How to Make More of a Song's Hook

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER The second edition of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” is out! See the video here. ___________________________________ We all know what a song’s hook is: it’s typically something short and memorable, comprised of a catchy melodic shape married to a catchy […]

Three Bits of Advice for Analyzing Your Melodies

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER The second edition of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” is out! See the video here. ____________________________ The nature of melody is different depending on the genre you’re writing in, and it’s almost impossible to state any rules. Just as soon […]

One Song, Three Lyrics: How to Get Your Words to Work For You

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Make songwriting enjoyable again. Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” bundle and get a free e-book. _________________ A week or so ago I wrote an article about the word “progression,” and how it’s really got to apply to every aspect of […]

Balancing Your Use of Major and Minor Chords

Finding the chords that could be used to harmonize your song is an easy process: you choose a key based on your melody’s range, write the scale for that key, and build a triad on each note. That gives you seven chords as a starting point. Before you start adding “altered” chords to your palette […]

For Singable Songs, Control the Vocal Range

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” e-book bundle, and learn to write great songs. ___________ Most people write songs for themselves, even if they dream that someone else (famous, hopefully) might ever sing it. The key you choose is not really […]

Make a Chord Progression Longer With Passing Chords

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW GARY ON TWITTER Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” e-book bundle, and save a bundle! 50% off! ________________ On a music forum recently I noticed a comment that went something like, “I don’t like the word ‘progression’ to describe the way chords move in a […]