Sad songs

How Emotion and Music Intersect

This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, and so I’ll state this up front, and then give you some additional thoughts: Good music is not meant to express emotion; good music IS meant to create emotion. I want to tell you a bit more about this. To say that a good song […]

Singer-Songwriter recording

Expressing and Generating Emotion In a Song

This is a tricky but very true concept: A good song generates emotion. It may also express emotion, but it’s possible to express emotion without generating it. So you can spend a lot of time in a lyric telling the world how you feel, and you may have wasted a lot of time… if you haven’t done […]

Guitar - piano

Following Your Heart

Everyone’s got an opinion. When it comes to your own songs, you hope everyone’s opinion is a good one. But if it isn’t, it can be discouraging. I practically never ask people what they think of anything I’ve ever written. That’s certainly not to say that I don’t ask for help or advice. When I was […]

What Verse 2 Lyrics Should Be Doing In Your Song

Verse 2 is typically a repeat of verse 1’s melody and chords, but there are things you should be doing that differ. __________________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle. Become the best songwriter you can be! __________________ Verse-chorus formats are the most common ones in modern day popular song. In many cases, the most significant […]

Starting a Song: So Little Time to Make an Impression

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle is available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ It’s impossible to know exactly how long listeners will stick with a bad song intro before moving on, but it’s […]