4 Easy Ways to Power Up Your Songs

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ When someone gets me to listen to their song to assess it, I always use that first listen to determine one thing: does the […]

What Makes a Hit Song?

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ A hit song is one that sells millions of copies and gets tons of airplay. So when you’re assessing whether a song is a […]

How to Fix an Aimless Chord Progression

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ The problem with developing a working set of chord progressions for your song can be learning how key and chord choices are related. Once […]

Melody and Bass: They Need to Work Together

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ It is a very useful exercise to sing through your latest song, accompanying yourself with just the bass line. How melodies and bass lines […]

5 Chord Progressions for a Song Bridge

Written by Gary Ewer • Follow Gary on Twitter ______________________ The bridge of a song is supposed to be the section that takes the energy you’ve created in your verse-chorus structures and build on it. We’ve been looking lately at a few things that help to build that energy: dropping beats, and focusing on the dominant […]

Songwriting Skill Dies in Isolation: Get 'em Out There!

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ It’s a wonderful time to be a student of anything. Information is instantly at your fingertips with the internet. But for songwriters there is […]