Songs in the popular genres (Pop, rock, country, etc.) make great use of improvisation as a compositional tool. It’s partly why so many pop songs have multiple writers. With a group of bandmates, you can write very quickly, as long as someone provides that initial musical idea. If that initial idea — a bit of chord, […]
Writer’s block takes many forms. It may be that you want to write, but can’t find the time. Busy lives can make being creative a difficult state of mind to find. And if you do finally find the time to pick up the pencil and guitar, you might find that ideas aren’t happening. And there’s another […]
If you involve yourself in any sort of physical activity, there is no doubt that you’re familiar with the phrase “listen to your body.” It’s a phrase that is meant to caution you against overdoing it. If you’re a runner and you suddenly encounter some sort of injury, you’ll hear someone say, “Listen to your […]
It’s frustrating when you can’t come up with any good songwriting ideas. When that happens on random days, we call that normal. Creativity is not a tap you turn on with an endless supply of ideas at your disposal. It’s normal to have days when ideas just don’t seem to happen. Most of the time, you […]
A number of years ago I was teaching music in the public school system. I had several choirs. One of them, a medium-sized high school auditioned choir (45 members), rehearsed with me once a week for two hours. Another was a smaller jazz choir (20 members), which rehearsed twice a week, but only 35 minutes […]
If you’re an athlete, you know this: when you’ve been injured and can’t perform your sport, you take the time away to do whatever is necessary to heal. Once you’ve healed, you ease your way back into your regular routine, gradually and carefully. “Chord Progression Formulas” is an eBook that shows you how you can make dozens […]
