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Time to Throw out Your Songwriting Formula?
Written by Gary Ewer on Sun., Oct. 19, 2008, 4:12 pm AST [Category: Info]
A  songwriting formula is a process. It's the way you write, the procedure you follow for creating a new song. And it can be, over the long term, your worst enemy. Here's why.

The very term "formula" implies that it's a method, or set of steps, that's been done many times before. The good thing about that is that because it's a proven method, it should work. And on a certain level it probably will. But the problem with using a formula to write your songs is that they all suffer from a "sameness" that practically kills creativity. And you won't be able to fool a listener. Songs need to be a mixture of established songwriting conventions, with a healthy dose of creativity. Using a songwriting formula throws that balance off and makes your songs too predictable.

So what do you do? Here are some ideas that will keep creativity in the forefront of your songs:
  1. If you normally start your songs by creating a chord progression, try starting with a well-crafted melody to which you then add chords. This one idea alone would spark a huge change in the overall feel of your songs.
  2. Try listening to a genre of music that you normally shun. For example, before writing a rock song, spend the day listening to classical, or jazz. The infusion of new chords, new melodic shapes, and new basic ideas should get you thinking in a new direction, and can produce interesting results when you sit down to write.
  3. If your songs are typical verse-chorus-bridge type songs, try a totally new form that you've never considered before. (the e-book "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting"has descriptions of many different forms, starting on page 50)

There are some other things to try as well. For example, try starting a song with no intro whatsoever... just dive right in to verse 1. Also, if you've written a song that you like, but worry that it might sound like "the same ol' thing" to listeners, try using a string quartet instead of guitar - bass - drums.

There are lots of ways to modify your favourite songwriting formula, and you're going to benefit from anything you do to change things up, and keep your listeners guessing.

If you'd like to learn more about chords, or any other aspect of songwriting, take a look at Gary Ewer's suite of songwriting e-books.  They use examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking!  Click here to read more.
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Let Chord Progressions Set Up Your Song's Groove
Written by Gary Ewer on Thurs., Oct. 16, 2008, 2:24 pm AST [Category: Info]
It's pretty obvious that the most important concern regarding chord progressions is to have one chord move smoothly to the next. There's nothing worse than chords that just don't feel right. A bad set of changes can actually kill an otherwise pretty good song. But that's not the only job of a good progression. It's important to know that chords help to establish a song's groove.

Many songwriters who look for a good set of chords seem to not consider the groove factor, but it's really vital to the life of a good song. There is a strong rhythmic component when one chord moves to another. It's a feeling of a strong internal pulse, and it contributes greatly to a sense of forward motion.

So how does that work? Try playing the following progression. Use a fast tempo (q=136 or faster) with a strong pulse, with two beats per chord:
Am   F        C      Dm  Em  Am

Now try the same progression, but repeat the first two chords several times before moving on:

Am  F  Am  F  Am  F  Am  F  // C  Dm  C  Dm  C  Dm  Em  Am

The repeating of the first two chords (Am to F) sets up a groove that increases the energy level of your song. For symmetry, I've suggested the same for the C to Dm part of the progression that happens a little later on.

So when you're looking through books of chord progressions, or trying to create some of your own, don't assume that every chord has to be different. How do you think those 3-chord songs from the 50s and 60s worked so well? They set up a groove that gives life to your song.

So go back to those old progressions, and try repeating two or three chords before moving on. You might like what you hear.

If you'd like to learn more about chords, or any other aspect of songwriting, take a look at Gary Ewer's suite of songwriting e-books.  They use examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking!  Click here to read more.
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Songwriting Principle No. 11: A Good Hook Won't Save a Bad Song
Written by Gary Ewer on Tues., Oct. 14, 2008, 2:44 pm AST [Category: Info]
Why do so many songwriter's swear by the power of the hook? It's because the hook, by definition, can reel in a listener, and keep them humming your song all day long, for days, weeks and even years to come! You can't ignore the power of a well-placed, well-composed hook to drive your song into the minds of audience members. Sometimes, though, a hook won't necessarily save your song. If your song has structural problems, a hook, no matter how good, will only make it listenable on a certain level; it will still have problems:

Adding a hook to a bad song gives you a bad song with a hook.

In “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting,” I use the analogy of selling a 10-cent ice cream cone: you sell the 10-cent cone as a way of getting customers in the door. Once they're in there, you can sell them other things. But you can't sell them anything if they don't come in your store. Hence the 10-cent ice cream cone.

But no matter how great that ice cream is, it won't solve the problem that your other food stinks! It only gets them in the door. The good restauranteur will solve what is bad about the other food. In that sense, the good food makes the ice cream an even better hook!

So how do you write a good hook? You make sure that the rest of your song is structurally sound, with an interesting, hummable melody, great lyrics, and a chord progression that doesn't get in the way. When you do that, the hook comes to the fore and really does its job.

So remember the important features of a good hook: keep it short and make it memorable. Make sure the rhythmic component is catchy, and use your imagination.

