Piano ballad
Some feelings need quiet: one lamp, a piano, and nothing else in the room but their name.
A custom piano ballad that builds to their name
The piano ballad is the most emotional of the seven styles: we ask for an emotional piano ballad with soft strings and a slow build to the chorus, around 70 beats per minute. It suits moments when you want every word to be heard.
Hear the second a name lands
Niamh, my sweet girl, you are eighteen today.
You wrote“Learned to swim in the cold lake at Grandpa's house.”
The song singsI still see you splashing in the cold lake at Grandpa's house.
From a real song made here: “Your Gentle Way”, for Niamh, from what her mum typed.
The moment you give it
You both lie in the dark on either end of the line. The piano starts alone, strings come in under the second verse, and when their name arrives neither of you says anything for a while.
11 pm, both of you in bed, miles apart
Them
On speaker
“Turn the lights off first. Then listen.”
Start with one memory
Pick a question. The form opens with your first line already started.
Every style has a voice of its own
These singers are fictional and AI-made, pictured in a studio, on a stage and behind the decks. Your song is sung by an AI voice in the style you pick.
A real piano ballad made here
"Your Gentle Way": an 18th birthday song for Niamh, from her parent’s brief.
What you get for $12.99
You hear it first, free. You pay once, only if you keep it.
- Free preview
- The first 60 seconds, ready in about two minutes after you enter your email. No card.
- The song
- The full song, about two minutes long, as an MP3 to download and keep.
- Lyrics
- Every line is on the preview page before you pay. Unlocking adds the lyric sheet, to print or save as a PDF.
- Their link
- A private link that plays the whole song without an account, with your name and a short note. Switch it off any time.
- Photo video
- Free: a vertical 9:16 photo video of your photos with the lyrics on screen, plus 15- and 30-second cuts. Made in your browser.
- The name
- Unusual name? Type how to say it (SEER-sha for Saoirse) and the singer says it that way.
- Re-record
- One free re-record per song: change a line, the style or the voice and record it again.
- Name sung wrong?
- After you pay, a free remake with the name fixed, once per song.
- Languages
- Sung in English, German, French, Spanish or Japanese.
- Teaser
- Before you pay, a 15-second teaser link that tells them a song is on its way.
- For this song
- Not sure about the style? Your free re-record can switch it to any of the other six.
What our piano ballad sounds like
- Piano carries the song; soft strings come in as it builds.
- Slow, at about 70 beats per minute, so the lyrics breathe.
- A quiet first verse and a fuller chorus with the name.
- The style most likely to make someone go quiet when it plays.
When to choose it
- A child turning 18, leaving home or graduating.
- A 25th, 40th or 50th anniversary.
- A parent or grandparent who likes to hear every word.
- Someone going through a hard year who needs to hear they are loved.
- A couple renewing their vows in a small, quiet ceremony at home.
Writing for a ballad
Ballads reward one honest sentence more than three clever ones. Give it the thing you would say if you only had a minute: "I watched you teach yourself to swim in the cold lake." Then add two details that place it in time.
Example brief for a piano ballad
A parent’s pride, told quietly, is what a ballad is for. Lines close to the ones behind "Your Gentle Way":
- She learned to swim in the cold lake at Grandpa’s house the summer she turned six.
- She paints tiny watercolor foxes on every birthday card she gives.
- She leaves for college in August and I want her to take this with her.
More song ideas
Questions
For the moments that should be quiet.
One honest line is enough to start.