Talent vs Knowledge: Which is More Valuable?

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. FOLLOW Gary on Twitter, for songwriting tips and news. ___________ Talent – the word refers to a natural ability; to describe someone as talented is to say that they have an innate understanding of the intricacies of their field, and can produce something impressive, even if they lack […]

It's Hard to be Unique if You're Using the Same Tired Formula

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: ____________ Structure is everything in songwriting; without structure, you’ve got a song that listeners just won’t understand and can’t get into. It’s why we talk so much about the form of a song. An easily discernible form makes it more likely that listeners will remember […]

Stimulating Your Other Senses to Help Cure Writer's Block

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website; __________ Every songwriter goes through a rough patch, when writing the next tune seems all but impossible. Despite our best efforts, it happens. And even though you may do the things most people – including me – will offer as solutions (setting a regular time […]

Balancing all the Elements of a Song

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Gary is the author of six songwriting e-books designed to get you thinking about how you write music. Click here to read about those e-books. ____________________ Someone recently drew my attention to a great article that Suzanne Vega wrote several months ago for the […]

Eleven Principles of Songwriting

By Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website: In yesterday’s article I spoke about the contrast principle, indicating that contrasting various elements within a song is a crucial part of keeping a listener’s interest. In my book “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” I outline eleven different principles that all work together when a […]

Songwriting, and the Contrast Principle

Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books show you every aspect of how great songs work, and why bad songs flop. If you’re stuck and can’t seem to finish anything you start, it may be time to take a step back and look at songwriting from a different perspective. __________________________________ If you compare music from different genres, it […]