Songwriting - chord choices

The Artistic Danger That Comes From Your Comfort Zone

If you’re ready to take your songwriting to its highest level possible, you need “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.” Get the manuals that thousands of songwriters are using. If I were asked to give one piece of advice that might go the longest way to improving your songwriting technique, it would be this: […]

Creative Chord Progressions

“Creative Chord Progressions” – How to Get This Free

I’ve noticed something: If you’ve purchased my 10-eBook Bundle recently, it’s possible that you’ve actually received two free eBooks. I’ve been offering “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process” as a free add-on to the bundle of songwriting eBooks for quite a while now, but for some of you recent purchasers, you may have […]

Guitar and keyboard

Making Strange Chord Progressions Work a Little Better

The first piece of advice I always give to songwriters who are contemplating using a complex, strange chord progression in their songs is this: Make sure the progression actually works, and isn’t just needlessly convoluted. The best chord progressions — even complex ones — are the ones that stay out of the way and support […]

Songwriter - guitarist

Dealing With Songwriter’s Fear of Failure

We tend to get judged in life by the last thing we did. In the creative arts like songwriting, that means that the last song or two that we write are what people tend to use to assess our efforts. There’s not much you can do about that. You do the same thing: if your […]

Wilco

“Impossible Germany” (Wilco)- Why It Works

American band Wilco has been around for a good long time now, since 1994. Their lineup has changed over the years, but has remained the same since 2004: Jeff Tweedy (singer), John Stirratt (bass), Glenn Kotche (drums), Mikael Jorgensen (keyboards), Nels Cline (guitar) and Pat Sansone (keyboards, guitar, etc.) If you listen to much Wilco […]

copyright issues in songwriting

Using Copyright-Protected Music In Your Own Music: How To Do It

I’m occasionally contacted by songwriters with questions surrounding the issue of copyright. Probably the most common question I’m asked is if there is any way to use part of another pre-existing song as a starting point for a new one. If you’re interested in using a bit of recognizable lyric or a short snippet of […]