Like so many things in the creative arts, imagery is difficult to define with any kind of precision. Of course you could say that imagery in songwriting is, simply, anything that creates images in the mind of the listener. But to me, there’s more to it, because practically anything you write will create images. In […]
You can define song energy in several ways, but for the purposes of this post, song energy is the sense of musical intensity a listener perceives when they hear your song. And there are several aspects of music that might contribute to intensity: Loudness Rhythmic complexity General rhythmic activity Tonal quality of the various instruments […]
Most of the time, the decisions you make regarding the instruments you choose for your song come down to decisions made at the production stage. In other words, as you write a song you’ll think about the structure of your song, the melodies, lyrics and chords, without giving particular attention to the instruments. And for […]
As you know, I spend a lot of time telling songwriters that their chords don’t need to be complex or even innovative in order for a song to succeed. They just need to support the melody, and as long as that melody is catchy, and assuming the lyrics you come up with are engaging, you’ve […]
I’ve noticed something: If you’ve purchased my 10-eBook Bundle recently, it’s possible that you’ve actually received two free eBooks. I’ve been offering “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process” as a free add-on to the bundle of songwriting eBooks for quite a while now, but for some of you recent purchasers, you may have […]
Townes Van Zandt was a highly respected singer-songwriter whose songs were covered by some of the world’s biggest names — Willie Nelson, Emmy Lou Harris, Merle Haggard and others. There’s a quiet kind of contemplative sound to his music and draws the audience in; they make you listen. Van Zandt’s most well-known song is “Pancho […]
