Creating Tension & Release Keeps Audiences Listening

Creating musical tension entices an audience because they want to hear how it’s eventually resolved. _______________________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 eBook Bundle, and get “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro” free. Read more.. _______________________ Follow Gary Ewer on Twitter Tension and release in music means presenting something that sounds unresolved, something […]

Starting Songs With Non-Tonic Chords

One way to be creative with chords is to simply start on a chord other than the tonic. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and find out which songs become hits, and why they sound so good. _____________ A tonic chord is the one that represents the key that your song is in. So if your […]

5 Songwriting Ideas That Create Tension-Release

Tension and release –  it’s what keeps people listening. ____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. _____________ The “tension and release” concept in songwriting is one of those things that most listeners aren’t overtly aware of. Because it’s not as simple as, for example, music getting louder, though that can be […]

Songwriting: Creating Harmonic Tension and Release

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and kick-start your songwriting career! _____________ How does tension and release work in the world of songwriting? Tension usually means creating an “artistic stress” that needs some sort of resolution. In yesterday’s blog posting I wrote about the crucial differences between verse and chorus design. In most cases, […]

How Tension and Release Creates Successful Songs

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and get your songwriting career going! _____________ I’ve been listening to Foo Fighter’s fantastic new hit, “Rope“, from their newly released album “Wasting Light”, and it got me thinking about song energy, and specifically about the issue of tension and release. “Rope” is a relentlessly powerful tune, […]

Generating Song Energy With Delayed Gratification

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”. It’s supposed to be FUN to become the best songwriter you can be! ___________________ Most of the time when we think about song energy we think about fast tempos, loud dynamics, and busy rhythms. Any single one, or combination, of those elements will usually pump up the power of […]