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 […]

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 […]

The Good and the Bad of Formula Writing

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Clean up your songwriting technique. Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” bundle and get a free e-book. _________________ A song with no repeating elements will usually be a song that fails. Repetition is a crucial part of a song’s success. […]

Three Ways to Make Your Next Song Better

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” e-book bundle, and save a bundle! 50% off! _________________ Becoming better at something is a combination of experience and deliberate planning. If you want to be a better songwriter, you can’t keep doing the same old thing. Doing […]

What is Good Music?

“It is quite possible to talk about a song as being “good” while actually not liking the song at all.” Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. See Gary Ewer’s Songwriting E-books Follow Gary on Twitter We all have the music we like to listen to. Because we listen to it, […]

Time to Throw out Your Songwriting Formula?

A  songwriting formula is a process. It’s the way you write, the procedure you follow for creating a new song. And it can be, over the long term, your worst enemy. Here’s why. The very term “formula” implies that it’s a method, or set of steps, that’s been done many times before. The good thing about that is […]