Variations on the Verse-Chorus-Bridge Song Form

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ There’s a good reason why verse-chorus-bridge forms are the most commonly used ones by songwriters. It […]

Repetition and the Boredom Factor

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Build Your Audience Base with“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle – available now at a 50% savings! ________________________________ Songwriters know that music elicits an emotional response. This means that people are either going to […]

Songwriting is a Process, Not an Event

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Write great songs consistently with “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ________________________________ The simple fact that songwriting is a process, where the final product can take anywhere from days to years to complete, may […]

Kaskade's "Dynasty": The Perfect Igloo-Shaped Melody

Written by Gary Ewer • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle • Follow Gary on Twitter ________________________________ A lot of my posts lately have dealt with melody, specifically issues surrounding melodic shape. It’s usually the shape of the melody that determines how memorable it is. Melodies that lack shape, seeming to dwell […]

Shontelle's "Impossible": Why It Works

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ Bajan singer Shontelle is releasing her second album, “No Gravity”, in June of this year. Her first single from that album is a great […]

Songs Don't Have to be Written From the Front End

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. • Follow Gary on Twitter • Check out “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6 e-book bundle ______________________ When the fun of songwriting is replaced with frustration, it can make you wonder why you ever got involved in music in the first […]