songwriter at synthesizer

Moving Beyond Imagination: Creating a Powerful Song

This is a common situation in the creative arts. You get some good ideas that get the ball rolling, and then everything seems to fizzle, and you’re left with an incomplete song. At those times, it seems easier to start a new song than finish an old one. So that means you’ve got a box-full […]

Guitarist - Songwriter

4 Songwriting Myths You Need To Stop Believing

Do you find that writing a great melody is your biggest challenge? Melodies are great when they partner well with lyrics and chords. Learn more about that important partnership in “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting.” $27, but get it at a huge discount when you buy the 10-eBook Bundle. Who knows how many myths there […]

Songer - Songwriter

Considering Chords When Using a Melody-First Songwriting Process

If you like starting the songwriting process by working out the melody, you’re likely also simultaneously considering the chords that might accompany it. That’s because for melodies that are in a key, it’s practically impossible to hear those melody notes without our brains imagining chord possibilities. If hooks seem elusive when you’re trying to write […]

Singer - songwriter

Give Yourself (and Your First Draft) a Break

There’s nothing quite as intimidating as a blank page when it comes to writing songs. A blank page means that you’ve been unable to get anything working, and that’s a recipe for writer’s block. A blank page, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that you came up with no ideas. Generally, it means that you came up […]

songwriter

Sketching Ideas Before the Songwriting Begins

How often does sketching become part of your songwriting process? And what does that term mean to you? In most of the creative art forms, sketching is vital. Whether you’re a novelist creating character sketches, a choreographer sketching out a dance routine, or an artist getting ideas for a new painting, sketching has two main purposes: […]

Songwriter - Guitarist

On the Theory That Writer’s Block Doesn’t Exist

I recently read an interesting article written by Susan Reynolds, “Five Reasons You’re Experiencing Writer’s Block,” available at the Psychology Today website. In it, Reynolds make the case that writer’s block is a condition that we’ve created for ease of identification, and that it doesn’t actually exist. She starts this way: We’re going to go […]