Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)": Implied Harmonies and More

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and discover how to write great songs. __________________ It’s important to hear things repeat within a song, but the danger is if something repeats so much that it becomes boring. The obvious answer is to have things repeat in slightly different ways, so that each time […]

Chord Progression Formulas: Good. Songwriting Formulas: Bad.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and learn all you need to know about how great melodies work. A formula is simply a predictable procedure for writing music. In other words, you’re following a formula if you say, “Once I’ve done this, I need to do that…” For songwriters, there are two […]

Strengthening Song Structure by Reversing Melodic Direction

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and learn all you need to know about how great melodies work. __________ Contrast is one of the most important elements of successful songs. You want to contrast one section (a verse, for example) with another (the chorus) enough so that they’re distinctive, but don’t differ […]

MIDI Orchestration: Making Fake Instruments Sound Real

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and get your songs working! _________________ Orchestration, whether for MIDI instruments or the real thing, can be a bit like walking a tightrope. Done well, MIDI can sound real enough to fool most listeners, and you’ve got what sounds like a full orchestra at your disposal. […]

How Melodies Reflect the Form of a Song

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle to learn more about how to create melodies that work. _______________ When we think of a song’s melody, we’re often thinking of it in the singular. The fact is, however, that most songs use a variety of different melodies, each one hopefully connecting smoothly to the […]

5 Ideas for Perking Up a Boring Chord Progression

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle to learn more about chord progressions and how they work. _____________ I hardly ever worry about a chord progression that sounds boring or repetitive. First of all, most chord progressions use repetition as a standard feature, because repetition works. Listen to any successful song, and you’ll […]