How To Surprise Your Listener
Working on a new song recently I was faced with a typical songwriting problem. One…
Working on a new song recently I was faced with a typical songwriting problem. One…
When I heard Taylor Swift’s single ‘Gorgeous’ (video below) the first thing I noticed was…
A big part of my preparation and education, if you want to call it that,…
I join the world of popular music and beyond in mourning the death this week…
Rhymes are perfect, or ‘true’, when they have the exact same sound at the end…
When beginning a conversation, especially with someone you don’t know well, it’s normal to spend…
Irving Berlin’s classic songwriting advice to “repeat the Title as often as possible so people…
What does it mean to be a Songwriter? Well… if you write songs, you’re a…
If you’re writing a Title-based song – where the Title is the most important lyric…
There are a lot of truisms in songwriting – old school rules of thumb that…
Some people born in 1990 listen to certain current pop recordings and can’t relate to…
There have been many great songs whose Titles are a Question. Why does this work…
Why evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your songwriting, an exercise that can be somewhat…
There are many elements that make up a good or great song. Music: melody, harmony,…
When you have a team working together, especially a talented one, not everyone’s going to…
Once I get a new song rolling I usually have some idea of where it’s…
The lyrics of ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ celebrate the surface qualities of the song (dance,…
Something I encounter quite often… songwriters who are not inclined to repeat, within the Chorus,…
Thank you for reading my weekly blogposts! This is the next in a series of…
Many of us writers get very discouraged when our first version of an idea comes…