A chord is 3 or more notes all sounding together. Those 3 notes form what we call a triad, and they are the bulk of the chords that get used in most songs written in any of the pop genres (rock, country, folk, etc.) As you know, there are lots of ways to modify triads. One of […]
Not all songs use a bridge — that short section that typically follows the second run-through of the chorus. In the earlier days of rock & roll, it was normal for that section (if it existed at all) to be 8 bars in length, hence the alternate term “middle 8.” These days, a bridge need […]
You may not know the song “Comme d’habitude“, written by French songwriters Claude François and Jacques Revaux, but you’ll no doubt know “My Way,” a big hit for Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and others. Paul Anka acquired the rights to the melody (for $1), and then penned a new English lyric that brought the song to […]
There are several different kinds of hooks you might find in the song, but they all do essentially the same thing: they all give the listener something catchy, something singable, and something that will bring them back to the song. So no matter where your main hook appears (chorus, intro, backing accompaniment, etc. ) here […]
We tend to think of dissatisfaction as being a negative trait. That word conjures up notions of being unhappy and defeatist. Certainly to be dissatisfied comes hand-in-hand with being a bit unhappy. But I would make the point that unless you’re dissatisfied, it’s hard to improve as a songwriter. We might be tempted to use […]
If you spend any time at all comparing verse and chorus melodies, you’ll notice right away that verses often centre in on one or two pitches. And it may not be that they sing those one or two constantly, but you’ll hear everything coming back, over and over again, to those couple of notes. A […]
