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Top Songs February 2013

By songwriter Published February 16, 2013

Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz) [Explicit]

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

 

Ho Hey

The Lumineers

 

I Knew You Were Trouble.

Taylor Swift

 

When I Was Your Man

Bruno Mars

 

Locked Out Of Heaven

Bruno Mars

 

Scream & Shout

Will.I.Am

 

We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe)

Fun.

 

Home

Phillip Phillips

 

Gangnam Style

Psy

 

Somebody That I Used To Know

Gotye

 

Suit & Tie

Justin Timberlake featuring JAY Z

 

I Cry

Flo Rida

 

Girl On Fire

Alicia Keys

 

Better Dig Two

The Band Perry

 

Stay

Rihanna

 

Harlem Shake

Baauer

 

Little Talks

Of Monsters And Men

 

Some Nights

Fun.

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Uk Chart Yearbook 2012Uk Chart Yearbook 2012This book lists every record that reached the top 100 of the singles chart and the top 100 of the albums chart of the United Kingdom between 7 January... Read More >
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Posted in Top Music Tagged: best songs, Song Hits, Top 10 | Leave a comment

Write and Arrange Music

By songwriter Published February 14, 2013

Learning to write music is nowhere near as hard as learning to write English. Anybody can learn to write music if they have the interest, desire or need. As you learn to write rhythm, write melody and write chords, you are writing music like you write your native language. Then you have the language to write for, compose music and arrange music for saxophones, wind instruments, brass, strings, rhythm section and orchestral instruments.

If you want. You can transpose what you hear and write music down like you’d write down a phone number. One of the best things about being able to write music is being able to write for instruments that you hear playing in your song that you can not play. You simply write music for them and they play for you.

The easiest way to get dozens of musicians to play what you want in two takes is to write music you want them to specifically play. Your musicians will love you. And so too will your listeners and fans. Writing music means people will pay you to arrange and produce their music. You can find out more about writing music at Songwriting Melody Writers

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Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure: Tools and Techniques for Writing Better Lyrics (Songwriting Guides)Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure: Tools and Techniques for Writing Better Lyrics (Songwriting Guides)(Berklee Guide). Veteran songwriter Pat Pattison has taught many of Berklee College of Music's best and brightest students how to write truly great ly... Read More >
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Posted in Songwriting Theory Tagged: music, Songwriting Melody Writers, WIDGET, Write Music Arrange Music Contemporary Music Course | Leave a comment

Understanding Music Notation

By songwriter Published February 11, 2013

A staff is a collection of parallel lines, together with the spaces belonging to them. The modern staff has five lines and six spaces,

Staff

When necessary to play above or below the staff, notes are written on and between short lines, called “ledger lines”

Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Basics Tagged: Altering Pitch, Bass Clef, Music Notation, Note Values, Rest Values, Time Signature, tone | 1 Comment

Cakewalk Sonar X2 Producer

By songwriter Published February 5, 2013

Cakewalk Sonar X2 Producer is a digital audio workstation made by Cakewalk for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. It has recently been acquired by Roland.

Professional Recording, Mixing, and Mastering

From getting a great tone to releasing the final mix, today’s musicians must master every element of the music production process. SONAR X2 is there every step of the way and takes each element to the next level of power and usability. And thanks to the revolutionary Skylight user interface, SONAR X2 lets you move seamlessly among the elements, instantly going from recording to editing to mixing and back again. Dial up the perfect synth sound with Rapture or a searing guitar tone with TH2 Producer. Record it, tighten it, chop it, and drop it in the Matrix for real time triggering. Shape it with the expandable ProChannel. Warm it with the new Console Emulator. And do it all with a single Smart Tool. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Software Tagged: Cakewalk, Cakewalk Sonar X2 Producer, DAW, Digital Audio Workstation, Product Features, Professional Recording, SONAR, songwriting software | Leave a comment

Songwriting Software

By songwriter Published February 4, 2013

The use of songwriting software makes the task of writing songs easier. Technology allows the songwriter the ability to record songs at home. The advantage of songwriting software is the ability to modify digital audio, add special effects and use virtual instruments. These programs provide synths that use real instrument samples. The songwriter can create drum beats and loops for their songs. Song tracks can be edited and improved by touching up parts that you don’t like.