So those are my eleven songwriting principles. If you want to read more about these principles, "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting" describes them all in full detail. It uses examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking! This e-book is one of a suite of 4 great songwriting e-books designed to take your songs from drab to excellent! Click here to read more.
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Songwriting Principle No. 10: If They Aren't Humming it Tomorrow, it isn't a Hook
Written by Gary Ewer on Sat., Oct. 11, 2008, 9:57 am AST [Category: Info]
The last two of the eleven principles of songwriting refer to the creation of a hook. A hook is a short, memorable component of a song that occurs from beginning to end. The chief purpose of a hook is to create in the listener's mind something catchy that just won't go away.

I often think that songwriters will spend too long worrying about a good hook for a song, and that's only because not every song needs a hook. But at the same time, don't overlook a good hook's potential to sell a song. The basic principle involved is quite simple:

Make the hook short and memorable.

If your listeners don't remember the hook, it isn't a hook. Through this website, I receive emails from songwriters in which they attach a sample of a song they're working on, looking for advice. Sometimes it happens that as I prepare to send advice I have to keep going back to the sound file to remind myself how the song goes. This is a bad sign. It means that there is not much inherently memorable about the song. And if I am not remembering the song, you can be fairly sure that others aren't remembering either, and the song will fail.

A hook's main purpose is to keep the song churning in the listener's brain. It needs to be attractive, in the literal sense of that word. Most hooks are good if they incorporate a good melodic shape with a strong rhythmic element. Here are some tips for writing a good hook:
  1. The melodic component of a hook often involves a leap upward (or, less commonly, downward). This provides the tonal interest, those crucial notes that "won't go away."
  2. The rhythmic component often incorporates syncopation (a catchy displacement of the beat). Syncopations tend to be more memorable than rhythmic features that adhere to the beat.
  3. The longer the hook is, the less memorable it is. Hooks usually tend to be from two to eight beats in length.
  4. Beyond melody and rhythm, there are other aspects of a song that act "hookish": an interesting instrumental sound, a word or phrase shouted out, a well-placed silence, and so on.

A couple of other thing to note about hooks:
  1. Not all songs have them, and not all songs need them. If your song has great melodic structure, with a great lyric and harmonies that support it all, it may not need a hook at all, and many of the world's best songs don't have an identifiable hook.
  2. A hook can be used as a starting point to compose the rest of the song, or may have nothing much to do with the rest of the song. If the latter is the case, it at least needs to be composed with a similar "feel" as the rest of the song. It needs to "belong."

If you want to read more about these songwriting principles, "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting" describes them all in full detail. It uses examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking! This e-book is one of a suite of 4 great songwriting e-books designed to take your songs from drab to excellent! Click here to read more.
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Songwriting Principle No. 9: Tracking the Rise and Fall of your Melodies
Written by Gary Ewer on Thurs., Oct. 9, 2008, 12:17 pm AST [Category: Info]
Writing a good melody requires several things all working together; chief among them are lyric and harmonies. A melody is good if it seems to complement the emotion of the lyric. The harmonies, of course, need to support the melody. Beyond that, there is another important issue which is often overlooked: melodic shape.

Melodies need countour. While there are good melodies out there that focus on one or two notes, a good melody really needs to have some sort of curve or interesting outline. And, as with the last couple of songwriting principles below, it makes a difference if you're talking about a verse melody or a chorus melody. That difference forms Songwriting Principle No. 9:

The latter half of verses will often be pitched higher than the first half; chorus notes are often higher than verse notes.

This study of the range of melodic shapes refers directly to the song's energy. Since the energy of a song needs to be generally in an upward direction (i.e., the end of a song should be more energetic than the beginning), this becomes a very important songwriting principle to follow. Here are some basic tips:
  1. Make sure that as your verse progresses the basic range goes upward. Higher notes should appear toward the end of a verse, because it increases the vocal energy, setting up the chorus energy.
  2. The notes of the chorus should on average be higher than the notes of the verse.
  3. The end of a chorus can allow for a diminishing of energy if it's going back to a verse.
  4. Since the bridge of a song tends to be one of the more energetic sections, a chorus moving into a bridge doesn't need to diminish in energy (but might in order to give the beginning of the bridge more punch.

And one other way to raise the notes of a chorus even more is to change key upward, especially on the repeat of a chorus. That rising key will force the notes upward, and will come across to the listener as a higher energy level.


If you want to read more about these songwriting principles, "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting" describes them all in full detail. It uses examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking! This e-book is one of a suite of 4 great songwriting e-books designed to take your songs from drab to excellent! Click here to read more.
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Songwriting Principle No. 8: The TONIC Note: Strengthening Your Song's Structure
Written by Gary Ewer on Tues., Oct. 7, 2008, 9:10 am AST [Category: Info]
The tonic note is the note that represents the key your song is in. So if you're writing in G major, the tonic note is G. The tonic note is of tremendous value in strengthening your song's overall structure; its importance cannot be overlooked. How you use it is what Songwriting Principle No. 8 is all about:

The presence of the TONIC NOTE will strengthen the underlying structure of a melody. Choruses can and should feature the tonic note in its melody more than verses.

