RavenousRaven: What a Songwriting Community Can Do For You

RavenousRaven is a “Twitter Songwriting Community”, and is a fantastic way to get your music heard by thousands of sympathetic songwriters, all trying to do what you’re trying to do: become an even better songwriter. One of the best ways I know of becoming better at what you’re doing is to get your music out […]

The Power of a Progression That Doesn't Start On the I-Chord

By Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Make songwriting enjoyable again! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ You can measure the success of your song by whether or not people are humming it to themselves long […]

Creating a Melody Using "Plateau Pitches"

By Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Make songwriting enjoyable again! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ I use the term “plateau pitches” to describe a way of constructing melodies where the notes dwell on one […]

How Lyrics and Melodic Shape Work Together

By Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Make songwriting enjoyable again! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Songwriting is the ultimate multi-tasking exercise. To do it well, you need to be carving out a […]

5 Ways to Get The Most Out Of A Chord Progression Chart

By Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Fix your songwriting technique! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ If you’re a chords-first kind of songwriter, you’re probably checking out chord progression charts on a daily […]

Do Chords Limit the Notes I Can Use in My Melody?

by Gary Ewer, author of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” Follow Gary on Twitter _______________________________ How can chords, which typically use only 3 or 4 notes, allow for melodies that use many more? For example, if the chord you’re playing is Cm, which uses the notes C-Eb-G, does this mean that the only notes your […]