Musical Notation

Copying Music By Hand as a Way of “Listening”

I was thinking a bit more about my post yesterday, and the importance of listening as a way of developing your songwriting skills. I started that post by mentioning that the classical composers may have had innate talents and skills that made them great composers of music, but mainly they worked hard at it — a […]

Guitar at Sunrise

Staying Positive When Songwriting Gets Hard

If you like starting songs by working with a chord progression, you need to read “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression.” It will give you the pros and cons of this songwriting method, and help you create songs that really work! Here in the northern hemisphere we’re in the dog-days of summer. If you’re […]

Guitar - Songwriter

Setting Yourself Up for Successful Songwriting

For some, songwriting is the kind of thing that happens “on the fly”, at least in the sense that you can come up with a great idea when you least expect it. But if for you, songwriting is always like that — where you write songs when ideas happen to pop into your brain, you’ll probably […]

songwriter - guitarist

Committing to Writing Every Day

There is an expression that I keep on the front burner of my creative mind anytime I feel less than excited about writing music: Inspiration doesn’t create music; music creates inspiration. That’s not just a catchy phrase to me; I really believe that. The opposite, by the way, can be the case as well. But more […]

Guitarist - Songwriter

Technique and Musicianship: Improving as a Songwriter

If you’re an instrumentalist, you know that practice is an important part of getting better. Practice requires you to put a magnifying glass on your technique — and sometimes your musicianship — and focus in on what you find difficult. Some instrumentalists maintain that they make their best improvements by simply playing, rather than by working out […]

Open-air Concert

Songwriting Deadlines – Do They Work?

There are the kind of deadlines we’re always setting for ourselves, and then there are the real ones. For songwriters, here’s the difference: A deadline comes about when you say, “This year I’m going to release a new EP”, or “This year I’m going to write 15 new songs.” Sure, those are deadlines, but let’s face it […]