Graham English

Posts Tagged ‘SongwritingHacks’

Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies For Your iPhone

In an attempt to hack their creativity and artistic output, Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt created a deck of cards they called the Oblique Strategies. Whenever they came up against a creative dilemma–and especially while under a moment of pressure or deadline–they would pull a card and follow the directions.
I’ve used this technique constantly in [...]

Hit Songwriting Tips Podcast 08-22-06

Topics covered: Chord progressions, I-IV-V, The blues, classical music, mashups, melody, modal progressions, music software, rhythm…

Hit Songwriting Tips Podcast 08-09-06

Topics covered: Top 10 Lyric Writing Insights, line length, contrasting ideas, melody, metaphor, prosody, rhyme schemes, rhythm, song forms, spotlights…

Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

Give me 5 minutes and I’ll show you how to instantly find unique and interesting details to put into your lyrics.
The technique is called Object Writing and it’s so ridiculously easy that you’ll be pissed you didn’t know about it sooner. I learned it from Pat Pattison.
Here’s how it works:
First, gather your materials. You’ll need [...]

New MusicHacks Series

I got excited about my previous creativity hacks and busted out a number of ideas for a hacks series. So stay tuned for songwriting hacks and ear training hacks and stay connected to my MusicHacks del.icio.us bookmarks. Because you’re going to help me write them…you’ll see why soon
Did you know that you can [...]

How Do You Develop New And Interesting Chord Changes?

Here’s a handful of my top techniques that I use to develop new and interesting chord changes.
1. Stick with I-IV-V
I know, it’s not new, but I-IV-V doesn’t have to be uninteresting. There’s a reason why these chords are so fundamental to our harmony. So master them. Use their constraints to challenge your songwriting ability.
2. Copy [...]

Top 10 Lyric Writing Insights

*Before I continue, and I’ll say this many times, I operate under the assumption that the opposite of everything I say is equally true. Including the opposite of what I just said.
Here’s my top 10 lyric writing insights:
1. The rhythm of your melody and the rhythm of your lyrics should match.
Rhythm has *strong [...]

The Astonishing Hit-Making Magic of Song Titles

Why almost everyone is completely wrong about what makes a good song title… and why this is a tremendous advantage for anyone who knows the secrets.
Most people – and shamefully, most so-called experts in songwriting – wouldn’t know a good song title if it bit them on the ass. The fact is, there is more [...]

MasterWriter Review

Here is my review of MasterWriter, a collection of writing tools for songwriters.
First of all, I give MasterWriter two big thumbs up. It has been an invaluable songwriting tool for me since the day I bought just over a year ago.
MasterWriter is a powerful Windows and Mac compatible suite of songwriting tools. MasterWriter is an [...]