Sting: Where Inspiration Comes From

by | Apr 2, 2015 | Song Craft

Sting is one of my most favorite songwriters, along with Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Suzanne Vega. Maybe it’s my English heritage, or the fact that I lived in several places growing up – including Canada for a few years – who knows. But I find a...

Country Song Guitar Chords

by | Dec 24, 2014 | Music, Song Craft

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...

Pop Songs: Music & Melody

by | Sep 3, 2014 | Intermediate, Song Craft

The below is taken from a chat board that is long since gone, and was part of a much larger post string.  I’ve aggregated the “good bits” to create an easier read and added a few embellishments here and there.  Thanks to Jason “The...

4 Best Pop Song Chord Progressions

by | Aug 3, 2014 | Music, Song Craft

  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...