Every time you write a song, you’re communicating something to your audience. When we think of that word communicating, we automatically think of lyrics, because communication and words go hand in hand. But in good songwriting, everything you write plays a role in communicating. For example, if you want to write a nostalgic song, you need nostalgic lyrics, […]
Writing a good song means creating an enticing musical journey for your listeners. Like most “real” journeys, it involves a place of rest and repose (often the end of a chorus), a journey outward (the verse and optional pre-chorus), and then the journey back home (the main chorus). It might also involve little side trips […]
You can spend a lot of time worrying about how to get a verse and a chorus to work well together, but don’t forget the other option: consider writing a song that doesn’t use a chorus at all. Sometimes the melody for that kind of song will end with a kind of repeating refrain, like […]
You might think that the topic of your song is going to be the most important part of writing a good song lyric, but that’s not the case. Most listeners can enjoy a song even if the lyrics are so abstract that they don’t even know what the song is about. Lennon & McCartney’s “I […]
There’s more to a song hook than meets the ear… a lot more. “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base” is a vital manual for any serious songwriter. A bridge is an optional section of a song that usually happens either: …after the second chorus in songs […]
There are many ways to categorize chord progressions, but the best way system for songwriters is to classify them as being either fragile or strong. These two words, fragile and strong, pertain to the key of your song, and specifically refer to whether a progression makes the key very obvious or somewhat ambiguous. Getting melodies […]
