For a Shot of Energy, Try Chorus-First Songs

Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle – The enjoyment of songwriting starts with really understanding! ______________ If verse-chorus-bridge is your favourite format when composing songs, you already know its strength. There’s a natural energy build that comes from using that song form. That’s because the verse is usually lightly accompanied, with the […]

How Tempo Affects Chord Choice

It’s difficult to be specific about chord progressions in music, because the chords you choose will have a lot to do with the genre you are composing in. But across any and all genres, there are at least two generalizations that can be made: The faster the tempo of your song, the longer you should […]

Five Ways to Make Listeners Return to Your Music

Here are five easy ways to increase the likelihood that you’ll build a fan-base for your music. _____________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and build your audience base, starting right now! _____________ Is there a difference between good music and successful music? I think there is, and most songwriters would agree that it […]

“How Can I Learn To Write Songs?” Answer: I Don’t Know

Songwriting instruction will improve your songwriting abilities, but won’t turn you into a songwriter. _________________ Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get the songwriting instruction that thousands of songwriters are using, delivered right to your computer. _________________ It’s strange that lately I’ve been receiving a large number of emails from people asking […]

The Importance of Honest Feedback

Songwriters are usually looking for as many ways as possible to improve what they do. Listening to great songs, reading interviews with veteran songwriters, reading books that dissect the craft of composition, and so on. One of the best ways I know to improve songwriting skills is to get an honest critique from a respectful […]

The Power of the Melodic Leap

An upward leap makes a melody exciting and memorable. _______________ Great melodies make good use of stepwise motion, which means that the tune moves from one note to the one next to it (a C moving to a D, for example), mixed in with occasional leaps. The melodic leap, particularly the upward-moving one, has a […]