Rob Thomas

Increasing Musical Energy In a Song

It’s a basic principle of good songwriting that musical energy should either stay the same or increase — rarely decrease — as a song progresses. If you listen to the start of Verse 1 end of most songs, and then skip ahead to the final moments, you’ll notice that an energy build has taken place. […]

Emotional audience

Song Topic is Important, But There Are Things Even More Vital

Don’t miss out on a free copy of “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process.” It’s free when you purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” How do you choose a song topic? There are lots of ways to do it. I’ve known songwriters who gather ideas from the newspaper. Others who make […]

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time

Getting Silly About Songwriting

Not everything you write is going to have hit potential, and you should be OK with that. It’s not because a song is poorly written; it has more to do with the fact that it pleasantly (and perhaps amusingly) strays a little into left field with regard to lyric, instrumentation or some other aspect of […]

Imogen Heap

Finding Opposites Within Your Songs

There’s an analogy to be found that applies well to songwriting when you look at someone walking: as the right leg moves forward, the left leg moves back. If you haven’t noticed that before, you haven’t been paying attention. 😉 In music, a similar thing happens, though you may have to look a little harder […]

Songwriter improvisation

Can You Have Bad Songwriting Instincts?

When we talk about an instinct, we’re usually referring to something that’s born within us, something for which we have an obvious talent or aptitude. In common usage, we usually take the term even further and say that an instinct is something that we do without thinking. (“A bird flew toward my car as I […]

Jealous musician

Can Jealousy Get You Through a Bout of Writer’s Block?

When you’re experiencing a creative block of some sort, one where writing is causing considerable frustration, a good solution is often to simply step away for a few days and let your creative mind have a bit of a rest. And during that stepping away, it’s good to keep yourself immersed in music. There are […]