Intensifying the Emotional Impact of Your Music

A few little tricks can make your songs hit home with real emotional power. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and build your audience base! _____________ Emotion isn’t normally something you think about adding to your music. Normally, you’d think that emotion is what you find in a certain kind of lyric, or a certain kind of […]

Where Are Your Chord Progressions Going?

Good chord progressions are not about where you’ve been — they’re about where you’re going. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and build your audience base! _____________ It’s no accident of terminology that we call a set of chords used in a piece of music a progression. If you think of progressions as simply one chord followed […]

Create Great Song Ideas By Switching Instruments

Using the same instrument all the time when composing can limit your creativity. _____________ Everyone’s got an instrument that’s “theirs.” It’s the one they feel the most comfortable playing. If you’re a songwriter, it’s also likely to be the instrument that you feel the most comfortable writing songs with. The benefit of using that one […]

Song Analysis: David Bowie’s “Where Are We Now?”

Bowie’s new single “Where Are We Now?” reveals that power and profoundness often come wrapped in simplicity. David Bowie’s new album, “The Next Day”, is due to be released March 8 (Australia) to March 12 (USA). With great excitement, the lead single from the album, “Where Are We Now?“, was released Tuesday, January 8. According […]

What Should Chords in a Song’s Bridge Do?

If songs are a musical journey, the most interesting part of the trip is often in the bridge. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle – Take your songwriting to a whole new level! _____________ The contrast principle is a large part of what makes music successful. That principle simply says that good […]

How Chord Progressions Change as a Song Progresses

It’s not usually enough to simply create different progressions for your verse and chorus; these are the vital differences between the two. __________ These days in pop songwriting, it’s not all that unusual for a verse and chorus to use the same chord progression. “One More Night” (Maroon 5) is a good example. But for […]