It's very difficult to make generalizations about writing songs, mainly because songwriting is an art form. Art sometimes defies explanations as to why it works. The composer Ravel wrote the orchestral work "Boléro," and it consists of one 32-bar melody repeated eighteen times. If we ever suggested that approach as a viable compositional technique, the results would probably be disastrous. But for Boléro, it works. In typical songwriting, the presence of the tonic note in the chorus will strengthen your song's overall structure. There are probably songs that completely avoid the tonic note, but to make a safe generalization, using it (especially in choruses) gives the lyric of a chorus more strength.

How does it work? If you think of the analogy of taking a journey, the verse is the songwriter traveling away from home, and the chorus is returning home. In other words, the verse is the story, and the chorus is a summation of our feelings and emotions once the main part of the story is concluded. The tonic note (and accompanying tonic chord) is the best musical analogy we have for the concept of "home". Featuring it, particularly in choruses, provides a "home base" from which the songwriter can make conclusive, emotion-based observations about the subject of the song, which is what choruses need to do.


If you want to read more about these songwriting principles, "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting" describes them all in full detail. It uses examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking! This e-book is one of a suite of 4 great songwriting e-books designed to take your songs from drab to excellent! Click here to read more.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.
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Songwriting Principle No. 7: What Songwriters Need to Know About Verse and Chorus Writing
Written by Gary Ewer on Sun., Oct. 5, 2008, 4:26 pm AST [Category: Info]
Not all songs, you will know, use a verse melody that differs from the chorus melody. When you use the same melody for both, you need to be careful about how to make them somehow different. Songwriting Principle 4 (see below) dealt with that. But if your verse and chorus are different, what do you do to make sure that one leads sensibly into the next?

There are two things to consider when making the verse lead properly into a chorus, and it forms Songwriting Principle No. 7:


A) A verse can use text that is narrative and inconclusive, with predominantly fragile chord progressions;
B) A chorus can use text that is reflective and draws conclusions, and use stronger chord progressions.

A narrative text is one that tells the story, that gives the facts and explains to the listener essentially what the song is about. The fragile progressions (see. p. 84 of "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting") will complement this kind of lyric. A reflective lyric is one that displays to the listener how the songwriter feels, and strong progressions are great for accompanying this.

Beyond this, the other aspect to consider is, of course, the structure of the melody itself. A verse melody should be placed lower in the singer's range, and build upward during the latter half. The chorus melody should be placed higher, and should probably use more of the tonic (key) note, particularly toward the end of that melody. This allows for the proper building of energy throughout your song. It also ensures a nice "ebb and flow" of the energy of the entire song, with the general direction upward. (See Songwriting Principle No. 2 below).

If you want to read more about these songwriting principles, "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting" describes them all in full detail. It uses examples from dozens and dozens of songs from the past fifty years as samples of how to write great tunes. Following the example of professional songwriters is what you need to get your songs really cooking! This e-book is one of a suite of 4 great songwriting e-books designed to take your songs from drab to excellent! Click here to read more.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.
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Songwriting Principle No. 6: All Song Elements Must Work TOGETHER
Written by Gary Ewer on Thurs., Oct. 2, 2008, 8:52 am AST [Category: Info]
Many songwriters become fixated on one aspect of a song, to the detriment of the others. In my experience, more songwriters worry about their chord progressions than anything else. If you find chords hard to come up with, that fixation may make sense. But the most important element of a song may not actually be any one aspect, but how those different elements work together. It's possible to have a great melody, accompanied by great chords and with a great set of lyrics, but have it all fall flat if those different parts are working against each other. It's what Songwriting Principle No. 6 is all about:

The shape of a melody must be planned with vocal range, harmony, and text in mind.

The principle is all about what we call counterintuitive writing. That means that the melody is trying to evoke one emotion while the lyrics and harmonies are trying to evoke a different one. The result of this is that the song sounds confusing. All of the elements of a song need to speak "with one voice," appealing to one specific emotion.

Melodies that are placed very high, with a dynamic requiring the singer to scream out the lyric, will usually not be the kind of approach for singing about being at peace with the world. To set your lyric, you need to bring all elements together so that they work in sync with each other. Here are some tips:

  • For lyrics that show determination and strongly held opinions, your melodies should use many repeating notes and be placed relatively high in the singer's range.
  • For lyrics that show love and compassion, your melodies should be placed centrally in the singer's range with a few well-placed leaps to intensify the emotion.
  • For lyrics that tell a story, your melodies should use mainly stepwise motion, with leaps at more emotional moments, and placed generally in the singer's midrange.

The main lesson here is to ensure that the various components of a song work toward the same emotional goal. Remember, the songs that really speak to the audience are the ones that tell a story, with accompanying emotions, that relate to that audience. Having all components "on-side" makes that goal a much easier one to reach.

If you want to read more about melodies, or any of the other eleven songwriting principles mentioned in this article, click here to read about “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, and my other songwriting e-books. Download them in seconds, and start learning how to make your songs really work.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.
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Songwriting Principle No. 5: Making Sense of Harmonic Rhythm
Written by Gary Ewer on Tues., Sept. 30, 2008, 3:02 pm AST [Category: Info]
Setting up your song's groove is not possible without considering harmonic rhythm. The harmonic rhythm of your song is, in short, how often the chords change. And for the best songs, this rate of change needs to be a constant factor most of the time. It's what Songwriting Principle No. 5 is all about:

There should be a perceivable and somewhat predictable pattern to the planning of chord changes.

