Seven Progressions that Use Altered Chords

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-ebook bundle, and discover the secret of getting chords to work. An altered chord is simply one which doesn’t naturally occur in a given key. Altered chords add musical interest to a song by creating a small harmonic surprise. They work particularly well as accompaniment to melodies that are […]

Avoiding the Tonic Chord: A Subtle Energy Builder

Get FANTASTIC RESULTS! – Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle and START WRITING GREAT SONGS! The overall energy map of a successful song is a line that looks like a stock market chart: over time, lots of ups and downs, but hopefully mostly in an upward direction. Music where the energy constantly builds without the […]

The Power of a Progression That Doesn't Start On the I-Chord

By Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Make songwriting enjoyable again! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ You can measure the success of your song by whether or not people are humming it to themselves long […]

If the V-Chord Bores You, Try These Substitutes

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Good songs sell! Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ As the Roman numeral implies, the V-chord is the chord built on the 5th degree of a […]

Chord Progressions: Strong Ones Should Follow Fragile Ones

Chord progressions need to have direction, or else they’re little more than chord successions: one chord following another with little or no sense of overall purpose. As you likely know, I have for a long time spoken about the important differences between so-called strong and fragile progressions, where strong ones point solidly to one note […]

How to Make a Chord Progression Work Every Time

Written by Gary Ewer, author of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” ebook bundle. • Follow Gary on Twitter ______________________ To many songwriters, a chord progression is the kind of thing that causes them to say, “I don’t know what makes a good one, but I’ll recognize it when I hear it.” Well, that should not be good […]