Melody-first songwriting

What’s Better: Melody First, or Chords First Songwriting?

The title of this blog post sounds like a trick question, because you’d probably think that I’m going to say, “Neither is best – it’s whatever suits the musical ideas rolling around in your mind at any given time.” That, of course, is logically the best answer. But for me, I’ve always found melody-first songwriting […]

Guitar, Pencil & Paper

Would a Bridge Add Something Important to Your Song?

A bridge section, in a verse-chorus song, is the section that happens usually after the second chorus: Verse 1 – Chorus – Verse 2 – Chorus – Bridge… You also get bridge sections in songs that use one of the designs that don’t use a chorus, or perhaps use a short refrain instead of a […]

Chords-First Songwriting

Giving Your Melodies Some Shape in the Chords-First Songwriting Process

There’s an inherent danger in writing songs by starting with the chords, which is that the melody can get a bit static and uninteresting. You may have come up with a chord progression you really like, but when you try to add a melody to that, you often find yourself stuck on one or two […]

guitar and music paper

Is Writing Quickly a Help or a Hindrance?

Everyone’s got their own comfort zone when it comes to how quickly they can write music. Some need time to assess as they write, while others are okay with writing quickly, leaving the evaluating of musical ideas until much later in the songwriting process. Comfort level aside, there could be something to be said for […]

Orchestral pop music

Using Classical Music as a Model for Writing a Good Song Intro

Because most of my formal training in music and musical composition has been in classical music, I like thinking of ways in which pop songs have borrowed ideas from the classical masters. Chords are one way. Whether it’s a Mozart symphony, a Bach Cantata, or a Brahms sonata, the way progressions work — the way […]