The Importance of a Song's Climactic Moment

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ When you design something artistic, you’re usually looking to establish a focal point, some element that […]

Repetition and the Boredom Factor

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Songwriters know that music elicits an emotional response. This means that people are either going to […]

To Be a Good Songwriter, You've Got to Listen!

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ I learned in my composition days at university that no music is created, in the strictest […]

How To Increase Your Chances of Writing a Good Lyric

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle is available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ For many, getting a lyric to work properly is the toughest part of songwriting. It seems that the line between […]

How One Chord Can Replace Another

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle is available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Substituting one chord for another is a useful way of injecting some life into an otherwise mundane chord progression. But […]

What's the Difference Between a Hook and a Motif?

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle is available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ A motif is a musical idea that keeps recurring throughout a song. This may be a rhythmic fragment, it might […]