Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter Probably the most clever aspect of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” is the melodic construction. Beautifully contoured, it’s what really makes the song work. It even displays writing technique usually reserved for more high-brow compositions, including melodic inversion. Here’s […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter The desire to write may be there, but often we get stuck just trying to come up with a topic. It’s frustrating, because you feel that the world doesn’t need another goopy love song. So how do you come up […]
Written by Gary Ewer Follow Gary on Twitter First, let me start by saying that most songwriters worry too much about their chord progressions. It’s actually not as important to get an interesting chord progression as it is to get one that actually works. But if you are looking for ways to get a bit […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter In the pop music world, your song may be great, but if your instrumentation, rhythmic treatment, and other basic components are from a generation ago, you’re probably missing that all-important audience you’re looking for. For pop songs, the target is […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Follow Gary on Twitter Every song should exhibit a balance between traditional, predictable elements, and innovative, unexpected ones. If it’s a hit song you are wanting to write, the balance should definitely be greatly weighted toward predictable ones. But if there is nothing innovative […]
Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter Every document you read will tell you that copyright is automatic upon the creation of an original work. If you’ve written it, you own it. That may be true, but unless you’ve registered the copyright, you lack the legal power […]