It's that predictable nature of chord changes that helps establish the groove of your song. If you write a song where the first chord is held for two beats, then the next chord for a bar and a half, then another chord for four beats... this prevents the groove from establishing itself. That groove - the sense that the body wants to move to your music - is severely hampered by the unpredictable nature of the music.

You may worry that by being so predictable with your chord changes may cause the listener to become bored, but this simply is not a worry. Be innovative in other areas, but allow your chords to change with some sense of regularity.

Not all chords in your song will be the same length. It is OK to take certain chords and have them last longer. But that is part of harmonic rhythm: coming up with a pattern and then making it a feature of the entire song. Take the following progression and melody:

C  C/E-------  F C

That extended sitting on the C/E chord kills the sense of internal rhythm - the groove. Why? Because slash chords (inversions) like C/E are inherently less stable than root position chords (like the C or the F). Extending the length of an inverted chord weakens the progression.

Now check out this modification:

C  C/E  F------- C

That feels much better, doesn't it? Extending the length of the F chord feels more natural. And now that we've set up a pattern of two shorter chords ( C to C/E) followed by a longer one (F), we can take that pattern and use it throughout the song. That's our harmonic rhythm.

If you want to read more about chords, or any of the other eleven songwriting principles mentioned in this article, click here to read about “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, and my other songwriting e-books. Download them in seconds, and start learning how to make your songs really work.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.
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Chord Progressions for a Minor Key
Written by Gary Ewer on Wed.., Sep. 17, 2008, 1:30 pm AST [Category: Opinion]
The vast majority of songs out there are written in a major key, so for those of you who avoid minor keys, you're missing out on an entire palette of colours. Minor key music has a different feel, and a different effect on the listener.

If you've written a song but you can't seem to get the lyrics to sound right, it may be useful to try switching over to the minor mode. This will not only mean that your chords will be different, but (of course) the melody will likely have to change slightly.

To give you an idea of the effect we're talking about, here are some simple short melodic fragments, first given in a major key, and then in a minor key equivalent:

Ex.1:
A  D  A  Bm  A
Am  Dm  Am  G  Am


Ex. 2:
A  A/G#  F#m  E
Am  G  F  G

Ex. 3:
A  D/A A  D/A  Bm/A  A
Am G/A  Am  Dm  G/A  A


The minor mode gives the music a darker mood, with potential for a bit more edge. These are just midi files that I've posted here, so you'll have to use your imagination and your own instrumentation to bring them to life.

If you're looking for more advice about chords, melodies, lyrics, hooks, and all other aspects of writing a great song, click here to read about my songwriting e-books. Download them in seconds, and start learning how to make your songs really work.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.
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Bad Songs, and How to Write Them
Written by Gary Ewer on Sun., Sep. 14, 2008, 2:16 pm AST [Category: Opinion]
There are many ways to write a bad song, but most of those bad ways will fall into one of the following categories:

   1. Ignore the form of the song. The form is what makes the listener feel like they've been on a journey. Form, in essence, means that your song will make sense.
   2. Make sure your melody is aimless, with no real direction. Melodies of bad songs don't have contour, and they use range and tessitura haphazardly. The end result of a bad melody is that listeners will find it hard to remember it even two minutes later. Cool.
   3. Be sure that the chord progressions make no real sense. Don't worry about chorus progressions being different from verse progressions. If you want a bad progression, it's good if you ignore harmonic rhythm.
   4. Ignore the fundamentals around strong versus fragile chord progressions.
   5. Stop worrying about the treatment of lyrics in a song. Forget the advice that verse lyrics are different from chorus lyrics, and don't worry about being overly complex or descriptive.
   6. If your song really sounds bad, try to conjure up a hook that will make the listener forget about the fact that the song needs help. The hook is what it's all about, baby.
   7. Wait for inspiration! Don't write every day, or even every other day. It's best to only try to write if you really feel like writing. Because when you do, whoa look out! You're probably going to get... a really bad song!

OK, so much for the tongue in cheek. That's how you write a bad song. And sadly, that's why 99% of the songs out there are never going to be heard, and are never going to be recorded by anyone but except the songwriter. Even just following one of those bad pieces of advice is enough to doom a song.

So if you really want to know what makes a good song, you need to follow the eleven principles of good songwriting described in the e-book "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting." Those eleven principles are what the professional songwriters are already doing and already following. You need to download it today and start creating winning songs.

Click here to learn more about this e-book, and the other ones that can cure your songwriting problems.
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If you're looking for more advice about chords, melodies, lyrics, hooks, and all other aspects of writing a great song, click here to read about my songwriting e-books. Download them in seconds, and start learning how to make your songs really work.

And click here to read what others say about those e-books.

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Use Slash Chords to Make Chord Progressions More Interesting
Written by Gary Ewer on Wed., Sep. 10, 2008, 1:02 pm AST [Category: Info]
Simply put, inverting a triad (chord) means to put a note other than the root of a chord as your bottomost note. You might know them as "slash chords." Used well, inversions can give direction to your chord  changes, and make them sound like they've got a real purpose for being there. Here's how it works:

If you're following a chord chart for a song, simply seeing a single-letter chord name means you play a major chord on that note. So seeing 'A' means to play an A major chord. Seeing 'Am' means to play the minor version of that chord. In so doing, you usually make sure that your bass player is playing an A. This is called playing the chord in root position. But as you know, there are three pitches in a triad, and more if the chord is more complex. You can get very interesting results by inverting the chord.

