Of all the great players in NBA history, Kobe Bryant may have had the least amount of natural talent.

He wasn’t tall like Kareem. He couldn’t jump like Jordan. And he wasn’t as strong and athletic as Lebron.

What he did have, however, was an unmatched ability to squeeze out every ounce of potential he had.

As a songwriter who loves the craft but doesn’t have immense natural talent, I find this endlessly inspiring.

In this video, I’m gonna play a few short clips of Kobe, and reveal how his app...

While Adele’s massive hit “Hello” is rightly praised for its powerful vocals, the song’s simple chords play a key role in telling the story.

In this video, we’ll break down the harmony to reveal why these simple chords are so emotionally effective, and how they support the story in ways we might easily overlook.

This video has a few technical glitches and, in hindsight, the chordal analysis is a little longer than necessary. But I think you’ll enjoy the payoff - Adele’s use of simple chords t...

Are you feeling uneasy about what AI might mean for music?

If so, you’re not alone.

Lately, much of the conversation around AI and music has been framed through fear and uncertainty. While these concerns are understandable, I worry that this bleak tone may cause songwriters to unnecessarily feel anxious.

In this video, I offer a different perspective - one rooted in indifference. I truly don’t think that 99% of us songwriters need to spend a single minute worrying about AI.

I break this down into...

Do you struggle to come up with new and unique ideas for your songs?

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck using the same songwriting techniques over and over again?

Or maybe you feel blocked creatively because, even though you want to write, you don’t know what to write?

I used to struggle with all of these. Then I tried this simple, fun brainstorming exercise and it changed everything.

In this video, I use the brilliant opening scene from the movie The Courier to show you:

• A simple, repeata
...

We songwriters don’t like to hear this, but writing more songs doesn’t make us better songwriters. While writing more songs feels productive, the only way to write better songs is by developing your skills.

In this video, I’m gonna share a simple but powerful goal-setting framework that’ll help you avoid stagnation and ensure you’re constantly improving as a songwriter.

We'll discuss:

• A simple framework that will help you develop your skills
• My current skills development plan (serves as a
...

When I first started learning the music modes, I had a hard time understanding how they worked and why I should use them. It was only after decoding the modes on my own did everything finally make sense.

In this video, we’re gonna decode the modes together so you too can understand where modes come from and why they are so powerful. This is the video that I wish existed when I first started learning the modes. We hope it improves your understanding of how modes work and why you should use...

In this episode of our "What Makes This Song A Story" series, we analyze how Bjork used melody to narrate her story in her epic song "Joga". This includes an analysis of the vocal melodies in the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus.

In this video, we analyze how Nirvana used the drums to narrate the story in their iconic song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This includes a breakdown of the song's drum parts in the Verse, Pre-Chorus, and Chorus.

In this episode of our "What Makes This Song A Story" series, we analyze how Nirvana used the elements of music to narrate the story in their iconic song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This includes an analysis of the song's lyrics, melody, dynamics, and guitar texture.

In this episode of our "What Makes This Song A Story" series, we analyze how David Bowie used the elements of music to narrate the story in his song "Heroes". This includes an analysis of the song's lyrics, structure, harmony, vocals, and texture.

Do you struggle to turn a few parts into an interesting song? Do your songs lack excitement and contrast? Do you know how to use the elements of music to tell your story?

When I first got into songwriting, I had a very hard time learning how to compose songs. And when I finally figured this out, the next mountain to climb was even more difficult: learning how to compose interesting songs. It took a few years, but my songs did eventually become more interesting. In this video, I'll use a t...

Do you want to avoid stagnating as a songwriter? Are you demotivated to write because you don't know how to get better? Do you want to continuously improve the quality of your songs over time?

When I first started writing songs, I completely misunderstood what it took to be a songwriter. I used to think it was all about creativity and tapping into my artistic headspace. But the deeper I got into songwriting, the more apparent it became that my perspective was flawed. I realized that to le...

Do you struggle to finish your songs? Do you get paralyzed by writer's block? Does your inability to finish songs demotivate you to write? In this video, we'll discuss one of the most overlooked yet critical aspects of songwriting: the phases.

I myself struggled to finish songs when I first started writing. I would write a verse and chorus, but have no idea how to proceed. For years I attributed this inability to finish songs on a lack of technical skills. But I eventually realized that t...

The elements of music are the basic building blocks of music. You can think of them as the ingredients in your dish, or the characters in your story. There are six elements: melody, harmony, rhythm, instrument, texture, and dynamics.

It's critical to learn about the elements of music for a few reasons. First, it will provide you with all the tools you need to analyze and understand any type of music. Second, it'll help you write the songs you want to write, regardless of style or genre. A...

When I go to YouTube and search for videos about songwriting, I see results about lyrics, melodies, chords, songwriting process, the list goes on. But these results aren't relevant. That's right, these results are not relevant. While these videos do discuss elements of songs, they don't discuss the song itself. A song is a higher-level construct that's unique from its underlying elements. It's like searching for tips on how to make pizza and getting results on cheese, tomato sauce, and dough....

A few years after I started composing, I had an epiphany. I realized that songs are nothing more than audio stories and that songwriters tell stories with music just like writers tell stories with words. This insight led me to develop a simple narrative-based framework that transformed my songwriting and helped me write the songs I've always wanted to write, in any style or genre. In this video, we'll dive deeper into the framework and review an example song with audio.