3 Smooth Ways to Change Key

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Polish your songwriting technique with “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ It’s quite common for songs to begin and end in the same key. However, you can generate excitement and interest by […]

"Help! I'm Not a Poet… How Do I Write Lyrics?"

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 ______________________ There’s nothing like writing lyrics that can make a lot of songwriters feel that they’ve lost the ability to put English words together. And […]

Changing Key by Using a Pivot Chord

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. ____ Changing key is a great device for injecting energy into a song. Known as modulating, it needs to be done with care, being unpleasantly startling to the listener if it’s done haphazardly. There are several ways to change key, including the “abrupt modulation,” […]