Guitar Nine Columns: Songwriting Composition Theory

How do you write something fast, expressive and musical? Randy Ellefson is here with some tips.

Tom Hess discusses how creativity can be enhanced and stimulated to improve songwriting and improvisation.

Bryon Thompson on discovering new ways of writing stronger and more original material.

Tom Hess is back with a second installment on how creativity can be enhanced to improve songwriting and improvisation.

Creating a harmonic relationship between sections and adding to the sense of forward motion - Randy Ellefson is here with some great ideas.

Let guitarist Alan Lennon take you through the basics of writing songs, starting with the fundamentals of chord progressions.

Interested in an aural and methodical inspiration? Let the Sultan of String show you his thematic ideas.

Guitarist A-J Charron is here with his ideas on writing from the heart (not the checkbook).

Hess guitarist Mike Walsh has got a great use for your next spare Benjamin.

Ready to quit your day job? Get some thoughts and advice first, from one who`s done it.

If you learn other peoples solos or listen to other people`s music, will it ruin your own creativity? Scott Tarulli gives his personal opinion.

Developing riffs and melodies into complete, interesting and listenable pieces of music.

Tom Hess urges you to get beyond `guitarist` and `musician` to uncover the `artist` within.

Most guitarist are predominantly one or the other. Here`s some ways to achieve some balance.

Tom Hess with ideas on selecting and using a compositional process that works best for you.

Tom Hess with even more ideas on selecting and using a compositional process that works best for you.

The process and benefits of writing down and charting specific details of the things the composer wishes to express is explained.

Michael Knight looks at some activities for versatile composition and soloing.

The second part of the process and benefits of writing down and charting specific details of the things the composer wishes to express is explained.

Tom Hess with his third installment on ideas on selecting and using a compositional process that works best for you.

Tom Hess with his fourth installment on songwriting, with more advanced, yet simple and overlooked concepts.

A theory borrowed from psychology but adapted by the author to the musical realm.

You can get so much from exposure to unfamiliar music styles.

An introduction to the most familiar way of analyzing and composing music for many of us.

Kole supplies you, the songwriter/composer with three tools that will help you kick writer`s block `night in the ruts`.

Kole goes beyond rut-busting, with tips on how to surpass all ruts.

Kevin Ferguson offers guiding principles used to transcribe and arrange Vivaldi (and other Baroque) violin concertos to electric guitars.

The often misunderstood and underappreciated interval - the minor second.

Adding color to the bland, unifying lyrics, and other compositional techniques.

No matter your level, these five tips will greatly improve your compositional ability.

Is the ability to write songs a gift, or can it be learned? Lou Lombardi has the answer.

Kole teaches three essential and very effective concepts for making music.

Here are nine songwriting tips you can use right away, regardless of your current level of technique.

When you find a group of musicians that you write, perform and hang with and can trust, well you may have won a lottery in life.

Shedding light on modes for those of you that are reaching out for new ideas to add to your musical armoury.

Connect with our audience; stirring up emotions while avoiding negative emotions.

Most guitar players have a tendency to use a single (often limiting) approach to songwriting that holds them back from achieving the results they want.

Unity and variety in songwriting are essential to keeping a song balanced and maintaining interest throughout the entire piece of music.

It does not necessarily have to take you a very long time to gain the skills needed to accurately express yourself through music.

Mike Campese is back with ideas on how to compose - anytime, anywhere.

There are four mistakes that you can fix that will drastically increase your musical creativity and help you come up with songwriting ideas much faster.

You might think that the pentatonic scale is just an easy scale but with no depth - well, you are wrong.