Instead of using A as your lowest sounding note, try one of the other pitches from that A major chord: the C# or the E. When you do this, a couple of things happen:

   1. the bottom sounding interval is different. With an A major chord in root position, the bass is forming a major 3rd between itself and the next highest pitch in the chord (C#). By putting C# in the bass - called 1st inversion - it is forming a minor 3rd between itself and the next highest pitch (E). By using E as your bass note - called second inversion - it is forming a perfect 4th between itself and the next highest pitch. All of these possibilities are very noticeable if you give it a try.
   2. With each inversion, the chord sounds a little less "stable." Root position is the most stable, 1st inversion is a little less stable, and 2nd inversion is the least stable of all.

Now, an "unstable chord" is not at all to mean that it is somehow undesireable or unsuable. The best progressions, in my opinion, use a combination of root position chords and inverted chords. The normal way of notating an inverted chord is to use a "slash", with the chord name first, then a slash, then the altered bass note. So the inversions described above would be A/C# and A/E.

But the question becomes when and how do we use them? Here's some advice:

   1. Try using a first inversion chord in between two chords whose roots are a 4th apart. For example, if you have this progression:
      A  A  D  E  A
      try this instead:
      A  A/C#  D  E  A
      The A/C# gives direction to your progression by giving direction to the bass line.
   2. Use a first inversion chord to create a stepwise descending shape in your bass line. For example, instead of this:
      A  E  F#m
      try this instead:
      A E/G# F#m
   3. Use a second inversion chord to avoid using the same chord over and over. For example, instead of this:
      A  D  A  E  A
      try this instead:
      A  D  A/E  E  A
      The A/E gives you the A chord you need, but makes it sound different from the other A chords by providing a different note as the bass note.

Inversions, or slash chords, are a great way to add variety to your chord progressions, and can even add an air of sophistication to your changes.

If you'd like to know more about chord progressions, how to create good ones, or how to harmonize a melody, take a look at Gary's e-books How to Harmonize a Melody, and Essential Chord Progressions. They'll answer all the questions you have.
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Writer's Block - What To Do When Your Songwriting Ideas Dry Up
Written by Gary Ewer on Sun., Sep. 7, 2008, 2:14 pm AST [Category: Info]
It's a situation that hits every songwriter, no matter how good, no matter how experienced: writer's block. You strum away on your guitar or try different chord combinations on the piano, to no avail. And it can leave you feeling that writing a song is about as far from fun as a visit to the dentist. What causes the creative juices to dry up like this, and what can be done about it?

A big source is the fear of failure. But another source is the inability to picture the final product at all. In this case, try this little tip for helping to visualize the finished song: Using a graphics program, draw a jacket for a CD that features your song. Pretend that it's a big hit, ready to sell in the stores. Seeing your song featured in that way can give you a shot of creative adrenalin and inspire you to keep going.

But another more common cause of writer's block is the fact that writing has not become a regular activity in your life. Writing, like any skill, needs to be practiced and honed in order to become better.

So take a look at the following activities, and let them help make writer's block a thing of the past:
  1. Set aside a regular writing time every day, or every second day.
  2. Listen to recordings of other writer's songs every day. Try to verbalize what you like and what you don't like about the songs.
  3. When songs seem very hard to write, give yourself little challenges that are easier to meet: Set a timer for 15 minutes or less, and see if you can come up with a verse, a chorus, a 4-line poem, or any other small component.
  4. Take the following chord progression: A D Bm E F#m D A (or any other strong progression) and see how many melodies you can create. Set yourself a short time limit to add an even greater challenge.
  5. Try creating a melody that uses only two notes, or perhaps three. You'd be surprised that by limiting the number of notes you use, you'll start to find that your songs gain a sense of cohesiveness that they didn't have before.
  6. Get into the habit of recording your own songs and listening to them.
These ideas really work, because they take the pressure of writing a whole song away. You'll find that writing small bits of songs as a little mini-challenge will make you feel more satisfied and more successful right away.
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Making a MIDI Orchestra Sound Real
Written by Gary Ewer on Sat., Sep. 6, 2008, 9:39 am AST [Category: Info]
MIDI stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." Many of you use MIDI to create instrumentations for your songs, and it's a fantastic way to have synthesized versions of instruments literally at your fingertips. In short, MIDI is a way of controlling electronic instruments (usually synthesizers), and allowing those instruments to produce many different kinds of musical timbres. Used well, MIDI can make it sound as if you hired a full symphonic orchestra for your recording. Used poorly, MIDI can make your song sound cheap and amateur!

