Gary Ewer: Hooks and Riffs

New Songwriting eBook — And a FREE OFFER

[This article has been edited to reflect a new discount deal available at the Online Store.] I’ve been quietly working on a new eBook for the past while, and it’s finally finished! “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base” is available now, as part of “The Essential Secrets of […]

Stream of Consciousness

How Stream of Consciousness Writing Helps Songwriters

Stream of consciousness writing means to put down your thoughts as they occur to you – literally a continuous stream of thoughts, ideas, opinions in as close to real time as you can get. One of the most interesting (some might say negative) characteristics of stream of consciousness is the fact that there is no time […]

Rock Concert

Being Original When Everyone Wants “Same Old”

There is a tricky balancing act that is undertaken by any and every successful singer-songwriter: how to be innovative enough that audiences get to hear something fresh and new, but similar enough to your previous music that you don’t scare your fans away. It all comes from trust. Your fans learn to trust you and […]

Taylor Swift

Songwriting: How To Create Layers of Hooks

For most songs that are written and produced for today’s pop music market, the hook is a very important feature. It’s the part that everyone remembers long after they’ve forgotten everything else about a song. And crucial to the business side, it’s what brings audiences back to a song and makes sales more likely. We […]

smoking musician

Do Drugs Make For More Creative Songwriting?

If a songwriter attributes his/her creative abilities at least in part to drugs, it doesn’t make much sense to contradict their opinion. It’s not like you can say, “No, drugs didn’t help you — they hindered you”, if they were in an altered state of mind while penning a hit. So you can look at […]

Describing Your Song In One Short Sentence – That’s Important!

If you can’t express or sum up the main concept of your song — what the song’s all about — in one sentence or less, you’re going to have trouble connecting to your audience. Lyrics may take the listener on a journey, but there needs to be one concise way of describing that journey. It’s like […]