- [Gary] Okay, recording.

Take number two, "It's A Good Day."

- So we've been practicing our songwriting and working on some of our songwriting techniques.

- And today Jake and I are at a recording studio to put a song together and record it with some of our friends.

- [Jake] Our song will continue to evolve as we work on it with others.

- [Esther] Our writing will go through changes, and that's okay.

- This is Michael Weber and he plays a guitar.

You're also playing bass on our track today.

- [Michael] It's gonna be great.

- Now you have been working on our chorus.

♪ Good day, good day, good day ♪ - [Jake] What role does the chorus play in a song?

- Well, the chorus, to me, kind of represents the general central thesis.

The way I like to think of it is that it's the central hub and then each verse can be a spoke that comes, you know, off of that and maybe digs deeper into the topic.

(mellow music) ♪ It's a good day ♪ - This is Anthony Taddeo.

He's gonna be playing percussion for us today.

- In general, percussion, we can think about it like punctuation.

Oftentimes punctuation helps us understand the purpose of a sentence, or helps the reader understand where is this going?

So with drums, the way that we can do that, is let's say I'm playing a groove and we can stop with a period and make sure that everyone knows this is the end.

So we can do something like this.

(drums beating) (cymbal crashes) There's no doubt that that was the end of that sentence.

- [Esther] Absolutely.

- Or we could have something like a question mark, right?

So let's say we are having this groove.

(cymbal crashing) (drums thudding) (drum roll taps and fades) There's a part of us now that wonders, oh, what's gonna happen?

- A little bit or mystery.

Yeah.

- Right?

♪ It's a good day ♪ - What I imagine is that we gotta come up with some introduction that makes sense.

- [Jake] Not only are we working on the song's structure, we're also working on the emotions we hope to convey.

- [Esther] The idea of tone represents the author's attitude and viewpoint on a subject.

- All right, this guy is Jeremiah Polite.

- All right, this guy is Jeremiah Polite.

Part of what you're helping us doing is setting the tone of this project.

What do you consider tone when it comes to music?

- It helps the emotion of the song come across to the listener.

- [Jake] What's a sad tone.

(doleful music) - That's more sad.

- [Jake] If I was writing a love letter, what does a love letter sound like?

(gentle music) Where were you when I was in high school?

I needed that help writing these love letters.

- I probably wasn't born yet.

(both laughing) (drum beats tapping) - [Esther] When you write a paper, drafts are the preliminary versions of your work.

- We're working through versions of our song to decide what we want to record.

Esther, what's our song called today?

What's our topic?

What's our?

- "It's A Good Day."

- "It's A Good Day."

(bright drum beats) ♪ Good day, good day, good day ♪ - You know.

♪ It's a good day, da-da-da-da-da ♪ We don't, but those words have gotta be.

♪ It's a good day ♪ - This is Gary Rhamy.

He's our engineer.

- Well, the recording engineers responsible for everything that goes on in the studio, making sure the musicians are in the right spot, that their instruments are miced, and controlling the sound levels.

Okay.

You ready for me?

♪ It's a good day ♪ - Yeah, let's do it.

Let's do a practice take.

- So how would you say that songwriting is kind of like writing an essay or a book report?

- Well, I guess both would actually be a structured presentation in order to communicate a song, or an idea, or a thought.

(playful organ music) (Jeremiah chuckles) - A good day sun shining, I'm making the most of life and making some music.

- I like that.

I like pizza.

Songwriting is about refining our ideas.

- [Esther] They aren't always works art from the get-go.

- [Jake] It's what I wrote down.

I came up with pizza.

- [Esther] Transforming your ideas takes work.

♪ It's a good, good, good day ♪ - Most importantly, work those songwriting muscles, practice, and work on your writing.

- You might just have a great tune inside you waiting to get out.

- [Esther] And we can't wait to hear it.

- This has been "In Tune."

- "In Tune."

- [Jake] Okay, this is take number five, "It's A Good Day."

♪ It's a good day ♪ (mellow music) (mellow music continues) ♪ Got a smile on my face ♪ ♪ And the sun is shining high ♪ ♪ I'm living in the moment as time keeps passing by ♪ ♪ Giving love to others and I'm giving to myself ♪ ♪ Just gonna be present, I don't need nothing else ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ A good day to be me ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ To be the best that I can be ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ As far as I can tell ♪ ♪ It's a good day when you get to be yourself ♪ ♪ Good day, good day ♪ ♪ Good day ♪ ♪ Yourself ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ good day, good day, good day ♪ ♪ And I used my words to express just how I'm feelin' ♪ ♪ When there's chaos and doubt ♪ ♪ And the world has got me reelin' ♪ ♪ I get broken and I get hurt, anxious and uptight ♪ ♪ But when there's music in my heart ♪ ♪ It's gonna be all right ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ Even if it's not so great ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ 'Cause life's to short to hate ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ As far as I can tell ♪ ♪ It's a good day when you get to be yourself ♪ ♪ Good day, good day ♪ ♪ Good day ♪ ♪ Yourself ♪ ♪ Good day, good day ♪ ♪ Good day ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ (mellow music continues) (mellow guitar music) (bright drum music) ♪ It's, the last slice of pizza, it's the stars at night ♪ ♪ Layin' it down with the band ♪ ♪ Keeping the groove real right ♪ ♪ It's the voice that's in my head that makes me wanna sing ♪ ♪ It's the motion of emotion when you do your thing ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ When I can keep it real ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ Singing how I feel ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ As far as I can tell ♪ ♪ It's a good day when you get to be yourself ♪ ♪ Good day, good day ♪ ♪ Good day ♪ ♪ Yourself ♪ ♪ Good day, good day ♪ ♪ It's a good day ♪ ♪ Good day, ooh ♪ ♪ A good day, good day ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Good day ♪ ♪ Good day, good day, good day ♪ - We have a safety?

- Yeah, so now we're loose, we're loose and free.

- [Speaker 1] We're loose inside, inside feels so free.

- [Speaker 2] (laughs) Feel free, you'll see my friend.

- [Speaker 1] It'll be the first time.

(bright music) (singers vocalizing)