Category: Uncategorized

Hey there seven followers! I hope all continues to be well with you. Last week, we went over the Nashville Number System in a basic way, using this chart: …and I gave you an assignment: to try to play through Verse 1 in D Major, which is the key indicated by the chart, and in… Continue reading Music Theory: Part 4

Hey there seven followers (and stealthier types)! I hope all is well with you. I think this week we’ll get to the point, finally! Last week, we went over the construction of chords and the four basic types of triads. To quickly review: 1. Triads are built from two stacked thirds. 2. The Four basic… Continue reading Music Theory: Part 3

Hey there SEVEN followers! Hope all went well last week.  Where was I? Oh yeah…we just got through learning how to construct the Major Scale, and we’re about to get into intervals and chords. Here goes: Intervals When we build our Major Scale, each step of the scale has a particular name, and over the… Continue reading Music Theory: Part 2

Hey SIX followers! Hope you’re doing well this week. This week, we’re going to start a basic theory series, hopefully, at the end of this series, we will understand how the Nashville Number System. In order to learn about the Number System, you are assumed to have a basic knowledge of the mechanics of music… Continue reading Music Theory: An Introduction

Hey all! I hope the last week treated you well. This week is just going to be a sort of clearing of my mind of  all the disparate thoughts about songwriting that have been accumulating as of late. The first among them is this: are we at the beginning of an era in which songwriting… Continue reading Random Thoughts

Hey there 5 followers! Hope all is well with you. This week, I’ve been reading more of Jimmy Webb‘s book on songwriting, Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting. I’m reading it slowly and carefully, because I figure the guy who wrote “The Highwayman” has a lot of stuff to teach me. In my third week, I… Continue reading The Case For Imperfect Rhyme

Hey there 5 followers! Hopefully this post finds you well. This week, I’m going to ramble on about what the DIY revolution means to music publishing and songwriting. As traditional publishing gets weirder and tries to retain their “members only” mentality, the Do-It-Yourself path becomes a more and more viable option for the contemporary songwriter…it… Continue reading The Weirdness of DIY

Hey there 5 followers (and Others)! I hope this post finds you well. Recently, I came across the audio of science fiction author Cory Doctorow interviewing fellow science fiction author William Gibson.   In fact, you can listen or download the audio from that talk here. At the end of this talk, they open up… Continue reading What Fiction Writers Can Teach Us About Songwriting

Hey there 5 followers! This week I started re-reading Jimmy Webb’s book, TuneSmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting. Here’s what he has to say about the difference between professional songwriters and hobbyists: So what is the primary factor that separates the rejected amateur songwriter from the accepted professional? Probably this: Most amateurs do not regard the… Continue reading Hell on Earth

Hey 5 followers (and other, more stealthy, under-the-radar types)! This week, I’ve been listening to Kris Kristofferson a lot, and I discovered something I’d never considered about a song I’ve listened to since I was about 5 years old. The song is from an album called “Jesus Was A Capricorn” from 1972, and it’s called… Continue reading Alliteration