Once a song is finished, it can be interfaced with other multimedia apps. There are several brands of songwriting software. Some of the more popular ones include Cakewalk Sonar X2 Producer, Steinberg Cubase, Finale 2012 and Masterwriter Songwriting Software. Each one not only records songs they also have additional features as well.

The prolific use of songwriting software has revolutionizes the art and craft of writing songs. In day gone by the cost of making a demo or final product was very expensive. Software opens the door for creative artist an affordable option in getting songs out to the public. Now the home computer is the recording studio,

Though the use of the software an artist is empowered to write and record songs. This creates more opportunities for songwriters. Independent artist can compete with the larger music industry. It makes the playing field level. It is now possible to reach fame by recording songs and publishing them directly on the Internet. Now distribution is quick and easy. It can be done from the comfort of your home.

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Posted in Songwriting Software Tagged: artist, digital, songwriting, songwriting software | 2 Comments

More Secrets to Songwriting Success

By songwriter Published January 30, 2013

Develop these attributes of a successful songwriter, and you will find yourself moving quickly toward songwriting success!

Thick Skin

The music business is a tough business. You cannot be easily hurt or upset if you want to be a successful songwriter.  There will always be situations where your work will be under scrutiny or critiqued. You need to develop a way to see past that and let it roll off your back, like “water off a duck’s back.”

Duck in WaterDucks have feathers that are tight and their density act like oil. It keeps the duck dry and warm.  So when water, cold or otherwise, lands on the back of a duck, it simply rolls off. Let critiques roll off your back in a similar manner. If you are going to be successful, you need to take these situations as opportunities to become a better songwriter. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Inspiration Tagged: courage, fanatic, music, music business, resolve, songwriting, Thick Skin | 1 Comment

Using Creativity Techniques to Write Your Song

By songwriter Published January 24, 2013

Songwriting is a creative endeavor. As such creativity techniques need to be applied when you develop your songs. These techniques will help you find new and innovative ideas. We are going to go through the process in a step by step fashion.

It is important in the creative songwriting process to have plenty of ideas. What are some of the ways to go about getting ideas for songs? Let’s take a look at three methods of getting ideas. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Inspiration Tagged: BEST, brainstorm, Creative Songwriting, Creativity, environment, IDEAS, WRITE | 2 Comments

Four Top Tips of Successful Songwriters

By songwriter Published January 19, 2013

target

Here are four tips that will help your songwriting career become more successful.  First you will need character.  Character is about who you are.  Second you will need to hustle. This is the amount of effort you put into your work. The third thing is time management.  The ability to control what you do and when is vital to your success. The fourth thing is risk taking.  Playing it too safe can destroy or even stall your progress.  Include these skills into your strategy for a successful songwriting career and you’ll move forward faster than you ever dreamed! Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Help Tagged: Character, Hustle, Risk Taker, Risk Taking, songwriting, Time Management | 1 Comment

The Art of Songwriting Challenge

By songwriter Published January 15, 2013

There is an art to songwriting. Every form of art requires a process. A process helps you succeed as a songwriter. To help you improve I’ve complied this songwriting challenge. Go though each step. The ideas presented here provide a basic framework for you to start a new song. Most of the steps presented below were generated from the various songwriting tools available on this web site. There are links to each of these tools. If one of the challenge ideas doesn’t feel right to you, go ahead and explore the songwriting tool for additional possibilities. Above all – Have fun! Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwritng Challenge Tagged: Add Rhythm, Chord Progressions, Rhyming Schemes, Song Form, Songwriting Challenge, The Art of Songwriting | 1 Comment

The Six Most Important Building Blocks for Superior Music

By songwriter Published December 27, 2012

Elements of musicTIME

Music is an art form that is based and exists in time. When a piece of music is performed it passes through time. The structure of music is built on the stage of time. As such, the musical form measurements are divided into many sequential events.

Just like a ruler with feet and inches, time can be split into individual units of measurements. This concept creates a System of Measurement of different lengths of tones. And a rhythmic condition is clearly defined. Think of time as a canvas. Drawn on this canvas is musical melody lines. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Basics, Songwriting Structure, Songwriting Theory Tagged: MEASURES, meldoy, MELODY, RHYTHM, TEMPO, TIME | 1 Comment

Rhyme Patterns and Types Used in Songwritng

By songwriter Published December 13, 2012

One fundamental part of a song is the rhyme. This poetic device helps provide appeal to the song’s lyric. Lyrics are written according to certain patterns. These patterns are fairly predictable. That is because rhymes work in a manner that the listener expects to hear.

