Style: More Important than (almost) Any Other Aspect of Songwriting

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website Follow Gary on Twitter I get more questions and emails from people looking for that elusive killer progression, or killer melody, or killer anything in songwriting. But when it comes to communicating with the listener, it’s not what you’re singing, but how you’re singing it that really […]

Is "With a Little Help From My Friends" the Perfect Song?

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: I believe the best songwriters in the world are the best listeners. You can spend a lot of time trying to come up with the next gem, but it’s the ones who really listen to successful songs, trying to figure out why they work, that […]

Maybe Your Song is Just Too Weird

All songs exhibit a balance between what could be thought of as typical traditional songwriting structures, and innovative elements. And this is quite a delicate balance; A song that has too many traditional elements risks being predictable and boring. And a song with too much innovation risks being just weird. It’s a dilemma because unless you can set your song […]