When a song sounds great, we like to think that there’s a certain magic involved. But if you are a student of songwriting, as most good songwriters consider themselves to be, you’ll know that it’s not magic that makes a song great. A song sounds great when it follows basic musical principles. And we love […]
Everyone has their favourite songwriting process. For you, it might be strumming some chords and see what kind of mood you can create, and then come up with a melody. Or perhaps you like working out a bit of lyric, almost like a poem, and then see what musical ideas come from those words. And […]
Robin Gibb once said that a great song is all about a great melody. It really depends on the genre, but most of the time I think he’s right. When you’ve hooked a listener with a good melody, you’ve given them something to hum — something to remember. A great melody is a powerful way […]
In songwriting, as with all the arts, creating a legacy is a two-part formula. Part one is the writing of songs that are of consistently excellent quality, and part two is developing fame. Part one is arguably easier in the sense that that step need not require the involvement of others. But part two means […]
An aimless lyric, as the term implies, is one that keeps changing its direction, so it’s hard for an audience to get a handle on what the song is actually about. It’s a common problem in lyric writing. If your own lyrics seem aimless, that’s usually because you’ve spent a good amount of time getting […]
Occasionally I write about the benefit that comes from analyzing your own songs. The biggest benefit that comes from self-analysis is that you get a clear picture of the kinds of things you like to write about; the words and phrases that seem to occur most in your lyric; the kinds of chords you typically […]
