Five Ways to Make Your Song Even Better

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Click here to learn how to take your songs from OK to AMAZING. ___________ From “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: You could already be writing killer songs, and not even know it! Just because you’ve finished a song, don’t assume that it can’t […]

A New Take on the I-IV-V-I Progression

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books will get you writing songs, and can help stamp out writer’s block for good. Click here to read more. _____________ You’ve often heard me say that one of the problems with chord progressions is that they can often be too complex. […]

How Long Should a Chord Progression Be? Five Tips to Guide You

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Gary Ewer is the author of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of e-books. Those e-books will get you writing the songs you’ve always wanted to write. Click here to improve your songwriting skills. ______________ Chords form the underlying landscape upon which we construct melodies. […]

How a Bridge Melody Differs from Verse and Chorus

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website __________ The bridge of your song is usually the section that builds energy beyond what the chorus can do for you. Not all songs have bridges, and actually, whether your song needs one or not is more an issue of lyrical development than it […]

Changing Key by Using a Pivot Chord

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. ____ Changing key is a great device for injecting energy into a song. Known as modulating, it needs to be done with care, being unpleasantly startling to the listener if it’s done haphazardly. There are several ways to change key, including the “abrupt modulation,” […]

Imogen Heap's "Tidal": Using a Melodic Shape as a Formal Map

Written by Gary Ewer, from The Essential Secrets of Songwriting website. ___________ How do we identify a good song to someone else? Generally it’s by the melody. You don’t usually go to a friend and say, “Hey, I just heard this great new song…”, and then tap out the prominent rhythmic motifs, or recite the […]