Chad Shank and two of his favourite songs

This week we were joined again by Chad Shank to talk about two of his favourite songs and why they should be studied.

Chad Shank is a Songwriter, Music Producer, and Songwriting Teacher. Chad is the founder of At-Home Songwriting, a YouTube Channel and Songwriting Education Community. He is also a Lyric Instructor for Berklee College of Music Online. He has written in many genres including pop, Country, and dance. In 2024, Chad is hosting upcoming online and in-person Songwriting Retreats, expanding on the reach of At-Home Songwriting to help writers write like Pros At Home.

Chad featured the songs What Have You Done For Me Lately by Janet Jackson and Here by Rascal Flatts

We talked about:

• What makes a great song?
• Groove-based music, using a bassline to drive the song, and synthesizers taking the place of horns
• Writing melodies where the rhythm is more important than the range of pitches
• Try writing a catchy musical interlude, it can become the main hook of your song!
• Writing with strong prosody between the lyrics and shape of your melody
• Introducing tension through your rhyme schemes
• Establishing context with sense-based lyrics before getting to the emotional content
• Being really clear about your song structure
• How “Country music” is a really big umbrella

Check out Chad’s At Home Songwriting youTube channel and online community.