Songwriting tips, techniques, and ideas
"What do I want to write about? What do I have to offer my listeners?" These are troubling questions, especially if you expect yourself to come up with a clear, complete idea on the spot. Somewhere …
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In a previous post I examined “Bridges and Balloons” by Joanna Newsom and inferred some songwriting tips. I then threatened to devote an entire article to just two lines from that song: A thimble's …
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Artist: Joanna Newsom Album: Milk-Eyed Mender What I See in This Song Captain Newsom spins a tale of high nautical adventure that happened in her own mind. Through colorful and idiosyncratic use of …
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Feeling adventurous? Try writing a song that's turned inside out--by moving the rhyme from tail to head. Head Rhyme As the name suggests, this is rhyme that occurs at the beginning of each line …
Continue Reading about Songwriting Prompt: an Effective and Little-Known Rhyming Technique →
If the marketers did their job well, you already know what a Moleskine is: a fancypants notebook, available in hardcover and in different sizes, with a spectrum of lined pages, blank pages, grid …
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This article is third in a series: feel free to read it on its own, or to go back and begin with "Sensory Songwriting Part 1: How to Write Lyrics that Capture Your Audience's Imagination." “Nothing …
Continue Reading about Sensory Songwriting, Part 3: Pluck at a Corner, Pull out the World →
You can’t deny the power of raw talent in music, but it is possible there is an even greater strength in the human capacity for self-transformation, growth, and genius. Some people have enormous …
Painting, or art generally... with all its technicalities, difficulties, and particular ends, is nothing but a noble and expressive language, invaluable as the vehicle of thought, but by itself …
In songwriting--and the rest of life--boredom and ruts are produced by the lack of fresh, unique experience. Ever had somebody in your life who rearranges the furniture every month? This is how some …
Continue Reading about Sensory Songwriting: Take Your Lyric to the Optometrist’s Office →
Below you'll find a great video series of Berklee professor Pat Pattison critiquing a student's song. One of the most useful lessons here is that the language of the lyric itself must match the …
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"I really believe that if you don't have the strength to paint over a good painting, you could never have painted a good painting in the first place." -Norton Wisdom Performance painting is an …
Continue Reading about Nels Cline & Norton Wisdom: The Courage to Paint Over Your Own Paintings →
. . You can't play an instrument you don't own yet. You can only use whatever's nearby. - You can't become a master at your instrument. You can only sit today and practice. - You can't master …