One of the problems that songwriters often unwittingly face comes from being so intimately connected with the song they’re working on. Because we tend to focus on the parts of a song that are giving us the most grief, we can lose sight of some of the more important elements of basic song construction. For […]
A verse needs to progress in such a way as to make the chorus feel like the next logical step. By this I mean that verse lyrics, melody and chords should be constructed to build certain tensions that are then resolved in the chorus. But sometimes, moving from the verse to the chorus can seem […]
Part of my job is to conduct performing groups, mostly choirs and orchestras these days. I find myself often using a phrase with performers of music which has particular relevance to the songwriting world: “Don’t let the fact that you’re the only sound going on in the room be the reason why people are listening.” […]
In songwriting, you really only get a few seconds to impress the listener enough to make them want to keep listening. If you haven’t done something that captivates them within the first 7 – 10 seconds, you’ll lose them. It’s why intros can be such an important section, and require some serious thought. If all […]
Coming up with a chord progression that works is not rocket science, but if you don’t get things quite right, you’ll wind up with a song that just feels wrong. Many songwriters will start the songwriting process by coming up with a set of chords that work before they even deal with the melody. But […]
Momentum in the songwriting world comes from the sense that whatever is happening in the song right now is about to get better; whatever questions are being asked are about to be answered; whatever tension is being created harmonically is about to be resolved, and so on. Momentum, otherwise known as song energy or forward motion, […]
