Do you feel that your songwriting has plateaued? Are you worried that you’ve reached a level of ability that you’ll never surpass? And if the answer to those questions is ‘yes’, it begs a third question: What can you do to take things to a new and better level? Stagnation in songwriting — and in fact in any of the […]
An understanding of music theory can help make you a better overall musician, but doesn’t “create” musical abilities within you. To use an analogy, a bad violinist can buy the best multi-million dollar Stradivarius violin, and still sound bad. As a songwriter with certain abilities, and therefore certain successes, you can (and likely will) become a better musician as […]
I’ve just uploaded a new songwriting video, “How the Rhythm of a Melody Changes as a Song Progresses.” In it, I take a look at how rhythm plays a role in the emotional connection that a melody can make. In large part, a melody’s rhythm is determined by the actual words of the lyric. But […]
I find that when I talk about songwriting, or even just music in general, with good musicians, I always learn something that sticks with me and becomes part of who I am as a musician. And I hope you have those experiences as well. Many of the bits of advice and miscellaneous thoughts that I pick […]
Occasionally, I find that I have time to offer private video (Skype) songwriting sessions to interested songwriters. If you’ve been working on songs that you’re finding hard to finish, or songs that have problems you simply can’t identify, I’d like to help. My schedule will allow for me to work with 5 songwriters. Rather than […]
You’ve just written your new song, but it’s got problems. What’s worse, you can’t really tell what the problem is, you just know that something doesn’t sound right. What do you do? A few years back I designed a checklist for songwriters to use in such a case, and you can download that free checklist […]
