The Beauty of Simplicity

Simplicity is one of the most important characteristics in powerful music. _______________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: Songwriting instruction that’s powerful and effective! _________________ Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and her most recent album, “Voyageur”, has a beautiful song called “House Full of Empty Rooms“. Every once in a while, I […]

The Benefit of Composing Songs From the Chorus Backwards

By working backwards on a song, you’re identifying goals first, which makes songwriting a lot easier. ______________ Since songs move in one direction only, it seems logical to write the song that way: from beginning to end. You compose a verse, follow it with a chorus, then repeat that a couple of times. At that […]

Comparing Verse and Bridge Song Sections

Here are some key differences between verse and bridge sections of your song. Similar structure, but different duties. In songs that use verse-chorus formats, there’s a relatively predictable way the structure works: things tend to alternate between ambiguous and clear. When you compare verse and chorus melodies, for example, you’ll often (though not always) find […]

Can Your Melody Be Drawn Like a Line?

A line drawing of your melody gives you a valuable graphic tool to diagnose melodic problems _______________ As a songwriter, you’re always looking for a way to make your melodies easily sung and easily remembered. It’s a crucial part of hit songwriting. One of the most important qualities of good melodies is the presence of […]

Connecting the Pulse of a Lyric to the Shape of a Melody

Try this little experiment for getting your lyric and melody to work well together. ___________ It’s an interesting exercise to read a well-known lyric without trying to think of the melody it belongs to. Try it — you’ll likely find yourself putting the same pauses and pulses of the melody into what you’re reading. It […]

Creating Verse and Chorus Chord Partnerships

Songwriters need to find ways to make verse and chorus progressions sound like partners within the same song. ______________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle – It’s time to get serious about building your audience base! ______________ There’s no reason that a verse and chorus cannot use the same chord progression, and many […]