6 Ways of Dealing With That Dreaded Scourge: Writer's Block

No matter how proficient a songwriter you are, it will happen. You’ll go through a protracted period of time where the ideas just seem to dry up, and you can’t seem to get beyond a few unrelated musical thoughts that go nowhere. Writer’s block hits everyone, but the good news is that there are things […]

Limiting The Number of Ideas Within a Song

If you were to give a speech, you’d first establish what you should be talking about, limiting yourself to a small number of related ideas. You’d then present those ideas to an audience. Once you’ve presented the ideas in general terms, you’d develop and expand on them in (hopefully) interesting ways. You’d likely then finish […]

How to Generate Lyrical Excitement in Your Song's Bridge

In common usage, a bridge is the section of a song that usually comes after the second chorus: Verse 1 – Chorus – Verse 2 – Chorus – BRIDGE – Chorus – Chorus… You’ll sometimes see this section termed the “middle 8”, but the concept is the same: you’re looking for a way to provide […]

The Inspiring Impact of the Rising Bass Line

Lately I’ve been examining the effect that chord choice, tempo and melodic shape can have on lyrical meaning and mood. There’s another song attribute that can affect mood: the direction of the bass line. In particular, I want to look at the power of the rising bass line, because it can give your songs a […]

How to Write Songs When the Inspiration is Missing

People who don’t write songs, or don’t involve themselves in the arts of any kind, might be forgiven for believing that inspiration is one of the biggest aspects of the songwriting process. It must seem, to those who don’t do it, that songwriting starts with an immense rush of ideas, followed by a flurry of […]

Supporting Lyrics With Good Chord Choices

The melody-chord relationship is one we talk about all the time. You can enhance a melody, and in particular its sense of direction and energy, by ensuring that you’re using chords that are functionally clear. The relationship we don’t talk about so much is the connection between lyrics and chords. How listeners react to chords […]