Production values — the basic sound of a song that happens after writing it and while recording it — change from year to year. It’s how we know the age of a song when we hear it. It’s not usually the melody or lyrics that tell us how old a song is. It’s production — […]
It’s hard to write every day if you’re a songwriter, because you find yourself either running out of ideas for songs, or running out of inspiration. What can you do to keep creativity from drying up? Let’s deal with the inspiration part first. There are lots of sources for inspiration, but the kind of inspiration […]
All songs are about feelings. If you’ve written a song that doesn’t make the audience feel something, you’ve missed the point of what you should be doing. Generally when we talk about songs and feelings, we’re talking about the impact of the lyric. And that makes sense of course. It’s the lyric — the specific […]
If you’ve been reading my blog at all, you know that even though I love complexity in songwriting, I have a deep appreciation for musical simplicity. There’s something enticing about just letting a simple melody have its way. A perfect recent example of how a simple song can soar to the top of the charts […]
Whenever you make something — whether you’re building a chest of drawers, sewing a dress, painting a picture or composing a song, you’re bringing together two important aspects of human endeavour: craft and art. Craft refers to the technical skills involved in actually constructing something. If you’re painting a picture, craft would refer to one’s […]
Don’t be surprised if most of the time you start your songwriting process by working on getting the chorus happening first. For most of your listeners, your song will be defined by what’s happening in the chorus; it’s the chorus that really needs to shine. Songwriters are very familiar with the chorus hook, but there are […]
