Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website __________ The bridge of your song is usually the section that builds energy beyond what the chorus can do for you. Not all songs have bridges, and actually, whether your song needs one or not is more an issue of lyrical development than it […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. ____ Changing key is a great device for injecting energy into a song. Known as modulating, it needs to be done with care, being unpleasantly startling to the listener if it’s done haphazardly. There are several ways to change key, including the “abrupt modulation,” […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from The Essential Secrets of Songwriting website. ___________ How do we identify a good song to someone else? Generally it’s by the melody. You don’t usually go to a friend and say, “Hey, I just heard this great new song…”, and then tap out the prominent rhythmic motifs, or recite the […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. _______________ Reading lyrics from most hit songs can be surprising for what you don’t see. It’s often amazing to find that lyrics from the best songs out there are actually quite ordinary, certainly not “poetry”, as such. And that’s usually part of a lyric’s […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. __________ Everyone has a time of year when the regular grind comes pleasantly to a halt, and it’s time to think of family, friends, and the things that make life happy. Whether Christmas, Hanukkah, or most other faiths, people get in the mood through […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. ________ Coming up with the list of chords that work in a particular key is relatively easy: simply build triads (3-note chords) above each note of a key’s scale. Of those seven chords, you’ll find that you use I and V the most, with […]
