Similarity is a dangerous quality in the world of the creative arts. And it is a particular problem in pop songwriting, because — weirdly — it’s also an important quality. And it all comes down to how you define similarity and how excessive that similarity might be. If you’re ready to take your songwriting to its […]
You’ve probably heard the many stories of famous singers and bands who struggled to get a recording contract at the start of their careers. The Beatles were famously turned down by Decca Records (“the Beatles have no future in show business”). There’s a funny thing that happens in our brains when we hear that someone […]
Who knew that posting backwards versions of songs on YouTube was a thing? I came across a channel called “The Beatles Reversed”, and listened to a backwards version of “Help!” I’m not sure what the reason would be, and it should be noted that the channel has only 1.7k subscribers, so it doesn’t seem to […]
If you find that you battle songwriter’s block on a somewhat regular basis, here’s something you can try that might help: release yourself from the duty of writing an entire song in a sequential manner. It’s likely that the part of a song you work out first is the chorus hook. That’s common, because if […]
This blog article is a bit of a ramble, so I hope you’ll forgive me for letting my musical mind wander a bit! Sometimes when I look at a painting, I find myself wondering what I’m not seeing. It might be that the painting is a landscape — a winding river with a grassy hill […]
In practically any human activity you can name, having an “instinct” — what we might otherwise call a natural ability — is an important starting point. For example, you can teach someone the essential skills involved in hitting a baseball, but it’s far better to work with someone who just seems to have a natural […]
