Graham English
Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Blogging Musician
Songwriter, Recording Artist, and Blogging Musician
TextMate is my second favorite app right behind Logic Studio. I’ve written about my TextMate love affair a lot. In this tutorial, I wanted to share how I use TextMate to write and analyze lyrics, including tips for finding the perfect rhyme and spotlighting important ideas.
I’m finding more and more that what stops songwriters from finishing songs isn’t a lack of good ideas but a misdirection of songwriting focus. Based on the comments I receive, musicians are spending more time on tasks that do little to move the song closer to completion.
For example, if you just spent 15 minutes on [...]
One of the most common challenges I hear about songwriting is not knowing where to begin. With the lyrics? With the music? Or something completely different? It’s a rather simple challenge to find a solution to, really.
Start with a single note or single word
Play a single random note and just listen to your imagination. Does [...]
I’m celebrating quite a few good songs written in the past year. And I’m reflecting on how I can make 2007 an even better year for songwriting. Look for some fresh songwriting ideas in the new year and enjoy the best songwriting articles of 2006.
The Perfect Song Title - 5 Things To Remember
4 Things That [...]
Place Your Song Title At Key Points In The Chorus
Your song title is more likely to be remembered if it is placed in the first or last line of the chorus.
Place Emphasis On Your Song Title In The Chorus
Support your song title by giving it a rhythm, melody, and harmony that sounds natural and intuitive. [...]
You knew it had to happen sooner or later. For every up, there is a down; for every light, there is a shadow; ying has its yang, Jesus has his Satan, Reagan had his Gorbachev, the Red Sox have their Yankees, Spider-Man has his Dr. Octopus, Bill Russell had his Wilt Chamberlain, and great lyricists [...]
Adapted from the book, How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci was a brilliant musician. If he was alive today…
He would have an insatiably curious approach to songwriting and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
Songs can be like problems or puzzles that we must solve or piece together. Asking creative questions can open [...]
Perfect Rhyme has three characteristics:
The rhyming syllables have the same vowel sounds
The consonant sounds after the vowel (if any) have the same sounds
The rhyming syllables begin differently
A good substitute for Perfect Rhyme is Family Rhyme:
The rhyming syllables have the same vowel sounds
The consonant sounds after the vowel are phonetically related
The rhyming syllables begin differently
In Family [...]
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 [...]
Mind Hacks posted how choice is demotivating when there are too many options.
“Offer students a choice of 6 essays, rather than 30 essays, for extra-credit and more will take up the opportunity if there is less choice of essay titles - and, what is more, they write better essays.”
And if you have 45 song ideas [...]
*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 and [...]
about grahamI'm a songwriter and recording artist who sings, plays keyboards, and explores the vast world of sound hoping to find some magical moments along the way. I'm also a Mac geek.
Yes, yes, y'all. And we don't stop. 8 hrs ago
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