Hooks, hooks, hooks. Songwriters are obsessed about them, and rightfully so. Hooks serve like doors into the building that is your song. Hooks grab people’s attention and make them remember. Hooks are important. Creating hooks doesn’t have to be the most important goal of your songwriting. But it’s great …
Ah, iconic riffs. Just hearing them in intros get us excited. Memorable. Catchy. Bold. Who wouldn’t want them? Well, I’m in search of them for my band Nekobus. So I wanted to review for myself what ingredients go into making an iconic riff. Upon reviewing a number of such …
Melody is like the face of a song. That’s where listeners’ attention goes. Writing great melodies isn’t the only way to write a great song. But if you write quality melodies, you’re half way there. In this video I discuss two key concepts in understanding melodies: Directions …
A lot of songwriters have pet “theme” to their writing. Jon Bon Jovi, for example, writes about struggles of common folks. He is a rich rock star, so is he not authentic when he sings about people living paycheck to paycheck? I believe he is. He may now be a …