Piano - songwriting

How to Use Chords You Don’t Normally Find In a Key

I did a post recently dealing with categorizing chords to make them easier to use. We know that in any key, the I, IV and V-chords comprise what we call primary chords, and they are the most common ones you’ll find in most pop songs. Beyond those three, the ii, iii, vi and vii-chords are categorized as secondary chords, […]

6 Ways to Dress Up a Simple Chord Progression

Here’s how to make a simple progression more interesting, while leaving the original progression intact. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get back to the basics of why hit songs sell. _____________ I’m a big fan of keeping things relatively simple with regard to chord progressions in the pop genre. That’s certainly not […]

Good Songwriting: Branching Out From 3-Chord Songs

Here are some ideas for taking a short 3-chord progression and turning it into something a little longer, and more interesting. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-Ebook Bundle. 11 Songwriting Principles That Will Turn Your Writing Around – Guaranteed. _____________ If I did a blog post listing all the 3-chord songs that have been written in […]

5 Ideas To Turn a Boring Chord Progression Into Something More Exciting

Predictable chord progressions aren’t usually a problem, but too predictable all the time is just — boring! _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-Ebook Bundle. 11 Songwriting Principles That Will Turn Your Writing Around – Guaranteed. _____________ Songwriting formulas will get you in trouble. But they’re tempting to use because once you’ve experienced songwriting success, you want […]

Getting Creative with Chord Progressions: Adding Altered Chords

It’s practically impossible to create progressions that haven’t been used before. But altered chords will help. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ An altered chord is one that doesn’t naturally exist in the key of your song. The chords that naturally exist are the ones that you build on […]