Songwriter in Home Studio

Songwriting, and Making More Efficient Use of Your Time

Got a melody but can’t figure out how to add chords to it? You need to read “How to Harmonize a Melody.” Complete with sound samples to guide you. Get it separately, or as part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” Recently I wrote a blog post about organizing your songwriting sessions. In […]

Writing About What You Don’t Know

You’ll hear people say that there’s a kind of honesty in songwriting that comes from writing about the things that you know and have experienced. When you write about things you don’t know, they say, there’s an insincerity problem that you need to overcome. I’m not sure I believe that. I like to take a […]

Guitarist - Drummer

Writing a Songwriter’s Equivalent of a Page-Turner

If you were a novelist, you’d be hoping to write a “page-turner.” As you know, all that means is that the reader simply can’t wait to turn the page to see what happens next. Is there an equivalent to the page-turner in the songwriting world? That concept of anticipation exists in every art form, though […]

Songwriting session

7 Tips for Organizing Your Songwriting Sessions

Got a melody, but don’t know how to add chords to it? “How to Harmonize a Melody” will show you the secrets to finding the chords that work well with your tune. It’s part of the 10-eBook Bundle. If songwriting for you means grabbing your guitar and strumming away until something sounds good, you’re likely […]

Audience at a rock concert

The Power of the People

I’m not a photographer (not a good one, anyway), but I’d rather see photos with people in them than without, no matter how exciting the landmark is that I’m shooting. The simple reason is that we make connections to people more so than to inanimate objects. There’s more to a song hook than meets the […]

creating a new song melody

Creating a Melodic High Point By Using a Key Change

Chapter 5 of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” deals with how great melodies work, and shows you how to write tunes that partner up well with your lyrics. Right now, “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process” is free with your purchase of the bundle. Here’s an interesting bit of melody-writing technique that comes […]