Chord Progressions: Changing the Starting Point

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 E-book Bundle. Become a top-level songwriter, starting now. _________ There are lots of ways to breathe new life into an old chord progression. We know, for example, that inverting a chord (i.e., putting a chord tone other than the letter name of the chord in the bass) can give an […]

After that Initial Great Idea… Then What?

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 E-book Bundle, and kick-start your songwriting career! _________ It can be interesting to debate the role of inspiration in good songwriting. I’ve written quite a few blog postings about that topic over the past few years. And to sum up my position: inspiration doesn’t really impress me all that […]

Song Analysis: “Pumped Up Kicks” (Foster the People)

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 E-book Bundle, and become a top-level songwriter! __________________ Foster The People’s current hit song, “Pumped Up Kicks” is a good model for a song that uses one set of chord changes that serves as the progression for the entirety of the song. Our instincts usually tell us that using […]

Avoiding the Tonic: the Never-Ending Progression

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and get your songwriting career going! _____________ If you want to know what key a song is in, you need to look at the entire list of chords used, and find the one key that uses all, or at least most, of them. That will get you close, […]

Generating Song Energy With Delayed Gratification

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”. It’s supposed to be FUN to become the best songwriter you can be! ___________________ Most of the time when we think about song energy we think about fast tempos, loud dynamics, and busy rhythms. Any single one, or combination, of those elements will usually pump up the power of […]

5 Tips for Pulling Off a Great Chord Progression

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle. Here’s how to get your songs working right away! _________________ By far, the most common type of question I receive from songwriters concerns chord progressions. Why don’t my chords seem to work? What chords go with this key? How do I choose chords? There’s a reason […]