Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Professional Songwriter
Notes from a professional songwriter and Soundfly mentor, lessons learned throughout a career of fortunes and misfortunes.
-
-
“Enemy” Creates Desire — “Bruno” Fulfills It
What’s the difference between Imagine Dragons’ “Enemy” and Encanto’s “Bruno”? Not much! But music theory holds the answer…
-
Quality and Quantity — in Songwriting, They’re Intertwined…
An OpEd on how to balance learning to write songs from both a quantity- and a quality-forward mindset, and why they should be intertwined.
-
How to Write a Character Leitmotif
A quick and easy guide to the art of the leitmotif — how to write, amend, and understand the role it plays in musical character development.
-
Thundercat Chord Theory
In this post, courtesy of Reverb Machine’s Dan Carr, we break down the chord progressions of Thundercat’s most beloved jazz-inspired songs.
-
On Chord Fragments and Nuanced Embellishments in Talking Heads’ “Slippery People”
A quick and fun breakdown of one of David Byrne’s most slippery songs from the Talking Heads catalog, and why it works so well…
-
3 Things Son Lux Does to Make Their Songs So Unique
We take apart Son Lux’s incredibly unique sound, and breakdown three main tools of expression composer Ryan Lott uses to achieve it.
-
The “Sadness Paradox” — Why Sad Music Is So Comforting
Why does it seem like all the songs on the radio are about breakups? Why do sad chords sound so pleasurable? Welcome to the Sadness Paradox.
-
5 Different Ways You Can Outline Your Song
Whether you’re suffering from writer’s block or plagued by TOO MANY song ideas, outlining can help you fill a song’s form and stay on track.
-
Here’s How to Enhance Your Songwriting Process in 5 Steps
Feeling stuck in a creative writing rut? Just reset your approach and process in a few subtle ways, and everything will change, here’s how.
