7 Ways Successful Songs Make People Listen

•Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter for website updates, songwriting tips and more. • Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books at a 50% savings. _____________________ When I adjudicate at music festivals these days, I’m usually talking to players about what […]

Everything Old is New Again!

•Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter for website updates, songwriting tips and more. • Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books at a 50% savings. _____________________ I think J. S. Bach would have made a great pop songwriter if he had […]

3 Great Ways to Make Your Chord Progression Longer

• Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER for songwriting tips and notification of blog updates. • Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of 6 e-books now at a 50% saving. _________________________________ I often think that songwriters obsess about chord progressions to an unhealthy degree. Let’s set one […]

Bullet Power! Use This Songwriting Checklist

• Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER for songwriting tips and notification of blog updates. • Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of 6 e-books now at a 50% saving. _______________________________ You’re pulling your hair out because you know that your songs just seem lackluster and you […]

A Songwriter's Creativity: It's All About How You Start

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books. _____________________ No songwriter wants to be writing tunes that are easily categorized. Most would rather have someone say, “Gee, you never know what to expect next with this writer!” There […]

Can a Song Succeed Without "Strong" Progressions?

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. For songwriting tips and notification of blog updates, FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of 6 e-books now. _____________________________________ A strong progression, to put it simply, is one that points to one chord as the tonic (home) chord, and one […]