Music researcher Diana Deutsch discovered a surprising illusion when listening to a snippet of speech over and over. Let's see how we can take advantage of this illusion to discover new melodies.
Sometimes it seems like great music is flowing out of you. But before you know it, you feel like you'll never write a good song again. Survive the endless cycle of doubt by shifting your focus from writing good songs to building your potential.
Roland Barthes declared the death of the author in 1967. Maybe a little extreme, but there's a lesson for songwriters: the meaning of your songs will always be beyond your control. Embracing this can free you as an artist.
A map can help you see what's possible, but you need to make it your own. It's not theory that makes a musical journey worth taking.
Let's take a close look at the surprisingly popular song 'My Girls' by Animal Collective. It shows it's possible to take a very simple chord progression and build something both catchy and weird. We'll derive some songwriting lessons from what we learn that you can try out today.
Not every song needs to directly express the personal perspective of the artist. There are many ways to play with narration, perspective, and persona in your songs.
The resilient songwriter knows how to adapt to the unexpected, focus on process over outcomes, and turn luck to their advantage. Let's consider some principles that can help you get there.
Frameworks help you narrow down the universe of options you have as a songwriter. We look at a number of examples and discuss how you can use them in your own practice.
In "Midnight Sun" by Nilüfer Yanya, the music and lyrics work in multiple ways to reinforce themes of alienation, resistance, fantasy, and freedom. Let's take a deeper look at how the song works and derive some practical songwriting exercises.
Understanding chord relationships can help you quickly write songs in any key. Let's take a visual approach to describing the relationships between the chords in a minor key.
