How to Fix an Aimless Chord Progression

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ The problem with developing a working set of chord progressions for your song can be learning how key and chord choices are related. Once […]

Shontelle's "Impossible": Why It Works

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ Bajan singer Shontelle is releasing her second album, “No Gravity”, in June of this year. Her first single from that album is a great […]

5 Chord Progressions for a Song Bridge

Written by Gary Ewer • Follow Gary on Twitter ______________________ The bridge of a song is supposed to be the section that takes the energy you’ve created in your verse-chorus structures and build on it. We’ve been looking lately at a few things that help to build that energy: dropping beats, and focusing on the dominant […]

Getting More Power From the Dominant Note

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ As a songwriter, you’re usually looking for ways to control song energy, usually building it as the song progresses. We know that there are […]

The Hook, and Other Repeating Elements

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ Song hooks work well because they give us something short and memorable, and keep giving it to us over and over again. So […]

Bored With Just One Key? Try Two.

•Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter for website updates, songwriting tips and more. • Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books at a 50% savings, and get “Chord Progression Formulas” free of charge. _____________________ As much as I roll […]