It’s possible to do entire songs with the same progression from beginning to end. That used to be rare — I can think of America’s “A Horse With No Name” from 1972 – Em and D6add9 for verse, chorus and solo. And doubtless there must have been a disco hit or two that got built on one […]
As a songwriter, it wouldn’t be unusual to devote a lot of time to thinking about how to make your audience happy. You’re probably opting for fast tempos, major chords, and lyrics with an upbeat message. But you might be missing something: the positive effect that writing sad music can have on your audience. In 2013 […]
In most songs of the pop music genres, chord progressions can be used to identify the song’s key. This happens whether the songwriter who created the progression is aware of it or not. They may like E C#m B as a progression to build a chorus on, not knowing (or caring!) that those 3 chords belong to […]
There’s interesting research into the phenomenon we call the “earworm” if you take some time to study it. You might find this article, “Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Our Heads” (written by Chau Tu), to be helpful if you’re the kind of songwriter who is looking for ways to write them. In that article, they […]
Some of the best learning happens when we’re working on the job, as opposed to studying, and writing music is no different. With every new song you compose, you probably notice your skills improving, and your technique modifying. That’s certainly not to say that you can’t also approach songwriting as a scholarly pursuit – as a student of the […]
A lot of the time, the musical ideas you conjure up will be chorus ideas, because it’s often easier to think up short, “hooky” fragments that will serve as a good chorus. They’re the kind of musical ideas that are short, repeatable, singable, and generally fun to perform. But sometimes a musical idea will pop […]
