If you’re a bit new to songwriting, there’s probably at least three things you’ve noticed already: Your first few songs may have come together quickly, and this is exciting. Your next few songs took hard work, and this is discouraging. Today, you don’t even know where to start. And because you don’t know where to start, […]
A good lyric tells a story, whether that’s an actual “first this happened, then that happened” kind of lyric (like the stereotypical “A Boy Named Sue” – Johnny Cash), or whether the story happens indirectly, and we piece the details together, like Pink’s “Funhouse” (Pink, Tony Kanal, Jimmy Harry). A lyric where the story is […]
Clutter, at least with regard to songwriting, happens when the following is true: your song has too many musical ideas, and/or those ideas don’t communicate well with each other. But what do we mean by too many musical ideas? What constitutes an idea, and how many ideas should a good song have? Chord Progression Formulas – […]
Every composer of music approaches the task differently, and values the many different components of music differently. For me, melody is a key ingredient. I always feel that if I can get a melody working first, I have a better chance of getting everything else coming together quicker. “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook bundle comes with […]
Most songwriters are well acquainted with the frustration of having a great song idea, but having it fizzle out. You had such high hopes, but now your idea seems to have gone nowhere. To properly address this frustration, we need to look at two aspects of it: Why the idea went nowhere; and What to […]
Starting a song by focusing on creating a short hook can keep you from feeling daunted by the prospect of writing an entire song. __________ Gary Ewer’s “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook Bundle packages cover every aspect of how to write great music. Includes “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro” Read more.. __________ Do you […]