Whether you use MIDI simply to add a backing guitar, bass and drums, or use it to create a full orchestra, there are some basic problems that can arise. Here are some common problems and some solutions to help you solve them:

PROBLEM 1: In the MIDI orchestration, the instrument is being asked to play in a way that can't be achieved by a real instrument.
THE SOLUTION: listen to a recording of the real instrument, or talk to a player of the real one. For example, if you are having your MIDI violin play pizzicato (i.e., plucking the string), remember that there is a physical limitation to how fast a violinist can repeat that action of plucking a string. This varies from player to player, but try not to exceed four notes per second. Going faster than this starts to make your MIDI violin sound fake.

PROBLEM 2: If the sound samples being used have not been properly panned, the orchestra can sound haphazard and disorganized.
THE SOLUTION: Look at pictures of real orchestras and (if necessary) pan your MIDI instruments so that it imitates their position on a real stage.

PROBLEM 3: You can just tell that the instrument is MIDI, and it sounds "electronic" more than real.
THE SOLUTION: If all the notes are coming out at the same volume, this will tend to make the instrument sound phony. There are many possible solutions, but try this as a general approach:
  1. solo one of the tracks, and set a basic volume for that track (MIDI controller 7).
  2. Then develop a general shape for the line by varying the velocity for each note, so that it sounds as natural as possible. 
  3. Then go to your Expression Controller (usually controller 11) and create a natural swell and diminishing for certain notes. (Good use of controller 11 is a major secret for good MIDI orchestration.) This will make your music "breathe," and it will sound more as if a real person is playing. Keep in mind that a lot of the latest orchestral samples make use of the mod wheel to create some of the realism we are talking about here.

PROBLEM 4: The orchestration sounds uninteresting.
THE SOLUTION: Too often, MIDI orchestrators will double and triple instruments in a bid to create more volume. But the problem is that doubling and tripling the instruments on a part robs the various instruments of their own unique sound. If you want something to sound louder, increase the velocity and/or the track volume before simply doubling and tripling. For example, if you create a melody, and then always have it played by flutes, oboes, clarinets, and violins, the resulting sound is just thick, and you've robbed those instruments of the beautiful qualities they have individually. There are times when you will want the power of doubling and tripling, but use it sparingly.

That should get you started. There is so much that could be said about MIDI orchestration, and it's impossible to deal with it all here. But if you want some good preliminary advice, here it is: Get familiar with a REAL orchestra before you start working with a MIDI one!
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Chord Progressions Can Come Alive - with PLANING
Written by Gary Ewer on Thurs., Sep. 4, 2008, 8:20 pm AST [Category: Info]
If you’re like most songwriters, you’re probably looking for ways to liven up your chord progressions. There’s a technique that’s been known to composers of the "Classical" genre (particularly during the "Impressionistic" era) for many years. It’s called planing, and it can take what would ordinarily be a very normal-sounding chord and give it new life. Here’s how it works:

Try playing this progression:
Dm7  Em7  F#m7  Dm7  Cm7  Bm7  Dm7  Am7  Bm7

The structure of each chord is identical. Normally when you see a Dm7 you might expect to see it followed by G7. But in this case, that chord structure is moved around, almost regardless of the key it’s in. This is called planing, when all the notes of a chord move in a parallel way, all tones moving up or down by exactly the same number of tones or semitones.

In my books, The Essential Secrets of Songwriting and Essential Chord Progressions I go out of my way to criticize what I call chord successions - one chord moving to another with no real thought to their function. What planing does, however, is precisely that: by moving the chord structure around, it strips the chord of its need to function in any specific sort of way. It can pretty much move around in any way you want.

Why does planing seem to work? It’s mainly because the musical brain latches on to the chord as a sound structure in whole, rather than the chord as a set of tones, each of which must resolve in their own way. Once you start planing a chord, the listener ignores its function, and focuses more on the overall sound of the chord stripped of its function, and the movement of the chord becomes more a melodic rather than harmonic function.

So what chords can you plane? Any chord, really. And in fact, you can take dissonant chords (chords that seem to have no basis in normal keys or tonality) and plane those, and it opens up a whole new world of sound possibilities. As an experiment, try sitting at a keyboard and place your fingers randomly on the keys. Then start to move all the notes up or down by the same amount, and you’ll find the result quite interesting. By presenting the chords with a strong backing rhythm, you'll have something that will set you apart from other songwriters.

Try it with some standard chords. Here are some “progressions” using suspensions, as well as some other less common chords, to try out:
  1. Csus4  Dsus4  Csus4
  2. Caug+7  (CEG#B) Ebaug+7  Daug+7  Faug+7  Baug+7
  3. Am7/G  Gbm7/Gb  Am7/G  C#m7/B
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The One-Chord Song: Can It Work?
Written by Gary Ewer on Wed., Sep. 3, 2008, 12:50 pm AST [Category: Info]
C an a song be written using just one chord? And why would you want to do such a thing? We like to think of chord progressions as something like a journey that a song takes. You start out with the tonic (key note) chord, wander on to some other chords, before wandering back again. So why would anyone want to write a song using just one chord. Isn't that a little like saying you're going for a walk, and then just hopping up and down on the spot?

Well, don't tell Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings that the one-chord song can't work. "American Woman" is basically a one-chord song. There are others, too: "The Ballad of Hollis Brown," by Bob Dylan, and "Within You Without You" by the Beatles.

Some songs use two chords, like "Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2, but it essentially comes across as a one-chord song.

