If writing music were easy, I doubt we’d stick with it. One of the reasons we write is because it’s not always easy. Sometimes, coming up with music that sounds great means working and reworking. It’s a process that takes time and experimentation. But that battle of getting music right is the “fun.” In some ways, the longer […]
Get “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” Deluxe eBook Bundle. Ten eBooks that describe every aspect of how to get your songs sounding better. Read more. Follow Gary on Twitter Are you stuck, creatively? Everything you try to write just turns into garbage within 2 minutes? It may seem strange to say this, but you might not be […]
Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy” was the number-one single on the Billboard charts for 2014, and by any measurement you choose it was the most commercially successful song of that year, with 13.9 units sold. If there was ever a song that could be called an “accidental hit”, “Happy” fit the bill perfectly. It innocently inserted itself […]
A 1-hour TV drama spends at least the two-thirds of that hour developing a story that pulls the audience in and poses questions that they want to learn the answers to. As the show nears its end, you’ll be presented with the strongest, most spine-tingling event: the main object of the script. All questions are answered. For example, a […]
You may have just as many people who hate your music as love it, but that shouldn’t bother you too much. Hoping that everyone loves what you do is unrealistic. Any time you express your thoughts, opinions and feelings in musical form, people will react; sometimes in favour of your art, and sometimes against. The […]
Not all songs are about the melody. Since every good song is a partnership of melody, lyrics and chords (and then miscellaneous other bits that get woven in and around those elements), you can wind up with a song that makes a stronger impact through its hook, lyric or rhythmic groove, and leave melody as a less […]
