Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” features some advanced songwriting techniques in the area of transpositions — changing keys within a song. Now, it’s not a requirement for a song to go through more than one keys for it to be good or impactful, but a key, …
One way to approach music theory and songwriting is to think in terms of cause & effect. Understanding the musical devices (chords, riffs, melodies) and the impressions each gives will provide you a toolbox you can use to concoct songs that create a particular emotional impact. I started writing songs in high school, but …
A detailed discussion of music theory is outside the scope of this blog, but here’s my take on some fundamental music theory concepts, so you know what I’m talking about. Harmonic Theory In Western music, an octave is divided into 12 equal steps. Each step is called semitones or half-step. …