I've been writing and thinking about the principles behind chord flow every week for just about two years. Some of those early sheets could use a little polish. This week I decided to redo the sheet looking at how BEAD Guides Chord Flow organizes the chords in a key. Before it looked like this. Now … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Chord Flow (in the Key of C)

A few weeks ago, I talked about strong and weak beats in music in a post called The Beat of Falling Slowly. As is often the case, rules are made to be broken. And, if someone's going to break some musical rules*, James Brown is definitely one of the people to do it. Here's Adam … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Adam Neely on James Brown’s I Feel Good

The Rainbow Connection is one of those songs that I fell in love with a long time ago. Hearing it is sort of like running into an old friend and not being quite sure how I've let so much time pass without reaching out. It's just a sweet song.   There's a classic chord progression at … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Rhythm Changes & The Rainbow Connection

In "On Writing," Steven King points out that sentences don't have to be that long. A noun and a verb are enough to get the job done. As a jokey example, King uses, "Plums Deify!" Here's a better example for songwriters. "Love Hurts." Love Hurts was first recorded by The Everly Brothers, but it has … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: Love Hurts and Truth Telling

It's been a few weeks since I last posted a blog. It was a planned break, yet I still have just the tiniest bit of guilt that it's been nearly a month since I last posted. My intention for that time? Get some rest, simplify, and feel good. All of that was complicated by the Omicron … Continue reading Saturday Songwriting: ’til tuesday’s Voice Carry