You want to write songs, and you want to write them on guitar. This updated 20th-anniversary third edition of the bestselling songwriting handbook How to Write Songs on Guitar, by Rikki Rooksby, shows you how. Learn the techniques and tricks used in two thousand great songs by everyone from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and David […]
2018 marked the release of Dale’s single, Smile, which he used to promote a campaign in support of the international children’s charity Smile Train, which has provided over a million new smiles to kids who required corrective, cleft-palate surgery. In 2020, C. Dale released the EP “Where The Road Turns To Sand”.
It’s rare that songwriters set out to write a new song with the goal of making it “therapeutic” for their listeners. Most of us write songs because we enjoy the process, and many of us find it therapeutic. Some of us also write songs because we’re dreaming of that big hit. (Who hasn’t secretly entertained […]
The John Lennon Songwriting Contest announces Power to the People, a weekly opportunity for songwriters to win home studio gear and instruments in these trying times, and qualify for entry in the annual contest with over $300,000 in cash awards and prizes, and the $20,000 Song of the Year. Songwriters can enter each week by Sunday at 11:59 […]
Here we’ll look at a set of ways to determine the right chords for your song, in a logical order so you can get started right away.
The most popular question when people find out you’re a songwriter is, “What comes first, the words or the music?” and the answer is, “It’s different every time.” Is writing great melodies and lyrics an innate talent or is it something you can learn? Are there tricks and methods that you can adopt to help open […]
A new online platform called Songwriting University is offering aspiring songwriters the opportunity to book one-on-one access to successful, established songwriters — and is celebrating their launch with an online songwriting competition with a $10,000 grand prize. The new endeavor is headed up by former A&R Executive / Producer extraordinaire Michael Blanton (Amy Grant, Michael […]
The battle between what matters the most in songwriting never ends. Is it the lyrics, or melody? Both of these elements matter, but if you’re a songwriting guitarist there’s one more important thing you should be aware of. It’s the thing that takes your songs to the next level. . . Voicing! Many songwriting guitarists […]
It seems as though we are hearing new stories nearly every day about how artificial intelligence use is growing and having a greater impact on our daily lives. In some instances, these changes are obvious; in others, the ways AI is impacting our lives can be subtle. Take music, for example. Unbeknownst to many of […]
Writing good lyrical hooks takes a lot more than just a good sense of melody. One of the most common reasons a song becomes a hit is that the lyrics get stuck in the mind of the listener. Hence, incorporating rhythmic and stimulating lyrical hooks is vital to the success or popularity of any song. […]