Getting Away With Being Weird

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Good songs sell! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Weirdness in songwriting, when it’s done simply for the sake of being weird, usually doesn’t work. It […]

The Importance of a Song's Climactic Moment

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ When you design something artistic, you’re usually looking to establish a focal point, some element that […]

To Be a Good Songwriter, You've Got to Listen!

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ I learned in my composition days at university that no music is created, in the strictest […]

How Pedal Tones Make Chord Progressions Sound Great

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle is available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ I was a child of the 70s, and loved (and still do) the music of Chicago, Genesis, Yes, Alan Parsons […]

What Makes a Hit Song?

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ A hit song is one that sells millions of copies and gets tons of airplay. So when you’re assessing whether a song is a […]

5 Chord Progressions for a Song Bridge

Written by Gary Ewer • Follow Gary on Twitter ______________________ The bridge of a song is supposed to be the section that takes the energy you’ve created in your verse-chorus structures and build on it. We’ve been looking lately at a few things that help to build that energy: dropping beats, and focusing on the dominant […]