Don’t Let The SOUND Put You Off Current Pop Songs
Some people born in 1990 listen to certain current pop recordings and can’t relate to…
Great Songs With Titles That Are Questions?
There have been many great songs whose Titles are a Question. Why does this work…
5 Ways To Evaluate Your Songwriting
Why evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your songwriting, an exercise that can be somewhat…
The World’s Best Songwriting Tool
There are many elements that make up a good or great song. Music: melody, harmony,…
Two Ways To Improve A Melody
1) Play or sing the melody, accompanied by only the bass notes (no chords). You…
How To Find Your Intro
They’re important. They’re the first thing people hear. But Intros – aka the part before…
Who Should Win The Argument In Your Song?
When you have a team working together, especially a talented one, not everyone’s going to…
Staying Open To Last Minute Changes In A Song
Once I get a new song rolling I usually have some idea of where it’s…
Under The Hood Of An Exceptional Song, part 3 (production)
This Max Martin/Ali Payami production sounds very full but, relatively speaking, there aren’t as many…
Under The Hood Of An Exceptional Song, part 2 (lyrics)
The lyrics of ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ celebrate the surface qualities of the song (dance,…
Under The Hood Of An Exceptional Song, part 1 (music)
Katy Perry’s ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ (written by Perry, Max Martin, Sia Furler, Ali Payami,…
The Most Fun Way To Write A New Song
Songs happen in all kinds of different ways (see some examples here), but for me…
Don’t Be Afraid To Repeat The Title
Something I encounter quite often… songwriters who are not inclined to repeat, within the Chorus,…
How ‘4Chords/4Bars’ Songs Took Over The World
In the world of popular song, there’s nothing new in using what might be called…
Video blogpost: Why Do I Sometimes Like Songs With Bad Lyrics?
Thank you for reading my weekly blogposts! This is the next in a series of…
The Whys & The Ways To Improve A Melody
This is a followup to my last post about being willing to rewrite to get…
To Get Past The Cliches, You’ve Got To Explore
Many of us writers get very discouraged when our first version of an idea comes…
How To Change Your Lyric’s P.O.V. from Verse to Chorus
Generally speaking, to change the point of view in the lyric of a song, it’s…
How Contemporary Songs Are Different; Part 2: Melody
I gave a talk at our Songwriting Day event in 2016 about the ways in…
NEW Video blogpost: ‘Why Are Songs Different Today?’
Thank you for reading my weekly blogposts! I’m starting something different this week: a series…
Watch the ‘Ask Tony’ Videos
