One of my housemates fell in love with Elliot Smith my sophomore year of college. For the better part of a semester, “Say Yes” played on repeat in our dorm. Somehow, I didn’t really listen for another three years until I picked up his album “Either/Or."   Soon after, I found myself listening to “Say Yes” endlessly on … Continue reading Elliot Smith’s Say Yes

I got into something of a foofaraw last weekend. I posted my blog Chord Flow: Darkness and Light to a Facebook group and the first commenter said: "I don’t get it. This is just the Circle of Fifths."Soon another commenter chimed in: Root movement by fifths is one of the most fundamental elements of common practice harmony. … Continue reading Chord Flow and The Circle of Fifths

Chord Flow is a great way to play around with chords and chord progressions. Just pick a few chords in a row and play around with them until you find sounds you like. It’s also a great way to begin to listen to the sound of different chord changes. Chords that are next to each other … Continue reading Chord Flow, Darkness and Light

During last week’s Fearless Songwriter Challenge, I created the song prompts using lyrics from Brandi Carlile's songs. I figured for this week, I’d stick with the theme and take a look at one of her most popular and powerful songs, The Joke. https://youtu.be/5r6A2NexF88 The Joke is a power ballad. Lots of power ballads are built … Continue reading Looking at The Joke by Brandi Carlile

This past Sunday was the first day of a new Fearless Challenge. I usually put the blog on pause during the challenge, but I happened to write this for a group I belong to. Sunday, I woke up early-ish, sat down, and did some writing. As I was working, I put together this sheet, a … Continue reading Chord Flow Keys, Mirrored