How Lyrics Change as Your Song Progresses

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. ________________________ A good lyric is not necessarily good poetry, and in many cases doesn’t need to be. With Gary Ewer’s songwriters’ e-books you can discover how your lyrics can make a connection with the listener, how to create chord progressions, how melodies should be contoured, […]

Songs Without Chorus: Pay Particular Attention to the Harmonies

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Click here to read more about Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books. Follow Gary on Twitter for songwriting tips and more. _______________________________________________ The chorus of a song helps to complete what the verse begins, lyrically, melodically and harmonically. And for many songwriters, beginning with the chorus, from […]

How to Write an Anthem

“Everyone seems to agree that “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is an anthem and “Shake Your Booty” isn’t.” Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter An anthem is one of those kinds of songs that comes under the heading of, “Hard to define, but you’ll recognize it when […]

The Difference Between Verse 1 and Verse 2

“Simply making Verse 2 louder than Verse 1 isn’t the answer. Simply making things louder doesn’t give you the natural energy build you’re looking for.” Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter I’ve mentioned recently in several postings that the basic energy level of your song should rise […]

Balancing the Major/Minor Focus of Your Chord Progressions

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter One of the more important preliminary decisions you make as a songwriter is to settle on a key. And that means you’re either going to choose major or minor. But why not try something that the writers of Jordin Sparks’ […]

How Important is a Good Chord Progression to the Success of a Song?

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter It takes more than a good chord progression to make a song work. That’s because the best progressions in the songwriting world are the ones that stay out of the way of the rest of the song. And you’ve got […]