Auto-Generate Chord Progressions

One of the easiest ways to tune your ear into different sounds is to force the creation of variety in your chords. This gets you out of common patterns or melodies you might use and can be quite inspiring. Switch up what you normally use for a chord progression by...

Song Vamp

Using someone else’s song to help you get started isn’t cheating, and it’s not copyright infringement unless you don’t change it significantly. So, for the Ghost Songs Lyrics exercise, make sure you change the song you started with to get...

Partial Capos Help Create Variety

Partial capos sound complicated, but they can make your guitar playing easier and add a unique quality to how your songs sound. Why try partial capos? You want a unique sound to a song for some variety with open tunings, but you don’t want to be constantly...

Your Country Song Could Be R&B!

Songs can cross genres, but most people rarely keep up with it when it happens. It’s also interesting to see how the same song sounds in two different genres! Here are some examples of songs that went on to be hits as both R&B songs and country songs.   All...

Country Song Guitar Chords

Wondering what makes a country song a country song besides adding banjo?! Common country song guitar chords and progressions are one thing that separates the genre from others. For example, in pop songs you may have several maj7th chords, which are different from a...

Elizabeth Cook Covers “Pale Blue Eyes”

This is a great country song written by Lou Reed back in 1968 or so.  It was inspired by Lou Reed’s first love, who happened to be married to someone else. Originally, the song had five verse. One of the greatest verbs ever used “Linger on your pale blue...

2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Winners

The Session I Winners Are Announced!   The John Lennon Songwriting Contest attracts a steady flow of great songs across twelve categories. considered one of the country’s best songwriting competitions, it usually has some strong songwriters with some great songs...

4 Best Pop Song Chord Progressions

  You don’t have to come up with unique chord progressions all the time when you’re writing. Actually, many pop songs use common key and common progressions. Two of the most common pop song chord progressions are in the key of C major and G major –...

Common Chord Progressions

A progression is basically the chord series or the chords you choose to use and their order. If you’re just starting out, using some common chord progressions as your starting point can help get you past the blank page. Here’s a trick to keep up your...

10 Songwriting Tips For Guitarists

If you’re tired of the same chord structures you always use and need a way to get into a different mode, these videos will help. Check out 10 Tips For Songwriting Guitarists by Ted Drozdowski! While there are 10 songwriting tips for guitarists, you can apply the...

Song Key Conversion Site

  There are a few sites on the web that allow you to either copy and paste the chords, or find the song in their library, then select the key you’d like it in.   Chordie.com has a pretty nice repository of songs, with lyrics, guitar tab, and neat little sidebar...

Recording Your Songs

Updated 3/20/17 Recording your songs falls into a couple of buckets:  worktapes and professional demos. Once you start writing, you’ll want to share what you’ve done with others. You may not be ready for a full length CD, but you can always share your...

Q&A With Producer Kim Copeland

What is a songplugger? How do you make sure your songs are being represented by legitimate songpluggers in Nashville? Kim Copeland does video tips for the Songwriters Connection E-Tip every so often. I found this one today and thought I would share. It’s a great...