Songwriter at piano

To Keep Writer’s Block Away, Less Might Be More

There’s a little trick I use when I’m having one of those days where it seems I’m getting nothing done. It works best at the times in my life when I feel that I have nothing to show for how busy my day seems to be: I put the simplest, easiest tasks into my daily […]

Peter Gabriel - Don't Give up

Where a Lyrical Cliché Might Work In a Song

One of the worst things you might do as a songwriter is to use clichés in your lyrics, but I’d like to make a small defence of this faux-pas, at least in certain situations. You’d think that a cliché is going to get your song sent immediately to the naughty chair called “Worst Songs Ever”, […]

Step-by-Step Songwriting: Starting a Song With Lyrics

If starting your songs with lyrics intimidates you, here’s a step-by-step process that will help. ___________________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and open your eyes to the principles of great songwriting. ___________________ The vast majority of the great songwriters from the past several decades are the ones that put lyrics front and centre […]

Starting the Songwriting Process With The Title

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and kick-start your songwriting career! _____________ If you’re going through a bit of writer’s block these days, and you’re finding it hard to get anything started let alone finished, here’s an idea that’s bound to help: start with the creation of a song title, and then work frontwards […]

5 Ways to Make Your Song’s Chorus Outstanding

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle. Here’s how to get your songs working right away! __________________ Ask someone to sing the theme to Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and you’ll get that famous “da-da-da-DUM” theme. But Beethoven, Brahms, and all other composers realized that most compositions used at least two themes, the so-called “contrasting […]

Songwriting: Working From the Title

There are numerous ways to write songs, and there is certainly no one correct way. Many songwriters like to start with a chord progression because it can inspire melodic shapes and general mood. Starting with a melody, or at least with a melodic fragment, will help to ensure that melody plays an important part in […]