Songwriting Day 2014: Put 40 Songwriters Together In A Room And Shake…
It’s interesting when you get 35-50 songwriters together for a full day, as we do…
Songwriters… Be Impatiently Patient
Ideas and inspiration are indispensable, but for most writers putting in the hours is how…
Places To Find Songwriting Inspiration – And Ways To Use It
It’s no surprise that artists get inspiration from other artists, both in their field and…
Confidence + Humility = Creativity
Most of the great musicians and songwriters that I’ve met and worked with have two…
When I Get Sick Of The Song I’m Writing
Songwriting, like recording, is usually a very repetitive process. I have to play the song…
When Songs DON’T Rhyme – Leonard Cohen’s ‘Suzanne’… and Others
The useful, musical qualities of rhyme are many – though that’s not the subject of…
What Makes A Song A ‘Song’?
Why do songs need structure… and why do they have the structures that they do?…
Slow Down
Once I’ve got the music for a song pretty together – the melody, the rhythm,…
Songwriting: There Are No Rules
I’m a musician and songwriter who for over a decade has also been facilitating Songwriting…
Take Apart ONE Song
Here’s a way to get deeper into the craft, the nuts and bolts, of songwriting:…
In The Era Of Oprah, Most Good Songs Are Still About Trouble
In this era of therapy, Oprah, ‘having a positive attitude’, affirmations, ‘the secret’, even ‘the…
We Respond To Songs Primarily As SOUND
When working on a song and concentrating hard on the component parts – lyrics, melody,…
Think Out Of The Songwriting ‘Box’: Drop A Bar!
We’ve all heard tens of thousands of songs. If a song is extremely predictable, most…
Returning To My List Of Song Titles
Some songwriters won’t even start a song without a Title they feel good about. I…
‘Write it down, no matter how dumb it seems at the time.’
I wrote a note to myself the other day – ‘Write it down, no matter…
Let The Words Change The Melody Sometimes
A very common songwriter’s dilemma is to have a melody line and a lyric for…
One Quick Way To Start Writing a Song From Scratch
Here’s one quick way to get started from scratch on writing a new song: Take…
News Flash: Melodies Can Improve!
It may seem overly obvious to state that melodies, like all other aspects of a…
Staying Off The Downbeat – with The Clash
When I react to a song emotionally, at some point I get interested in looking…
Writing Something Is Better Than Writing Nothing
Yesterday I posted a quote about writing (from William Stafford) – “When you get stuck,…
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