Do all lines in a song lyric need to rhyme? Not necessarily. With songwriting there is a unique balance between predictability and surprise. If there is too much predictability, then the song can sound trite, boring or uninspiring. On the other end of the spectrum, a song with too many surprises will lend itself to confusion and chaos.

When writing songs, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. You can begin with structures that are proven and work within that framework. As a jumping point for writing a song you can start with some common rhyme schemes. Most song verses will have 4 to 6 lines. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Basics, Songwriting Beginners, Songwriting Lyrics Tips, Songwriting Structure Tagged: AAAA, ABBA, AXAX, End Rhymes, lyrics, rhyme, XAXA | 2 Comments

Chord Progression for Songwriters

By songwriter Published December 11, 2012

Guitar Chords for SongwritingChord progressions are a vital part of song writing. Let’s learn how to construct a chord progression.

To start out here is a C major scale…

C major Scale

In the illustration each note of the scale is assigned a number form 1 to 7.  With the C note being “1″.  This is the starting place for creating chords.

Here is the list of names for the other degrees of the scale:

Note Position Technical name
1 TONIC
2 SUPERTONIC
3 MEDIANT
4 SUBDOMINANT
5 DOMINANT
6 SUBMEDIANT
7 LEADING TONE

To create a chord, use the basic scale using the numbers to build the chord.  The first chord is C.  To make a C chord all that is need is to use this simple formula 1-3-5.  With each number representing the number in the scale.  The C chord is C-E-G. That is the C = 1, E = 3, G = 5. Basically the chord is made up of three note at ever other note interval

Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Chords Tagged: Chord Progressions, DOMINANT, Fundamental Harmonic Principles, Harmonic Scale, LEADING, SUBMEDIANT, tone | 5 Comments

Songwriting: You Can Do It!

By songwriter Published December 7, 2012

If there is anything that keeps a songwriter from realizing success is the attitude of confidence. A positive attitude can only take you so far. You must have full confidence in your ability to write songs.

You may ask yourself “How can I have that confidence?” You may feel that you suck at songwriting or you believe that other successful songwriter’s don’t struggle at their craft. Well here some advice – Get over it!

The truth is nearly every songwriter struggles with songwriting. Struggling with self-esteem means you are looking at how you compare with other songwriter’s and using that to measure your success.  As a result you become your own worse enemy.

Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Beginners, Songwriting Exercises, Songwriting Techniques Tagged: music, songwriting, Write Songs | Leave a comment

MAGIX Music Maker MX Review

By songwriter Published December 6, 2012

Magix Music Maker Software PackageThe main goal when creating and writing your own song is to be able to sell, publish and share them. Making the process of producing music simpler gives you a competitive edge. A simpler process allows you to focus on creating your music. Using software such as MAGIX Music Maker can help make the music creation process easier.

If you are just a beginner or someone with more experience, this software will provide you will important tools to move forward in your music career. This software gives you an efficient flow from start to finish by utilizing the sound building block method.

You Don’t Need to Know Everything to Get Started Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Software Tagged: MAGIX, music, Music Maker, Need It It | Leave a comment

Songwriting Tools to Help You Write a Better Song

By songwriter Published November 28, 2012

This website has several online tools to help you write and create songs. These tools will help jump start your songwriting efforts. We will explore each one of the tool in a step by step fashion. So lets get started.

Step 1: Getting a title

Every song needs a strong title. Oftentimes this is the first spark of inspiration. Titles can be found just about anywhere. To help you get song title ideas go to the “Random Song Title Generator“. Here you will find a series of titles randomly generated. Some may seem silly or don’t make sense. But as you go through the list there may be something that appeals to you. Make that your title.  Add this to a new document in your favorite text editor. Continue reading »

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Posted in Songwriting Inspiration, Songwriting Methods, Songwriting Software, Songwriting Techniques Tagged: ABAC, Chord Progressions, Melody Shape Generator, music, Random Song Title Generator, Rhyming Scheme, Rhyming Words, Rhythm Motif, songwriting, Step Five Create Chord Progressions, Step Four Free Write | 3 Comments
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