songwriter

Writing a Song, Then Deciding What It’s About Later

If you’re at all familiar with Classical music, you may be aware that some of the world’s most famous symphonies have nicknames. Haydn’s symphonies are especially famous in this regard: his “Surprise” symphony (No. 94) and his Symphony #83, the “Hen,” the theme for which was reminiscent of a hen scratching. In most cases, the […]

Songwriting

Songwriting and Great Expectations

It’s not hard to get completely bogged down in the songwriting process. How familiar is this to you: You come up with an idea or two for a melody, you put them together… sounds good. You improvise a new idea to stretch the original one a bit, but that doesn’t work. So you keep at […]

Townes Van Zandt

Major with a Minor Flavour: Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty”

Townes Van Zandt was a highly respected singer-songwriter whose songs were covered by some of the world’s biggest names — Willie Nelson, Emmy Lou Harris, Merle Haggard and others. There’s a quiet kind of contemplative sound to his music and draws the audience in; they make you listen. Van Zandt’s most well-known song is “Pancho […]

Guitarist - songwriter on stage

Getting People Listening — and Keeping Them Listening

When you talk about form as it applies to a song, part of what you’re talking about is how one section differs from another. In fact, you could argue that the sections that comprise your song, and how they differ, are the most important aspects of form. In my experience, most songwriters’ eyes glaze over […]

Bob Dylan - 1962

Several Ways to Create High Points In Your Songs

With most songs, you become aware that there is a moment where the greatest musical excitement happens. Typically it’s somewhere during the chorus, if the song uses one. If it’s a verse-refrain song, that climactic moment typically happens right at (or near) the start of the refrain, like “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” If your […]