A Pedal Tone Provides Stability

by Gary Ewer, from”The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: Pedal tones in chord progressions can be very useful, particularly if you’re looking to use more chromatically complicated chords. That constant pedal (i.e., a low note that stays the same while the chords above it are changing) acts as a kind of anchor, helping the listener […]

EssentialChords.com Now Offering Daily Chord Progressions

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: Chord progressions are not covered by copyright. So if you find that your brain freezes up just trying to come up with something that can get the creative juices going, surf on over to EssentialChords.com for a daily fix. You’ll find a new chord progression […]

Treating the Bass Line as a Second Melody

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: You’ve got a great melody and a chord progression that works. So what can you do to add life to your song? Activate the bass line. Making the bass line do something other than just sitting on the chord root gives life to that aspect […]

How Do You Measure Songwriting Success?

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: There are many possible yardsticks for determining your success as a songwriter. For writers of hit songs, success is how many recordings you sell. But there are different ways to measure success. Sales are a big determining factor with most songwriters. It explains why so […]

Want Some Chord Progression Ideas? Try These Samples

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: Looking to write a song, but stuck at the chord progression stage? Here are some you can try: i) Asus   A   Bm   E   F#m   D   Bm7   C# This one has a few interesting twists. We’re used to starting progressions on the tonic chord, but this […]

Yes, You Can Learn a Lot by Studying BAD Songs

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: Years ago, when I was studying at university to become a music teacher, it was a requirement to visit many different schools and observe the teachers of music programs in action. I kept a journal of those visits so that I could read about my […]