So what's the charm of the one-chord song? It's the ultimate in chordal minimalism. I often say that you want your chord progression to be simple to stay out of the way of a more interesting lyric, and the one-chord song is the ultimate in staying out of the way. But the one-chord song can do even more than that.

That one chord, if played to a specific repeating rhythmic motif, can either create or enhance a mesmerizing effect, or can serve to strengthen the emotional impact of a lyric. In "American Woman," it amplifies the sense of emotional antagonism displayed by the lyric. In "Within You Without You," it magnifies the lulling hypnotic effect of the sitar and drum.

My own preference, actually, is for the two-chord song for creating these effects. With two chords, you've got more opportunity to modify and play with a melody. And the two-chord song can avoid the stark inflexibility that's a danger with one-chord songs.

Try experimenting with a one-chord song. You may find that it will add a sense of profundity that you've been looking for.

"The Beat Goes On", recorded by Sonny and Cher back in the 60s, is another example of a one-chord song. Do you know any others?
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If you're looking for more advice about chords, melodies, lyrics, hooks, and all other aspects of writing a great song, click here to read about my songwriting e-books. Download them in seconds, and start learning how to make your songs really work.

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How to Shape a Melody So People Will Remember It 
Written by Gary Ewer on Tues., Sep. 2, 2008, 11:46 am AST [Category: Info]
A melody needs to have shape and a recognizable contour, or your audience won't remember it. Recently, someone played a song for me that they had recently composed. My problem was, as I was diagnosing it, I had to keep going back to the recording of it; I couldn't for the life of me remember that melody. That didn't bode well for its life as a "killer song."

A simple guideline for you: If your listeners can't remember your tune, they're not going to walk down the road humming it. And if they aren't humming it, it's not working, and it's as simple as that. You need to do something that rivets that melody into people's brains.

For some songs, that's the job of a hook. But before we even talk about hook you need to take a good look at the melody. Because there's another word that's every bit as (or more) important: motif.

A motif is a little melodic (or sometimes rhythmic) idea that gets repeated over and over in a song. It's the motif that makes a song memorable.

An example? Do you know the song "Closing Time" by Leonard Cohen? The melody consists of many repeated notes, but every 4 notes or so the voice rises by a tone or more. And it's a constant pattern throughout the song. That "isolated-upper-note" that keeps recurring is called a motif, and it latches onto a spot in your brain and keeps you singing it ALL DAY LONG:
Ah we're lonely, we're romantic
and the cider's laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit's crying, "Where's the beef?"

There are other aspects of melody writing that are important to follow. As stated in “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, verse melodies need to be pitched a little lower (usually) than chorus melodies, for example. Also, just like you don't want a melody that's too flat or even, you don't want one that is too leapy... that also makes a melody hard to remember.

So take a good look at your melodies, and then take a look at this checklist. Do these things apply?
  • My melody has a discernible shape, and doesn't just meander around one note.
  • My melody has a recognizable motif, a melodic shape that keeps recurring throughout the song in various ways.
  • The melody of my chorus tends to be more energetic, and perhaps pitched higher, than my verse.
  • My melody doesn't have too many leaps; and the leaps that it does have are interesting and seem to follow a pattern or plan.
Chord progressions can lay down a comfortable bed for your song to lie in, but it's the melody that will be the important factor. No one walks down the street singing a chord progression.
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Which Should Come First - Chords or Melody? 
Written by Gary Ewer on Sat., Aug. 30, 2008, 10:29 am AST [Category: Info]
It's probably true that more songwriters come up with a chord progression, in whole or in part, before they come up with the melody that goes along with it. These "chords first" people would probably say that they find it hard or impossible to come up with a good melody unless they're hearing the chords underneath. But is that the best way to write a song?

In my experience, coming up with the chord progression first has some pros and some cons:

Pros:
  • By vamping away on those chords, it becomes a little easier to imagine a hook for your song.
  • Ensures that the underlying "bed" that's formed by a chord progression works.
  • Isolates the progression so that you can develop it into something that really works.

Cons:
  • The intro of a chords-first song is often related to the chord pattern, which can be boring.
  • The melody may lack an interesting contour or any interesting features if you're not careful.
  • Chords-first songs often have melodies that use lots of chordal leaps, and not so much stepwise motion, making the melody harder to remember.

But the simple solution to any of the cons listed above is... don't let them happen. There's nothing wrong with taking a good progression and then creating a melody that works with it. It's like a landscaper finding a good piece of land, and then designing a house that really makes it work. But you've got to make sure that your intro is interesting: find elements of your melody to make the intro really work.

Also, make sure that your melody uses lots of stepwise (or scale) passages. The melody will be easier for the listener to remember.

In short, once you've come up with a good chord progression, it's time to move on to other important aspects of the song. Spend time with your melody and lyrics and really get them working.

So the real answer to whether the chords or the melody should come first is... either can work, as long as no one aspect of the song is neglected. 
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Rihanna's "Disturbia" - Why it Works 
Written by Gary Ewer on Sat., Aug. 30, 2008, 3:08 pm AST [Category: Info]
One of the points that I make over and over again to songwriters is that you really need to listen to the music of successful songwriters if you want to be successful. It's not enough to hide yourself musically from what's going on the commercial music world if you want to be part of that world.

