So How Many Notes Make a Good Melody?

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Read about Gary’s songwriting e-books here. ____________________________ If you study the songs that have made it big over the decades, you start to see certain commonalities: they show an identifiable contour, they usually have a climactic point, they’re usually comprised of mainly stepwise motion with […]

Expand Your Songwriting Technique by Expanding Your Musical Mind

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. If you’re looking for a fresh new perspective on songwriting – something to get your songs working again, Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books will clear your mind and get you writing successful songs. They explain why good songs work, and how to get bad songs working! You can […]

Why "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum Works So Well

by Gary Ewer, author of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books. Click here to read about those e-books. ____________________________ This great new song by Lady Antebellum demonstrates so many things that make great songs work so well. From how the melodies are constructed, how the verse moves into the chorus, the choice […]

Displace the Downbeat to Give Your Music a Rhythmic Kick

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. If you’re looking for a fresh new perspective on songwriting – something to get your songs working again, Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books will clear your mind and get you writing successful songs. They explain why good songs work, and how to get bad songs working! […]

Changing Key to Keep a Song Fresh

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. His songwriting e-books are here. _______________ There are lots of things that songwriters do to keep a song from getting boring. Varying instrumentation, throwing in rhythmic surprises, coming up with an interesting solo or bridge – these are all ways that we typcially hold a […]

Six Ways to Turn a Child Into a Good Songwriter

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: Occasionally when I adjudicate at music festivals, I am given the pleasant “task” of assessing musical works composed by young children. Happily, these types of events are non-competetive, and so it gives me an opportunity to help young musicians with their writing by showing […]