co-writing she has written with her sister Amy as The Beck Sisters for years but this was different. Not only would she work with someone she didn't know, she would then try to sell those songs to a panel of music professionals.

This is how it goes at the Canadian Songwriter Challenge. Beck participated in the P.E.I. edition last week, paired up with Ontario musician Jordan Alexander.

Hearts on Fire

The two were introduced at a recording studio in Charlottetown last Tuesday morning and got right to work. They started with a piano riff Beck had been playing around with, and quickly moved on from there.

Beck said often with co-writing it can seem like someone is helping you write your song, or you are helping someone write their song, but with Alexander their ideas grew together out of the seed of that piano riff.

"We built the whole song together from that and it was a true collaboration," said Beck.

"The melody, the lyrics, every single part of it we built together."

That song, Hearts on Fire, was well received on Friday by a panel of music professionals. The panel members considerif they can find a market for the songs composed during the challenge.

Whether Hearts on Fire finds a place or not, Beck feels good about how the week went.

"It's really shown me that everyone has their own process. It's really good, as a songwriter, to try other people's techniques," she said.

"There's no one perfect way to do it. Just push yourself and try new things. Co-writing is definitely something I want to pursue in the future. It's a great experience."

Beck and Alexander were one of four pairs of musicians in the P.E.I. challenge, held in conjunction with Music P.E.I.'s May Run Festival last week.

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