Songwriter

What Playing Your Instrument and Listening to Music Does For Your Songwriting

Thousands of songwriters are using “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook bundle to polish their songwriting technique. Every aspect of how to make a song better is covered. Stop wasting time — take your songwriting technique to a new level TODAY. Ten eBooks, plus a free one: $37 USD (Immediate download). Probably the best two activities any songwriter can and […]

Studio singer

When Online Criticism Tries to Knock You Down

If you like the chords-first songwriting method, you’ll want to read “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression.” It deals with the common chords-first problem of how to write a great melody straight from the chords. It’s part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 10-eBook Bundle. It’s a very different world to practice the art […]

Guitars

When Art Turns to Craft: Songs That Are Too Similar to Every Other One

As a songwriter, being unique is a vital part of your success. If you’re not giving the world something that’s singular and distinctive — in some way different from all the other songs out there — then you’re simply copying someone else’s success. Songwriters are very familiar with the chorus hook, but there are other kinds […]

guitar and music paper

Is Writing Quickly a Help or a Hindrance?

Everyone’s got their own comfort zone when it comes to how quickly they can write music. Some need time to assess as they write, while others are okay with writing quickly, leaving the evaluating of musical ideas until much later in the songwriting process. Comfort level aside, there could be something to be said for […]

Orchestral pop music

Using Classical Music as a Model for Writing a Good Song Intro

Because most of my formal training in music and musical composition has been in classical music, I like thinking of ways in which pop songs have borrowed ideas from the classical masters. Chords are one way. Whether it’s a Mozart symphony, a Bach Cantata, or a Brahms sonata, the way progressions work — the way […]