Category: Songwriting

The Beatles are the heavyweight champion of modern songwriting. Ask anyone who was around in the US and Europe from 1963-1970 (Yes, The Beatles were only a band for eight years!) and they will tell you how The Beatles changed everything. Since there are too many to choose from, we’ll take two posts to…

In these intense and serious times, one of the best medicines is a good laugh or an honest smile. Think you need to wait around to get your heart broken to write a great song that really affects people? Think again – use humor in your songwriting! In this post we’ll look at how…

Creative discipline is a special skill. Sometimes it’s easier to do brainy or routine work for longer periods of time than it is to be producing or creating content from scratch. To sustain a full day of creativity, it takes more than a willingness to muscle through. We have to set up our whole…

As a genre, “singer-songwriter” is widely perceived as confessional, biographical, and honest. It’s considered courageous to get up on stage with your instrument and tell the truth about your life and yourself in your songs. Songwriting, however, can do so much more than paint a realistic picture. Try changing perspective. Re-casting the role of…

General approach Is there anything better than the feeling of your heartstrings vibrating and your eyes watering during the final chorus of a love song? Universal, true, essential, the love song is an ancient craft and an illusive skill. The way to approach writing a love song is just the same as you would…

As with any creative skill, vocal arranging requires us to know what we like. Develop a good understanding of your own preferences when it comes to vocal arrangements. As a listener, are you moved by the addition of harmonies? Do you enjoy the sound of a choir or group or you like to hear…