The closer you are to finishing a song, the less likely you are to experiment with radical changes. At the start of your process, you might change chords, try different lyrics, and even change the melody. But as your song nears completion, the changes you might try are usually small ones. The song feels “set”, […]
After decades of love songs, guess what still sells? Love songs. There’s something about love that people still want to hear about. Yes, your audience still wants to feel you tug at their heartstrings. And what’s strange — maybe even bizarre — is that you don’t really have to say much of anything unique on the […]
Even if you don’t have a strong background in music theory, you likely know that some chords just sound right together, while others don’t. For example, in the following chord progression, it’s hard to make any kind of sense out of the F#m chord; it just sounds odd… too odd for most common genres, you […]
Here’s a tip for you, especially if you’re a chords-first songwriter who works out songs on a guitar. And it may seem like a simple, no-brainer type of tip, but it’s an important one: revoice your chords. Each time you play through a chord progression, you’ll find that your ear gets drawn to the highest notes […]
This is the time of year that many songwriters are heading back to school. Whether you’re a student or a teacher, you’re likely discovering (or are about to discover) that the amount of time you have to write music is becoming increasingly hard to find. Are there any tricks for managing your limited time? Or must songwriters simply get […]
I remember one of my first public musical experiences: playing a trumpet solo at church. I was so nervous that just standing up and walking to the front felt almost literally like an out-of-body experience. My face was hot — probably glowing red, and my arms were shaking (not good if you’re a trumpet player.) I don’t […]
