Bruce, Neel and Phil were all happy to have Patrick Ballantyne back in the Song Talk Radio studio for the third time. He always brings great songs (listen to “Make Believe” and “Sky” for proof) and lots of experience to share about the songwriting process for our listeners. When writing a song, he starts with …
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Having been immersed in the wonderful world of singer-songwriters during my time at Song Talk Radio, I’ve attended quite a number of gigs and open mics over the past year. Everyone I’ve seen perform has great talent in singing, playing an instrument and writing music. However, I find there’s a lot of variation in a …
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From the moment Blair Packham started to speak, we knew we were in for some great lessons from a master songwriter and experienced teacher. If You Were Mine featured a great bridge and instrumental break. In Her Dreams started out as a story of a woman in a call centre and moved to a daughter caring for an ailing …
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Bruce, Neel, Phil and Janice spent most of an hour on the subject of song structures with 4 different examples. We talked about: the prologue verse (I Left my Heart in San Francisco) writing for musical theatre (My Funny Valentine) the connection between segment style and lyrical content (Band on the Run) Sloan’s song with …
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Seasoned professional guitarist, singer-songwriter, and all-around nice guy Scott Neary shares some of his best kept songwriting secrets. Scott also accompanied the talented jazz songwriter Steven Teatz for his appearance on Song Talk Radio. We talked about: The great chorus debate – to repeat it verbatim or not? Why you should whistle your melody Why, …
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Multi-talented singer songwriter Steven Taetz turned the Song Talk studio into a smoky nightclub with his perfect renditions of his own songs. Waiting for Wishes (co-written with Emma-Lee) had so many “hooks” we lost count (listen for pre-chorus one and two, and the first chorus!). Lately (co-written with Gavin Bradley) had us enraptured as Steven delivered the plaintive lyrics of …
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Have a listen to an informative and lively discussion on chord substitutions. In this show we talked about: the Circle of Fifths Nashville numbers one/four/five chord progressions the sixth, seventh, and ninth chords how easy it is to use the Circle of Fifths to add colour to your song Chord Substitution on YouTube Learning on …
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On this highly informative and entertaining show, we talked with John Glover: how John adapted his guitar playing after a hand injury the difference between “cathartic creativity” and the hard work of writing songs Justin Rutledge‘s songwriting workshop lyrics versus poetry playing with Willie P. Bennett starting the writing of a song with a melody and a chord …
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