Category: Uncategorized
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How to put your inner critic in its place
And do your creative work this year As writers, creators, artists, and musicians, we all have the same ugly little inner voices that try to sabotage us from doing our work. They come in different flavors: You’re not good enough. You have nothing important to say. This is boring. Ssssleep is sooooo much better than…
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New online course: The Art of Co-Writing & Collaboration
We have just released (as in, literally JUST published) our second online mini course: The Art of Co-Writing and Collaboration. The course is a tour through the co-writing process, divided into 3 sections: Preparation, Process, and Professional Practice. We’ve brought together our best insights into successful collaborations from over 20 years in a variety of co-writing…
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Why the title of your song is so important
When we are talking about ‘ideas’ in songs, it’s helpful to draw this distinction: There is the ‘big idea’ – the broad story, experience, or concept we want to write about. What Jimmy Webb is talking about here is when the BIG IDEA becomes a SONG IDEA. What’s the difference? A SONG IDEA isn’t just…
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Songwriting Tip: Quick Start to Using Modes
There’s more to life than the major key and the minor key. I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the past few weeks, listening to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s new song, Unholy, which was topping the global charts (until Taylor Swift released Midnights a week or so ago). I wrote in a previous post…
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What I’m listening to and why.
I got a phone call from my friend Benny the other night (Benny, who I make videos with on all things songwriting). He was very excited: “Kep! You have got to listen to the new Sam Smith song! It’s in…Phrygian!” What the hell is Phrygian, and why is this so exciting? Well, music nerds, Phrygian…
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How to write a COMPLETE SONG from just 2 NOTES!
Our brand new online course – THE SONGWRITING PROCESS: Start to Finish Available here:
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Your 7 SONGWRITING SUPERPOWERS and how to write great lyrics with them!
What if we have 7 senses instead of 5 … and what if they are actually our songwriting superpowers! Sense Writing is one of the most powerful and effective ways to begin the songwriting process and in this video we look at how you can utilise the senses to create strong imagery and killer lyrics!…
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What John Mayer taught me, personally.
In 2008, I had the unbelievably good fortune to spend a whole week with John Mayer, talking about songs, and finally being in the studio with him. The things I learned still come up almost daily. I was recently asked about it, so I thought I would post my journal notes from that time here.…
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The most unusual thing about the Sam Smith song ‘Unholy’
What is it about this song UNHOLY from Sam Smith and Kim Petras? Is it the melody, the scale choices, the chords, the subject matter, the arrangement? Well, it’s all of these things and more! Check out the new video on the YouTube channel for our take on the most distinct elements of this song…
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Music Theory Fundamentals–Major, Minor, and Diminished Chords
Ready to take your songwriting further?
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How to Write Great Bridges
Three chord strategies for creating satisfying contrast and variation in the bridge section of your songs. We first start by defining what a bridge is – then look at 3 chord-based (or harmonic) approaches, in increasing levels of harmonic complexity, for creating a sense of contrast, variation, and movement in the bridge section of your…
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4 Reasons Why You Must Finish Your Songs
One of the biggest challenges for any songwriter is the mountain of half-finished songs on their desk – but we need to learn how to finish because when we do, we develop habits that will elevate our songwriting to the next level. In this video, we look at 4 reasons you MUST learn to finish…
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Starting with loops is one of the most enjoyable and effective ways to spark new ideas and breathe life into your songwriting process. In this video, we write a whole song from scratch using loops as inspiration – featuring the sample-based instrument ‘Chromatic’ from LANDR. Save 30% now with this coupon: GETLANDRWRITESONGS30OFF LANDR Studio includes…
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“Rules” in Songwriting
I recently had Australian songwriter Michael Paynter in to guest teach a class, and he was expertly giving some feedback to a student’s song project. He dropped a bit of a knowledge bomb—a shorthand ‘rule’: The Rule of 3’s. The rule goes like this: in any production, the ear of a listener can really only…
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The Best Songwriting Books, Websites, and Channels
I’m compiling here a list of my favourite books, websites, blogs, and other resources for those pursuing study, growth, upskilling, and knowledge in songwriting. This list might change over time, but represents a curated list of some of the most useful content that I have collected over the past 15 years, songwriting, and teaching songwriting.…
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Taking requests! What tutorials would you like to see?
We’d love to hear from you! If you have requests for videos, tutorials, or topics on songwriting, please head to this facebook post, and request in the comments. Thanks!
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Why do we bother making art?
It’s a question that haunts me. According Maslow, art should be something that we only bother with once we have secure housing, food supply, love, care, and support…and yet. And yet—there is something so patently untrue about this. Art is made despite a lack of these things; often because of that lack. John Green, discussing…
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My 6 Favourite Books of 2021
Top 3 Fiction A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik I snuck this one in in the last week of 2021, and was overwhelmingly grateful to have the sequel, ‘The Last Graduate’ waiting next to my bed. I would have been devastated to have read something SO GOOD, and not be able to keep reading. What I…