Good songs represent a partnership of components. It’s not just that songs have melodies, lyrics and chord progressions; it’s that the melodies somehow make the lyrics sound better, the chords make the melodies sound better, and the lyrics make the chords sound better. Trying to get a handle on writing song lyrics? Discover the benefits […]
“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook bundle includes “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression”. Discover the secrets to writing songs that start with getting a chord progression working. The mood that an audience picks up from a song, at least initially, comes mainly from the chord choices the songwriter makes. And the biggest influencer in that […]
For most songwriters, it’s a lot easier to come up with a hook or chorus as a first step than it is to come up with verse. That’s because the hook acts as a kind of musical target; it essentially tells the audience what the song’s about. To start with a verse means that you […]
Songwriters are very familiar with the chorus hook, but there are other kinds to experiment with, and you will want to discover the power of layering various kinds of hooks in the same song. “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base“ shows you how it’s done. When […]
When it comes to a song’s melody, there’s a standard kind of “formula” that practically all songs in a verse-chorus format use: Verse: Start the melody relatively low in pitch, and move higher as it comes closer to the chorus. Chorus: Keep the chorus relatively high in pitch. If the end of the verse is […]
I firmly believe that if The Beatles were a band of our decade trying to get a start in the business, they’d probably not have survived the onslaught of negative opinions and comments that come hand-in-hand with social media. There’s a really interesting video you can watch of young folks in 1967 — in their […]
