Ideas and Advice for Real Songwriters (formerly songwright.co.uk)
Category
Chords and harmony
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08.04.10Ask me a Question!Fanbridge.com, the website who run my mailing list (You have subscribed haven't you? there's a box on the top right of your screen and clicking here will tell you about the ebooks you'll recieve) have started a new question service where you can ask me a question. To do so, apparently you just have to click this button: So if you've any songwriting related questions, feel free to ask them. Here's one that's already been asked, and my initial reponse. If you have any more answers, please chip in in the comments: Q: Hi!! I'm a songwriter from Peru. Quick question: when ...
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07.27.10How to Harmonize – A New Free EbookThere's a new, free ebook available from www.songwright.co.uk. To download it, you just have to sign up to the free, no-spam mailing list using the form at the bottom of the post. How to Harmonize How to Harmonize is a collection of 5 primer lessons aimed at Songwriters who are just starting out and want to know more about how to harmonize their songs - how chords and harmonies work. Lesson 1: What Does'Harmonize' Mean? Aim: To explain how the two meanings of 'harmonize' are really one. Lesson 2: Some Questions About Intervals Aim: To explain which intervals are ...
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04.14.10What do you do when you’re bored of all those chord progressions?Have you ever found yourself frustrated with the chords you're using? As if you've used all the chord progressions that could possibly exist, not just once but hundreds of times. I have, and I know lots of others have as well. According to this rather good article on chord progressions even Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead has felt the same. Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood once said "There are only 12 power chords, and I think we've had about 20 years of them, so maybe it's time to move on." He even went as far as to issue a message (half-jokingly) to the bands fans ...
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02.04.10Quick Songwriting Ideas – Interesting scalesStuck for an idea? Need something to get the juices flowing? One way to find new songwriting ideas is to use a scale you're not familiar with: 1. You could try a Japanese pentatonic scale eg. ABCEF. 2.You could use the dimished scale E F#G A Bb C C# D# E (as the lead guitar does at the beginning of Radiohead's Just). 3. You could use the whole tone scale eg. E F# G# Bb C D
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01.23.10Chord Choices FlowchartI amused myself today by creating a chord choices flowchart: Click Here
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10.29.09How to write a song with only one chord progression.Here's a link to the song, which won't let me embed for reasons I don't really understand... Justin Timberlake's Cry me a River might be guilty of stealing the title of a much better song, and having truly dreadful lyrics but I happen to think it's an okay little ditty that does some interesting things. Specifically, it only uses one chord progression. Most pop songs use chord changes to create interest, but here the songwriters have decided to stick with the same 4 chords and create interest in other ways. Now, it's a good set of chords - song starts with keybord arpeggios ...
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08.17.09Know Your Modes – The MixolydianCharacter The Mixolydian is a mode I associate with country, blues, heavy rock and the Beatles. It isn't the only scale used in those styles, and it isn't limited to those styles, but with it's dominant seventh tonic chord and the emphasis on the seventh note of the scale, it always conjures up images of old fashioned, American rock. It's a beer drinking, gibson chugging, guitar twangin' mode (or at least, that's how it feel to me). Construction The mixolydian mode is almost the same as the 'normal' major scale, except that the seventh note is flattened by one semitone. So in C ...
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06.01.09Ultimate Songwriting Lessons – Songwriting Hooks and Songwriting MeatI just stumbled across this video, via this post. It's from this website. First off, let me make clear that I have a very low opinion of sales pages like this one. I know they've been shown to work, that they're 'good marketing,' but I really don't like them. However, don't take that us an opinion of the book, as I haven't read it, I've just seen the video. A few thoughts occured as I watched, and I made some rough notes: The narrator equates artistic worth with 'lyrical depth'. Personally I would argue that lyrics are not the main conveyor of meaning in popular ...
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05.29.09Harmonising a melody – Beyond the Primary ChordsEdit: The free ebook 'How to Hamonize' is now available. Click here! This morning I had a comment on my previous post on how to harmonise with primary chords.. Emelia asked why I couldn't harmonise 'Oh When the Saints' with a D minor chord. Now fitting chords and melodies together is a big subject, and there's lots to say on the matter. The point I want to make here is: there is always more than one possibility, when choosing chords. Here's the first half of the melody: Oh when the saints, go marching in C E F ...
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05.17.09How to Harmonise – Part 1Edit: The free ebook 'How to Hamonize' is now available. Click here! This is the opening section of a new Ebook I'm writing 'How to Harmonise'. What Does Harmonise Mean? The most common subject people search for on www.songwright.co.uk is 'how to harmonise'. When I talk to people, they seem to mean two slightly different things by this: how to add chords to a melody, or how to add vocal harmonies to a melody. These are similar concepts that both contain the idea of harmony, or more than one note sounding at the same time. Both also pre-suppose the existence of a melody. ...
