Take a look at “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook Bundle packages, available at the online store. You may think that burnout is a simple matter of being busy, but that’s not usually true. Most people in the arts suffer from burnout from time to time, and describing it as being overly busy doesn’t really come […]
It’s a common error to think that imaginative music comes from musical complexity. The thought is that if you write music that uses intricate chord progressions, elaborately entangled melodies, all partnered with bewildering lyrics, you’ve got something that should stimulate the imagination of the listener. But usually, that kind of music just ends up confusing the listener, boring them, and […]
These days, so-called “demos” tend to sound almost like finished products. You only have to go back one generation to find that demos used to be pretty rough around the edges, meant to give a general sense of the possibilities. The performers, along with a smart producer, could turn that mess into gold. I try to […]
I’ve written numerous times on this blog about the importance for songwriters to be consistently excellent. That means you need to be writing excellent songs, and achieving that level of excellence over and over again. As a songwriter, you need to come to terms with what the word “excellence” really means. An allegory might help. Imagine […]
Avoiding the tonic chord has the benefit of making listeners wait around until they hear it. One of the most obvious ways to keep people listening to your songs is to create hooks that constantly demand attention. It’s something that producers and industry personnel love, because a hook is conspicuous. You can wave a good hook […]
Do you have “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base“? It’s part of the 10-eBook “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” Deluxe Bundle. Read more. Ever hear the phrase “paralysis by analysis?” It means that you spend so much time analyzing why something isn’t going well that you wind […]
