Tag archives for motif

5 Tips to Turn a Guitar Riff Into a Song

March 12th, 2021 by
5 Tips to Turn a Guitar Riff Into a Song

After the first attempt, even the most seasoned guitar players realized that songwriting is a horse of a different color. Don’t be disheartened by the new challenge and its learning curve. A well-composed song is a permanent reflection of you as an artist.

In this post, I’ll share five handy (interconnected) tips that will help you turn a good guitar riff into a great song. Of course, my method isn’t the only way to go about it. But I learned it from the pros and found it to be immensely helpful.

So, with the hope that you can accomplish your creative goals with it, let’s get to it.

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Using Popular Song Motifs to Write New Songs

June 19th, 2018 by

equalizer song motif music notesOne of our readers asked the following question:

Is it helpful to try to write lyrics for an existing popular song motif?

I really appreciate the chance to answer readers questions. One think I believe is helpful is many questions are never asked. Since that never are asked there is no opportunity to answer them. That is why I like reader questions. Many times the question asked could be the one that will help you with your songwriting efforts. (more…)

Songwriting – How to Easily Write a Strong Melody

April 15th, 2013 by

Download a copy of the songwriting eBook How to Write Songs That Sell

Great melodies are crucial to great songs. This video will show you how you can easily come up with a solid, memorable melody. you’ll learn an easy technique for writing effective, singable melodies your listeners will be singing, even after your song is over.

Use A Musical Motif

Some of the things that I found very useful for songwriting is the use of a musical motif.  A motif a short musical phase that is used as a foundation for a melody.  For a motif to work it must be repeated several time in the song section.  In the video Anthony creates a musical phase based on the motif.  The phase is then altered and modified to create some variations.  The first variation is to add additional notes to the original motif.  The second variation is to shorten the phase by removing some of the notes from the motif. (more…)

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  • Songwriter Tip:

    If you are worried about being labeled as a fraud or a cheat by post dating the copyrights on your CD, don’t worry. Big artists do this even when they have been playing the song live for 10 years or have admitted in interviews that the songs are much older than that. Greg Lake put the copyright date for Lucky Man as 1971 even though he admits to having written the song when he was 12, therefore in 1956.