Songwriting tips, techniques, and ideas
Today I reviewed the lyric sheets from my marathon writing session during "February: Album Writing Month," an annual speed songwriting challenge that quite a few Halted Clock regulars participated …
Continue Reading about Is it Better to Write Songs Quickly, in One Sitting? →
In the previous post we took a look at some songwriting missteps that I see over and over again in my students and in myself. I hope I’m not encouraging existential paranoia here, but many of us are …
The tag “#everymanshouldknowhowto” is trending on Twitter. We can work with this writing prompt, can’t we? Here’s your setup: Every man should know… Using this as a starting point, list out any …
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It’s easy to unknowingly (or subconsciously) sabotage your own progress as a songwriter. These self-defeating behaviors often stay under the radar until somebody else points them out. In the article …
Continue Reading about 8 Bad Habits That Hinder Your Songwriting →
My father, Bill Tozier, has a remarkable ability: he can work on songs with other people around. With the whole family living and breathing around him, he can sit down at the kitchen table, feel out …
Well, it took me about two years, but I finally gave this website a proper name. Just in case you’re reading this post from an RSS feed reader or via an e-mail subscription, here’s the new …
This article is part of a series called Moving Beyond Chord-Centric Songwriting. The practice routines given here should help any songwriter become more melodically fluent, but they will probably be …
Continue Reading about Advice on Melodies: Sing Everything You Play. →
Well hello there. Sorry for the long, unplanned absence—I was very sick and barely coherent at times for the past week and a half. I’m feeling much better now and finally have enough clarity to string …
Continue Reading about Coming to Terms with the Great American Songbook →
I’m gonna break my rusty cage and run. -Chris Cornell In a previous post, I explained my songwriting rut. I’m harmonically stale; I use the same chords in the same progressions using the same …
Continue Reading about Moving Beyond Chord-Centric Songwriting, Part 2 →
Ted Greene--whose books and music I adore—wrote this note to himself. I’m interested to hear your reactions to it. “Some musicians play only for themselves not caring if they reach others, just trying …
I didn’t post any songwriting articles this week due to some serious growing pains as a songwriter. I was writing lyrics—slowly—but the music just wasn’t happening. I spent about five days kicking …
Continue Reading about Moving Beyond Chord-Centric Songwriting →
1. Tickets to Write – Beatles Songwriting Academy Matt Blick is studying the songwriting of the Beatles and blogging about what he learns from (eventually) all 211 of their songs. Along the way, he’s …
Continue Reading about 17 Great Songwriting Tutorials From Around the Web →