A Guideline for Creating and Using Fragile Progressions

Fragile progressions have a charm that really works well in song verses. Here’s how to create them. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ In simple terms, chord progressions are either strong or fragile. A strong progression clearly and unambiguously points to one chord as being the tonic, while a […]

Practicing Verse and Chorus Melody Writing

This simple exercise will help solidify your understanding of verse and chorus melodic construction. __________ A couple of posts ago I wrote about why choruses sound like choruses. In that article, I mentioned important features of choruses such as strong (versus fragile) progressions, the predominance of the tonic note and chord, the higher placement of […]

“Stronger”, and the Power of the Tonic Note

The tonic note of your song’s key has the ability to give the chorus a lot of punch. Here are some quick tips. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and build your audience base! _____________ I’ve been mentioning a lot lately the seven chords that exist naturally in the key you choose for […]

The Predictable Nature of Chord Progressions is a Good Thing

A strong progression is any one which clearly points to one note as the tonic. They’re necessary in most songs, and here’s how they’re created. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get back to the basics of why hit songs sell. _____________ A strong chord progression sets up one note – the tonic note […]

Chord Progressions That Work Well in a Bridge

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 E-book Bundle. Become a top-level songwriter, starting now. _________ Because most songs are 4-5 minutes in length, you don’t get a lot of time to venture far away from your chosen key. There are songwriters who specialize in progressions that are often best described as ambiguous (Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, […]

7 Things You Need to Know About Chord Progressions

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 E-book Bundle. Become a top-level songwriter, starting now. _________ A chord progression can make or break your song. Chords are the kind of thing that sit in the background when done properly, but can rear their ugly heads when they don’t work. And worse, identifying the reason a progression is […]