"Disturbia," by Rihanna, is a perfect example of some points I've been making on this website lately. I want to show you why this song works, and what you can do to get your own songs working. The aspects I want to talk about are chord changes, lyrics and melody.

About Disturbia's Chords: So many of you are looking for that "killer chord progression," but this is a great song that actually uses a very limited number of chords, essentially the same ones for the chorus as is used in the verse:

Bm  D  A  G  (The G is occasionally replaced with an Em.)

Once we've heard that chord several times, our ears start listening elsewhere. So why does that work in this song? Because the lyric is much more captivating, and using a repetitious chord progression allows the listener to spend more time listening to other more interesting elements. (This is a point I make in "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting", pp. 145-147)

About Disturbia's lyrics: What's so interesting about this song is that it's not obvious what the song is really about, and depending on your mood when you listen to it, it could actually be about almost anything. Obviously, the singer is tormented by something:

"It's a thief in the night / To come and grab you..."

And she's finding it very difficult to give voice to this torment:

"Nothing heard, nothing said / Can't even speak about it."

But in all of this lengthy lyric, she uses very down to earth, common words and terminology. (The importance of this is explained in "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting", p. 134).

"Disturbia" is not great poetry, to say the least. Without the song, this text looks very simple. But that is, in my opinion, why it works so well! Words like "I feel like a monster", "Don't want to think about it" and "Watch out, you might just go under" are every day words that everyone uses, and even if we debate what she's really singing about, the emotions those words conjure up are real, raw, and expressive.

About Disturbia's melody: The song starts off with that great hook that you'll no doubt sing for the rest of the day. The verse melody is in two parts, and is pitched lower than the chorus melody (see Melody /Lyric Principle No. 4 in "The Essential Secrets of Songwriting", p.134.) The melody throughout contains many repeating figures, repeating just enough to cement them into our minds, but not so much to be boring.

There are many other reasons why "Disturbia" has been on the top of the charts that would take too long to go into in this article. The way the song is accompanied, by starting with a very bare bass-only accompaniment, moving to light string synth chords in the second half of the verse, to a fuller, higher octave accompaniment at the chorus, really hits home.

This is a great song, and it's important to learn from songs like this if you want to be a great songwriter. 
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Anthem Contest for "Hockey Night in Canada" Closes to Entries on Aug. 31 
Written by Gary Ewer on Sat., Aug. 30, 2008, 10:29 am AST [Category: News]
The CBC has been running a contest to choose new theme music for their "Hockey Night in Canada" television broadcast. To great national criticism, they lost the rights to continue using the famous theme composed by Dorothy Claman that had been in use since the 1960s. To replace this iconic anthem, the CBC has been asking Canadians far and wide to submit their own anthems.

To date, they have received many thousands of entries, all vying for the $100,000 prize. Entries range from the ridiculous to the sublime. The final day for entries to be accepted is Sunday, August 31.

If you'd like to hear some of the entries, check out the CBC's Anthem Challenge site.

In a bit of shameless familial plugging, my brother David has submitted an entry. Feel free to give it a listen and leave a comment.
 
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Beatles Bootleg Recording Up For Auction
Written by Gary Ewer on Friday, August 29, 2008, 3:45:00 pm AST [Category: News]
A ccording to the CBC, a bootleg recording of the Beatles final concert in Canada goes up for auction on the online auction site eBay on Saturday, August 30. The concert took place on August 17, 1966 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The taped recording contains over two hours of music, including Nowhere Man and Yesterday.

Along with the recording, the winning bidder will also receive a reel-to-reel tape recorder and carrying case.

The Beatles performed their last live concert a couple of weeks after this Toronto concert, in San Francisco on August 29, 1966. For the remainder of their career, they concentrated solely on recording.

eBay estimates the value of this recording at between $20,000 and $30,000.
 
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Tips for Making Your Melody and Lyrics Work Together
Written by Gary Ewer on Thursday, August 28, 2008, 6:48:00 pm AST [Category: Opinion]
A  good melody can help your lyrics really pop and come to life. And it's really important to remember that all aspects of a song work together, not separately. So a lyric is only great in a song if the melody and chords are working together to make it great. I call melody, lyrics and chords the "three buddies:" they must work together.

If you’re the kind of writer that likes to think of text first, and then create a melody that works, try considering the following advice:

If your lyric:
  • expresses feelings of anger, determination or forthrightness, or expresses strongly held opinions: your melody should use many repeating notes, should start on a strong beat, and should be pitched high in the singer’s range.
  • expresses feelings of love, compassion, tenderness: your melody should use a motivic leap (i.e., a leap, generally upwards, that gets repeated throughout your song), and should be placed generally in the middle of the singer’s range.
  • tells a story: your melody should use lots of stepwise motion, with leaps at those climactic moments.

If you haven't considered that rule, that melodies and lyrics need to work together, you really need to go back to your songs and take another look at them. If you've been a struggling songwriter, it may be why your songs just aren’t making it. If your melody feels like aimless wandering, don’t expect the listener to connect with the song, no matter how powerful the lyric is.
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