When and How to Use Altered Chords in Your Progressions

Altered chords can help add a bit of creativity to an otherwise mundane progression. Here’s how. ______________  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 those lessons […]

Good Songwriting: Branching Out From 3-Chord Songs

Here are some ideas for taking a short 3-chord progression and turning it into something a little longer, and more interesting. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-Ebook Bundle. 11 Songwriting Principles That Will Turn Your Writing Around – Guaranteed. _____________ If I did a blog post listing all the 3-chord songs that have been written in […]

5 Ideas for Perking Up a Boring Chord Progression

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle to learn more about chord progressions and how they work. _____________ I hardly ever worry about a chord progression that sounds boring or repetitive. First of all, most chord progressions use repetition as a standard feature, because repetition works. Listen to any successful song, and you’ll […]

Bored with I-IV-V-I Progressions? Spice things Up with These Suggestions

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle, and get back to writing great songs! _______________ by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: If you find yourself using the same boring chords in every song you write, it’s time to expand your chord vocabulary. Here are some suggestions for making things more interesting: […]

Chord Progressions Take on a New Life with Borrowed Chords

You know that for most songs, you’ll either be writing in a major key or a minor key. But did you know it’s possible to mix the chords from major and minor keys together? Such chords are called borrowed chords, or modal mixture chords. Here’s how that works: Chapter 4 of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” tells […]