This blog article is a bit of a ramble, so I hope you’ll forgive me for letting my musical mind wander a bit! Sometimes when I look at a painting, I find myself wondering what I’m not seeing. It might be that the painting is a landscape — a winding river with a grassy hill […]
There are some songs, when you compare the start of the song to the end of it, make it obvious what we mean by musical energy. “Stairway to Heaven” is a great example: it starts very quietly, uses subdued acoustic guitar and recorders, with a nostalgic, mid-range vocal approach. The hook is probably the most […]
For songs that use one of the verse-chorus formats, you’ll know that verses usually use the same melody but different lyrics. Occasionally you’ll find a song that uses different melodies in the verses — “I Know What I like (In Your Wardrobe)“, by Genesis for example, or a song with the same lyrics in subsequent […]
“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook bundle includes “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression”. Learn how to write great songs by starting with the chords, and then avoiding all the potential pitfalls of the chords-first songwriting process. Recently I wrote about the importance of musical energy in all songs, whether they’re loud or soft, and that […]
In my songwriting eBooks, particularly “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, I list eleven different principles of songwriting — aspects of music that seem to be present in practically all songs, regardless of genre or other performance-related characteristics. One of those principles is this: “In general, the energy at the end of a song should equal […]
Chapter 5 of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” shows how melody and lyric need to work together. Learn how to do it right! Get the entire 10-eBook Bundle along with a free copy of “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process.” Most songwriters will, from time to time, worry about their songs all sounding […]
