In most songs of the pop music genres, chord progressions can be used to identify the song’s key. This happens whether the songwriter who created the progression is aware of it or not. They may like E C#m B as a progression to build a chorus on, not knowing (or caring!) that those 3 chords belong to […]
There’s interesting research into the phenomenon we call the “earworm” if you take some time to study it. You might find this article, “Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Our Heads” (written by Chau Tu), to be helpful if you’re the kind of songwriter who is looking for ways to write them. In that article, they […]
Some of the best learning happens when we’re working on the job, as opposed to studying, and writing music is no different. With every new song you compose, you probably notice your skills improving, and your technique modifying. That’s certainly not to say that you can’t also approach songwriting as a scholarly pursuit – as a student of the […]
A lot of the time, the musical ideas you conjure up will be chorus ideas, because it’s often easier to think up short, “hooky” fragments that will serve as a good chorus. They’re the kind of musical ideas that are short, repeatable, singable, and generally fun to perform. But sometimes a musical idea will pop […]
Every artist sketches. In most artistic fields, the idea of sketching — of scribbling down ideas and working on them separate from a larger work — is common. Before creating a larger work, an artist will typically sketch out the ideas, work on angles and perspective, and generally try to get it right in sketch form before committing […]
If you’re a guitarist and you’re looking for some free material, you may want to head over to the Open Heart Teaching website. Site founder Tim Woosley has recently written a new ebook entitled “Guitar Hacks & Input Jacks: Stuff Every Guitarist Should Know.” I’m pleased to have been asked to contribute an article to […]
