guitarist - songwriter

How the Partnership Between Verse and Chorus Works

Learn how to take a song from faulty to fixed! “Fix Your Songwriting Problems – NOW!” It’s part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.” Get it separately, or as part of the bundle package. In songs that use the verse-chorus format, it’s the chorus that really needs to stand out and be memorable. For […]

Home recording Studio - Darren Perkins

The Overlapping Ranges of Verse and Chorus Melodies

In most songs, the chorus is considered to be, musically speaking, more energetic than the verse. There are lots of ways that the higher energy is attained, some of which are the producer’s responsibility: instrumentation, playing style, volume, etc. And some of ways to achieve higher energy are the songwriter’s responsibility: higher emotions in the […]

Kelly Clarkson

Why Rhythms, Chords and Melodies Should Simplify in a Song Chorus

Most songs use several distinct melodies. If your song has a pre-chorus and bridge, that means that you might need to come up with at least four different melodies. Each one of those melodies will likely use a different chord progression, and they might also use very different rhythms. “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”Lyrics become […]

Paul McCartney - John Lennon

The Differences Between Lennon’s and McCartney’s Melodies

Generalizing any aspect of a songwriter’s output is straying into dangerous territory. That’s particularly true of the music of Lennon and McCartney. They were arguably the most versatile writers of pop song of their generation, and probably even now. As soon as they wrote a hit, it was back to the drawing board to come […]

Taking the Time Component Out of Your Song

Time is the one thing all music has in common. Whether we’re talking about a symphony, a pop song, a jazz ballad — whether it’s hip hop, ska, r&b — all music takes time. A start, a middle, and an ending. When we’re writing a song, we’re (either consciously or subconsciously) always considering some aspect […]