Most songwriters can tell you what a chord is, and may even be able to tell you that there are 7 chords that naturally occur in any major key. But when it comes to understanding how they work together, and why some chords sound great together while others sound lousy — that’s more of a mystery […]
The progressions that really connect with audiences are the ones that fluctuate between fragile and strong. ____________ Struggling to build an audience base? “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” shows you every aspect of what makes a great song great. Read more.. ____________ A few days ago I wrote a post that dealt with differences between verse and chorus […]
Chorus progressions focus on the tonic chord. Here’s how to make that happen. ____________ Struggling to build an audience base? “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” shows you every aspect of what makes a great song great. Read more.. ____________ If you take an hour and study pop song chord progressions, you’d be forgiven for feeling that that’s an […]
If you’re a chords-first songwriter, it means that you come up with a chord progression, and then try to design a melody that goes with it. What you may not know is that if you’re a melody-first writer, you’re probably also working out the chords at the same time. That’s because our musical brains have […]
Avoiding the tonic chord has the benefit of making listeners wait around until they hear it. One of the most obvious ways to keep people listening to your songs is to create hooks that constantly demand attention. It’s something that producers and industry personnel love, because a hook is conspicuous. You can wave a good hook […]
There are several important characteristics of good song melodies, even if those characteristics don’t all show up in the same melody. Here’s a few you’ll see in most songs that make it to the top of the charts: Lots of repetition, either exact or approximate. A nice shape that can be drawn as a line. A climactic […]
