Blog
Browse by Category:
Analyzing Songs
Chorus Writing
Creative Practice
Finishing Songs
Generating Ideas for Lyrics
Habits of Success
Language
Lyric Writing
Melody Writing
metaphor
Music
Music Business
Music Theory for Songwriters
My writing
psychology
Psychology of Creativity
Recommendations
Revising Songs
Song Form
Song Starters
Songs I Love
Student Profile
The Value of Art
Uncategorized
Wisdom from Songwriters
writing
Writing Prompts
Uncategorized
Sydney Songwriting Short Course
September 19, 2019
Hi friends, A new term of my Songwriting 1 course at the Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy kicks of…
Generating Ideas for Lyrics
Psychology of Creativity
Songs I Love
Uncategorized
Wisdom from Songwriters
writing
Steal Like a Songwriter
September 16, 2019
The most effective way I write songs is to immerse myself in songwriters. I like to remind myself…
Generating Ideas for Lyrics
Psychology of Creativity
Creativity as a physical act
September 2, 2019
At the beginning of this year, I joined the gym. Again. I was more optimistic about it this…
metaphor
writing
Metaphor in songwriting is alive and well, thanks.
September 1, 2019
Many years ago, while living in LA, I heard a Big Shot Industry Dude (cue Beethoven’s 5th…) say:…
Uncategorized
Ask a Songwriter #01: How do you write about the ‘extinction of species’?
August 30, 2019
Episode #1 “How do you write about a broad concept like “the extinction of species”? Doris Folkens, Ontario, Canada…
Uncategorized
Album Round-up 2018
January 31, 2019
The music I listen to doesn’t always (umm…actually, never!) sounds like the music I make. Here are some…
Generating Ideas for Lyrics
Song Starters
Uncategorized
Wisdom from Songwriters
Ryan Adams: Let Your Ego Come Out to Play
February 8, 2017
I love this video of Ryan Adams revealing his daily songwriting method, that he calls ‘Stacks’. It basically…
Uncategorized
Bob Dylan: One Chord, 11 Verses
February 1, 2017
“All you need is 3 chords and the truth”…I’ve heard that attributed to Bob Dylan. In Dylan’s wonderful…
Language
Uncategorized
writing
Writing Tips from George Orwell
November 22, 2016
One of the most incisive essays I have ever read on the art of writing is the short…
Music
Songs I Love
Uncategorized
The Secret Life of ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen.
September 28, 2016
The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen is now thought of as a glittering jewel of genius. But the…
Language
psychology
Uncategorized
I Have a Confession to Make
August 4, 2016
I have a public confession to make. I have a serious problem—a profound weakness, and it only gets worse…
Generating Ideas for Lyrics
Revising Songs
Uncategorized
Driving Around the Road Cones: Two Easy Strategies for Moving Beyond the First Verse
July 28, 2016
Almost all songwriters I know experience a type of road block in the process of writing songs. Paradoxically,…
Songs I Love
Student Profile
Student Profile – Sister Ursuline
July 21, 2016
SISTER URSULINE is a Sydney-based cello-wielding songwriter with a soft spot for pigeons, bloomers, and hidden historical stories…
Uncategorized
Congrats!
July 20, 2016
Congratulations to Doris Folkens and Heather Elliot for having their song, ‘Lanterns’, place as a finalist in the…