Most songwriters know that melodies and lyrics are the two major components of songs that you can’t take from another copyright-protected song to use in your own. The original writer of the melodies and lyrics own the copyright — even if they never registered that copyright — unless that copyright has expired. Songwriters are very […]
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process.” That eBook is currently a free add-on to “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.” Poems don’t always make good lyrics, if only because the emotional ups and downs of a poem are often subtler than is required […]
If you find it hard coming up with great original melodies, you do have an option to consider: using a melody from a public domain song. Public domain refers to the fact that the original copyright of a song has expired. In many countries copyright expires 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. […]
There are lots of tricks that composers have used over the centuries to create new melodies based on already-existing ones. Some ideas: Slowing a known melody down so much that it becomes unrecognizable as the original. Example: The first phrase of Mozart Piano No. 16 in C major served as the main melody for “Hey […]
Thousands of songwriters are using “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle to improve their songwriting technique. Find out why: Learn more.. ___________ Every songwriter, no matter how disciplined they are, will go through periods of time where new songwriting ideas are hard to come by. It many not be writer’s block, per se, but simply those […]
Public domain poetry may give you something exciting and distinctive to set for your next song. ______________ You may be writing songs every day, but are you just reinforcing songwriting errors? Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and solve your songwriting problems today. ______________ The issue of “public domain” usually affects songwriters when it comes […]
