AI-Generated music

What Should AI Mean to You as a Songwriter?

If you’re a songwriter and you’ve been paying attention to how AI has been impacting the world of music, you’re probably feeling more than a bit of anxiety. Things are changing quickly, and I think it’s definitely not an exaggeration to say that today’s AI generated songs and performances can fool a lot of (and […]

Guitar chords - switching minor to major

More About Chord Progressions That Move From Minor to Major

In a recent blog post (“Moving from Minor to Major in a Pleasantly Abrupt Way: Valdy’s ‘Simple Life’“) I mentioned the common occurrence in songwriting of writing a minor verse that then moves to a major chorus. Juxtaposing minor and major is a really good way of creating that all-important aspect of contrast in songs. […]

Keyboardist songwriter

Choosing Chords That Work Well With That New Melody You’ve Created

It may surprise you to know that if you go back enough in time — the Medieval era, for example — most music was all about the melody, and that harmony definitely played a secondary role: harmonies were incidentally created as several melodies were played together. While today, most music is a melody with chords […]

Guitar, paper and pencil

Five Reasons to Keep a Songwriting Journal

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” comes with an excellent Study Guide that’s meant to get your songwriting moving in the right direction. Also comes with a FREE eBook, “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process.” If you’re a songwriter and you’re looking for ways to improve your skills, one of the best tools […]

Guitars

What Changing Key Can Do For Your Song

Most songs will end in the same key that they start in. If there is a key change, probably the most common one would be presenting the verse in a minor key, and then switching to the relative major key for the chorus. For example, you might start your song in A minor, and then […]