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My Top 5 Chord Progressions (“Chord Rotations”) + Video

My Top 5 Chord Progressions (“Chord Rotations”) + Video

I have a really, really cool trick to share with you today, and I thought I’d explain it by telling you about my Top 5 (or is it a Top 10? SPOILERS) Chord Progressions I use on a daily basis. I’m super excited to share this one with you. Creating an interesting chord progression out of nothing is always a fun experience.…continue reading →
The Best Songs From The ESC (SHORT Reviews From A Songwriter’s Perspective)

The Best Songs From The ESC (SHORT Reviews From A Songwriter’s Perspective)

There's a lot of talent present at this year's ESC. I've taken the time to listen to all of the tracks to help you decide on which ones you might want to listen to. There's a lot of great songwriting to be found in a lot of these songs and with each mini-review, I want to give you a little insight into why I think this song is great or why it's not. …continue reading →
7 Productivity Techniques That Will INSTANTLY Speed Up Your Workflow

7 Productivity Techniques That Will INSTANTLY Speed Up Your Workflow

Probably the most undervalued factor in becoming a professional songwriter is speed. Being able to write a song in a day or two dramatically increases your output and therefore possibilities.
  • The more songs you write, the more artists you can write for.
  • The more songs you write, the more you can upload for your fans.
  • The more songs you write, the more you can sell (hey, we all gotta make a living, right?)
  • It simply feels great to be able to write a song quickly.
  • There's no overthinking things, you have to rely on your intuition, meaning your songs don't mutate
  • You are always the first to be heard in pitches if you can send in your songs first.
…continue reading →
3 Types Of Melodies You Must Know

3 Types Of Melodies You Must Know

Melody is king. No other melodic element in your arrangement will ever be as important - not chords, not the bass, not pluck sounds. So it makes sense to take a really close look at what makes a great melody and which parts it’s made up of. If you’ve read my post on how to write chord progressions that grab an audience (which I recommend you do, if you haven’t done it yet), a lot of what you’ll hear in this post will seem familiar. To me, chords and melodies are almost the same thing anyways (and if you would like to hear about that, let me know in the comment section), so it’s no big surprise that melodies come in the same types as chords: Color Melodies, i.e. melodies that sound pretty Direction Melodies, i.e. melodies that go somewhere Blends, i.e. melodies that use both color AND direction
…continue reading →