Prolonging a Chord Progression with Deceptive Cadences

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Get the most out of your creative abilities! Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” ___________________________________ There’s nothing like a creative chord progression that really feels like it’s taking you on an interesting journey. But in the attempt to make a progression […]

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”: Learning to be Creative

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER The second edition of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” is out! See the video here. ___________________________________ The second edition of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” was released last week, and I’ve gotten great some comments from many musicians. One question, […]

Three Bits of Advice for Analyzing Your Melodies

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER The second edition of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” is out! See the video here. ____________________________ The nature of melody is different depending on the genre you’re writing in, and it’s almost impossible to state any rules. Just as soon […]

The Killer Chord Progression? Just Give Me One That Works!

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” bundle and get a free e-book. Make songwriting enjoyable again! ______________________________________________ When a song really works, everything seems to click together like an amazing lego sculpture. Non-musicians usually wonder: how did they come up […]

The Good and the Bad of Formula Writing

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Clean up your songwriting technique. Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” bundle and get a free e-book. _________________ A song with no repeating elements will usually be a song that fails. Repetition is a crucial part of a song’s success. […]

The Tension-Release Principle of Songwriting

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Clean up your songwriting technique. Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” bundle and get a free e-book. _________________ What keeps a listener listening? If you can’t answer that question, your songs may be relegated to the dust-heap of music history, along with all the […]