I’ve been spending a good amount of time in the past couple of days listening to songs for which songwriters have sent me links, asking for my thoughts on various issues and problems they’re having. It’s something I really love doing, when time permits. To me, solving musical issues that come up in a song is tricky because every […]
It’s amazing how much music you can write with so few ideas. Here’s what I mean: A typical song will have a verse and a chorus, with the possibility of some other optional section, like a bridge. Each of those sections are usually constructed on one main idea, with other related ones. So that means […]
A hook – that short, catchy, memorable moment – is an important feature of many hit songs. Hooks don’t just show up in pop music; classical music also makes use of hooks. But classical composers are far less likely to discuss it or consider it a make-or-break element within their music. That’s because classical works are often […]
Yesterday I was in rehearsal with Symphony Nova Scotia for a pair of concerts I’m conducting today. It’s a particularly fun concert – for young children – and it gives the kids a chance to do something that most people never get to do: to play with a symphony orchestra. The concert is based on a […]
There is a reason why treating the principles of good songwriting as if they were rules is a bad idea: you might inadvertently kill a good song. If good musical composition were guided by rules, many number 1 hits would likely have been tossed into the trash bin due to the fact that they did something […]
Do you struggle with the same songwriting issues time and time again? The answer may be at “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” online store. I occasionally make the following statement when I think people might be listening: You cannot learn to be a songwriter. You can only learn to be a better songwriter. I say […]
