You seen me write about this before: the benefits of keeping several songs on the go at any one time, instead of putting all your energies on just one at a time. But also, don’t discount the value that comes from spreading your creativity around, and working on several kinds of projects at the same time. […]
The one thing that music theory gives songwriters is vocabulary. With one word or phrase, a musician can describe and communicate an entire idea to other songwriters: “I think if we modulate to E major at that point…” The time you save is incalculable, but theory does more than offer you a communication tool. It is […]
If you’re looking to become a better songwriter, don’t forget about improving your ear. Being able to identify chords, rhythms and melodies by ear is helpful in two major ways: It speeds up the songwriting process. You may have a certain chord or melody note in your mind but may not have the ability to […]
When I was a teenager, I had a somewhat limited knowledge of music theory and how it worked. I think that’s typical for most young people. I played trumpet and a bit of piano, so I could read notes in the treble and bass clef, but I had a very rudimentary understanding of what chords […]
When I taught ear training at university, I had students of widely varying abilities. Some could, as they say, hear paint dry, while others “couldn’t hear a bus.” One of the tasks my students had was to notate melodies as I played them at the piano. (I won’t go into the technique I used for […]
How’s your musical ear? Here’s how you know that it needs some work: You can read music, but you find it difficult or impossible to play by ear. You hear a great melody, but you can’t find the notes on your instrument. You sit at the piano to play a song for a sing-along (like […]
