Repetition: the Fix For a Wandering Song Melody

Song melodies need to have a direction, a goal. Otherwise they’re just aimless wanderings that bore listeners. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get back to the basics of why hit songs sell. _____________ Recently I wrote about one of the most common problems I saw in young songwriters, which was a serious flaw […]

Song Structure: When It’s Right, You Don’t Notice It

Song structure is hard to define in any specific way, but songs can die when it’s missing. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get back to the basics of why hit songs sell. _____________ Back in 2004 I started doing research into pop music in preparation for writing “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting.” At […]

Why the Hook is Vital in the Writing of Hit Songs

Hooks give listeners something that’s hummable, and something easy to remember. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ Sometimes a song will become a hit to the surprise of the writers, performers and producers. But so-called “sleeper hits” – songs that rise to hit status unexpectedly – are actually not […]

Strong and Fragile: Using Chord Progressions to Their Greatest Effect

So what’s the deal with strong and fragile chord progressions? What are they, and how do you use them? Answers here! ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ If you’ve been writing songs for a while, you’ll notice something about chord progressions: they all tend to point to one particular […]

Power-Up Your Chorus by Fiddling With Verse Rhythms

It’s OK, even desirable, to have verses that are rhythmically complex. But choruses need to settle into a recognizable groove. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ Verses differ from choruses in several ways. It’s easy to notice things like melodic range: we know that chorus melodies tend to be […]

Piano keyboard

7 Tips for Changing Key Within a Song

Changing key is a great way to inject a bit of song energy. But it’s got to be done well, or it can just sound confusing. “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression” is part of the 10-eBook Deluxe Bundle, for sale at a  discount price right now. The key that you choose for your […]