Outline of a guitar

The True Nature of Contrast in Songwriting

We tend to over-simplify what we mean by contrast in a good song, and thereby misunderstand its power. Contrast, in musical terms, means considering musical opposites: loud versus soft, high versus low, and so on. When we over-simplify contrast, we simply think that the contrast principle requires us to mix loud and soft sounds, high and […]

Musical inspiration

Finding Songwriting Inspiration That Can Keep You Going

Inspiration in its most basic terms is excitement. It’s that simple. If you’re inspired, you’re excited. In the minds of most creators of music or other art forms, inspiration seems crucial. If you’re not inspired, you’re likely not writing. Trying to get a handle on writing song lyrics? Discover the benefits of making a lyrics-first method […]

Songwriting and copyright

The Business of Songwriting – The Stuff Songwriters Hate

Most songwriters are the kind of people that just want to write some great songs. Getting the business details right can be distracting. But if your hope is to get your songs out there for others to enjoy, the business side of songwriting, including copyright, mechanical rights, and other important aspects of the business, is […]

Band in rehearsal

The Importance of Musical Patterns in Good Songwriting

As humans, perhaps one of our strongest skills is recognizing patterns when we hear or see them. Pattern recognition gives us great enjoyment when we listen to music. Here’s what I mean: When listening to a song, most people cannot say what key they’re hearing. Most could never identify any specific note of the melody. […]

Louis Armstrong

What Makes a Perfect Song?

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”Lyrics become all the more powerful when they’re properly paired with a good melody. That’s what Chapter 5 is all about in the eBook “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting.” Polish your songwriting technique with the 10-eBook Bundle. Every once in a while you come across a song that you might describe […]

Piano and guitar - songwriter

Does It Matter If You Don’t Know the Key of Your Song?

If you’re a songwriter who favours the chords-first process, you’re used to doing a fair bit of improvising and experimenting, coming up with chord combinations that sound good. In the improvising that you do, you’re possibly (or even probably) not aware of key. In other words, it’s quite possible to generate interesting chord progressions even if […]