Recently, I was watching another video by Jake Lizzio from Signal Music Studios. He's talking about the chord progression from the song “Something,” by The Beatles.  It’s a gorgeous song which uses a lot of “borrowed chords.” Borrowed chords are something we haven’t talked about here yet, so I figured why not check ‘em out, … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Proud Flesh

I’m going to keep this one short. It’s Christmas Eve and ebbing towards Christmas as I’m typing.  Happy Holidays to you and yours. By the time I send the next email 2020 will be behind us. Here’s to the New Year! The Prompt: The Musical Idea: Here's a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above: 20201225_weekly_lesson_subsDownload

Here’s a follow up to last week's progression (called a line cliché) which changed from C to Cmaj7 to C7, (and so forth). The same thing can be done with a minor chord, and it sounds just as cool. Maybe cooler. The names of the chords get a little funky in this one, but the … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: After Cigarettes

Last week, we talked about weaving 7th chords. This week, I want to share a really cool sounding progression that uses some of those 7th chords. And because we did the work last week of learning how to weave those chords, you’ll have a chance to really see how this progression fits together: one note … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Lost on the Air

Seventh chords are a lot like regular chords, but with a little extra something. That “something” that might be described as tension, intrigue, or mystery. I found them a bit intimidating when I was first learning guitar. They seemed complicated. Advanced. Beyond my understanding.  But they’re not really. They are simply another color to add … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Stealing Pears