If you are a fan of the music of J.S. Bach, you might know that he often took the shape of a small melodic fragment, and then planned for the entire piece of music to also adopt that shape. Here’s how that might work. If you listen to the beginning of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. […]
We tend to think that the only people with any measure of musical ability are the ones that have a special gift for it. And while being a good musician requires a bit more than a passing understanding of how music works, musicianship is something that comes with being human. It’s in our DNA. The kind […]
When we talk about form in songwriting, we might be referring to the various sections of a song: verse, chorus, bridge, etc. Or we might be talking about something like the rhyme scheme of the lyrics: ABAB, for example. Or we might be talking about some aspect of the design of the melody… ascending figures contrasting with […]
Gary Ewer’s “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook Bundle packages” cover every aspect of how to write great music. They include“From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro” Read more.. __________ As humans, we’re pattern-seekers. We like seeing things repeat, and we love when we see symmetry: mirror images. Bookends on a shelf are a good example […]
“Cowboy Guilt” from TORRES (@torreslovesyou) shows how the contrast principle is alive and well, after all these years. ______________ Looking for good songwriting content for your iPad, Kindle, laptop, desktop, or other PDF-reading device? Gary Ewer’s eBook Bundle, “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, will show you why good songs are good, and how to apply […]
Form, which you may also know by the words “design”, “structure”, or perhaps “outline” or “sketch,” refers to how your song changes over time. Verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, etc. – these are all words that speak to how a song develops, changes and grows through its 3-5 minutes. But in an art form where instinct counts for so much, is […]
