Eagles

Using an Open Cadence to Create Momentum in Your Songs

In songwriting, momentum is forward motion… the feeling that there’s a musical engine driving your song onward in such a way that the audience doesn’t get bored or distracted. One moment leads nicely to the next moment in a kind of musical perfection. For tangible examples of this aspect of music, you simply need only to […]

Glen Frey

Writing Multi-Part Verse Melodies

You can define a multi-part verse melody in many ways, but the kind of melody I’m talking about is the kind you might find in a song like Eagles’ “Take It Easy” (Jackson Browne/Glenn Frey), which is a verse-only song where the verse consists of several short phrases joined together to make one complete melody. I’ve been thinking […]

Creating a Song Format That’s Just a Little Different

Try these easy modifications in standard song structure that keep your music fresh. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and solve your songwriting problems TODAY. _____________ The verse-chorus format is by far the most popular structure in modern day songwriting. It’s easy to see why: it’s a basic songwriting principle to build energy as a […]

Two-Part Melodies as a Complete Song Structure

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle. Over 390 pages of songwriting instruction, covering every aspect of how great songs are written! _____________ In Classical music, it’s usually known as binary form. In popular songwriting, we normally just think of it as a verse with two sections, usually without a chorus. Two-part melodies are a good […]

The Song as a Miniature Musical Form

Check out and download Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books here. _____ Many of you know that I have a particular interest in the seemingly disparate worlds of songwriting and Classical music. I’m intrigued by the fact that compositional technique that works when composing Classical music is pretty close to the technique that works in pop song composition. […]

How You Start a Song Determines How You'll Finish It

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Good songs sell! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Songwriters can be forgiven for having a normal way that they like to write. It […]