Lyrics become all the more powerful when they’re properly paired with a good melody. That’s what Chapter 5 is all about in the eBook “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting.” Polish your songwriting technique with the 10-eBook Bundle and get “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process” FREE. There are lots of ways to get better […]
When we talk about progressions, the automatic assumption is that we’re talking about chords. But the reality is that in good songs, practically everything progresses. The reason for the assumption that we’re talking about chords is that they will quickly sound disorganized and confusing if we don’t pick up that all-important aspect of progression. Simply having […]
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 […]
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 […]
I love when songwriters create music where it sounds like something complex is going on, but when you put the magnifying glass on it, it’s really pretty simple. I’m focusing on chord progressions here, and the best example of a simple progression that sounds like it’s doing something a bit more involved is James Taylor’s […]
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 […]
