You know that for most songs, you’ll either be writing in a major key or a minor key. But did you know it’s possible to mix the chords from major and minor keys together? Such chords are called borrowed chords, or modal mixture chords. Here’s how that works: Chapter 4 of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” tells […]
An important part of improving your songwriting skills is singing your songs for others to hear. Not doing this is like writing in a vacuum, and your artistic improvement will be slow and restricted. Having someone else judge your music can be a very humbling and unnerving experience. It takes a lot of inner strength […]
So what’s wrong with inspiration? Don’t the best songs in the world inspire us? And so doesn’t that require inspiration? The simple answer is: no, songwriting does not require you to be inspired. And in fact, if youare waiting for inspiration, that could be the source of that pesky writer’s block that keeps raising its head. The role […]
Any of you who have read my e-books, particularly my chord progression e-books, know that I often use the analogy of taking a walk to describe how a good chord progression works. It’s a good analogy for many reasons. But here’s the main one: when you take a walk, the path you’re on is like the chord progression […]
The term “modal chord progression” may technically be a bit of a misnomer. But in common usage, a modal progression could best be described this way: a set of chords that points to a note other than the tonic (key) note. In other words, if you’re using what appear to be chords from the key of A […]
Normally, an Italian musical term from the classical music world would send any self-respecting songwriter running for cover. In this case, the daunting word “appoggiatura” can actually become your best friend if you’re trying to find a good way to inject some energy and interest into an otherwise boring melody. Here’s how it works. An […]
