Do you ever find that you spend a lot of time improvising on ideas, but often not able to come up with a song? Improvising plays a crucial role in musical composition of any style, so what’s happening when you’re improvising but there’s no song to show for your efforts? An analogy might help here. […]
A number of years ago I was teaching music in the public school system. I had several choirs. One of them, a medium-sized high school auditioned choir (45 members), rehearsed with me once a week for two hours. Another was a smaller jazz choir (20 members), which rehearsed twice a week, but only 35 minutes […]
Winning an Oscar means much more than simply getting recognition for your efforts from your colleagues in the industry. Much, much more. Sure, the accolades are nice, but everyone knows that if your movie happens to snag a Best Picture award, your movie gets a second run. Many people who might have given your film […]
Sketching ideas out as you work is a great way to stimulate your musical imagination. _______________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and learn how to apply 11 important principles of songwriting. (Right now, save 56%) _______________ An architect would never plan their next building design by only sitting and thinking about it. […]
Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and learn all you need to know about how great melodies work. A formula is simply a predictable procedure for writing music. In other words, you’re following a formula if you say, “Once I’ve done this, I need to do that…” For songwriters, there are two […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter Many of you know that I often compare writing a song with going for a walk. Songs are like journeys, and we take listeners on that journey with us. But without a plan, that journey can leave the listener feeling confused and […]
