What Makes Rihanna and Drake’s ‘Work’… Work
The more I listen to “Work’ by Rihanna (featuring Drake) – the video’s below – …
The Quickest Way To Bring Fresh Ears To A New Song
Deep into a new song, at some point it becomes hard, almost impossible, to get…
Why You Sometimes Like Songs With Bad Lyrics
In a song, everything is sound. So, before we even perceive the content of lyrics…
When In Doubt… Follow The Melody
A songwriter for whom I’m producing an album recently asked for my ideas about what…
Inside An Indie Song That Became A Hit
‘Lost Stars’, sung by Adam Levine in the movie ‘Begin Again’, is a powerful and…
How To Set Up a Chorus Like Justin T. & Max Martin
Justin Timberlake’s smash ’Can’t Stop The Feeling’ delivers 4 minutes-plus of happy happy joy joy…
Don’t Give Away Your Chorus Before Its Time
This post is about avoiding something that I think can hurt a song – I…
The Importance Of Being Picky… Very Picky
I’ve written various posts related to how important it is to write without judgement… to…
How To Pull Off A Classic Pop Song
It’s rare when a song feels modern but also catches a believable retro vibe. These…
By Now Hip Hop Has Influenced All Songwriting – Even Country
It’s no secret that by now Hip Hop has influenced every kind of popular songwriting…
Coldplay’s ‘Viva La Vida’ – The Art of Generating Momentum
Coldplay’s 2008 hit, ‘Viva La Vida’ is an intense, rousing, and satisfying song. It combines…
FKA twigs’ ‘Pendulum’: Addition By Subtraction
This is an adventurous song. It’s also an exceptional song, recording, and piece of music…
‘Take Me To The River’ – Al Green, meet David Byrne
In 1974 Al Green wrote the song ‘Take Me To The River’ with Teenie Hodges,…
Change The Tempo, Change The Groove!
In the early stages of writing something new, I tend to think of the song…
Bowie – A Songwriting Look Inside ‘Young Americans’
Today it only seems right to look at a song of David Bowie’s; let’s make…
Allen Toussaint – A Musical Giant
On November 10 of this year one of the twentieth century’s American musical giants, Allen…
How Adele Sets Up A Great Chorus
A big part of why understanding song structure is so important is that listeners bring…
When In Doubt, Try Taking It Out
I was thinking about Pre-Choruses – about how many times, in songs of mine and…
13 Ways To Access More Songwriting Creativity
Here’s a good block-breakin’, stimulatin’, new-idea-creatin’ songwriting tool: Ask yourself ‘What If…?’ For example –…
You Can Start With A Bass Line… Here Are Some Who Did
With some songs all you need, musically, is a melody and a bass line. The…
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