Allister Bradley, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and technical director of the Song Studio Songwriter’s Workshop in Toronto, and co-host of the Hooks & Ladders youTube show with Blair Packham, joined us to talk about three songs with great bridges. We talked about: How the bridge differs from the verse and chorus How a good bridge …
Singer-songwriter and music educator Susan Cattaneo joined us once again, this time to talk about tips for overcoming writer’s block for songwriters. We talked about: writing in a different mode, on purpose a great video on understanding modes – The Modes Ranked by Brightness – YouTube lists of contemporary songs using modes, courtesy of Susan …
We welcomed the return of our ex-co-host Michael Proudfoot, joining us to review our updated answers to the 2022 Songwriting Challenge. We talked about: Our new Songwriting Challenge webpage, featuring the original versions of our songs, plus listener song episodes The Song Talk Meetup Mashing up various styles and instruments Reaching out to other songwriters …
Neel explains his journey in writing his response to our 2022 Song Talk Radio Songwriting Challenge: a song with the title “Why Do You Cry”. Lyrics for Why Do You Cry – sketch 2 Lyrics for Why Do You Cry – sketch 6
For the past 25+ years, Eric Alper has been at the forefront of the Canadian entertainment industry – making the Public in Public Relations his business. His enthusiasm, encyclopedic knowledge of the past and present have made him the go-to for music in Canada. He is also host of one of the top-rated SiriusXM shows “ThatEricAlper”. …
This week we took a dive into the 1978 mockumentary – The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash – a satire of Beatlemania and the Fab Four. Aside from being one of the first mock-docs, it is also a very funny film featuring some Monty Python alumnae, a few famous faces from early SNL and …
On this episode, we talked about our favourite music documentaries – films and TV series. There are links to streaming services and free places you can check them out for yourself. Enjoy and happy watching! We talked about: The Song Talk Radio Songwriting Challenge for 2022 Artists on Spotify are mad about more than Joe …
On this special episode, we decode the ins and outs of the Circle of Fifths and how to use it to create interesting chord progressions. We talked about: Why the fifth is so important in music What does diatonic mean? How to expand your musical palette Which chord is your “home” chord Samples songs we …
Gather ’round kiddies for our Annual Holiday Gift Guide! with Special Guest Mike MacInnes! Full of stocking stuffers, friendly little gifts and great big wowsa! gifts. Buy them for the songwriter/musician in your life – or get yourself something nice, ’cause you deserve it. Is there anything that you’re hoping to find under your holiday-appropriate …
This week SongTalk tried something a little different. We brought in some our favourite songs sung in a different language than English. They say music is the international language so we thought we would put that to the test. Phil, Neel and Mike each presented three songs in a language other than English and we …
Well, this summer is gone so we thought we’d try to grab the last bit of joy by sharing our fav summer songs. What are the tunes that bring you back to the lazy, hazy days of summer? Give our Summer Songs playlist a spin (or a click):
If you have Music Licensing questions, then this show is for you! Michael Elsner of MasterMusicLicensing.com stopped by to share some killer tips on how to get your songs into Movies and TV and his Master Music Licensing course. Lexie Jay of Featurette filled in for Neel who was skiving off somewhere. We talked about: …
This week it was just the family, as hosts Mike, Neel, and Phil each posed a question to reveal how they became the songwriters they are today, and give out songwriting tips in the process. We talked about: What I Learned From Freddie – Neil Peart (Course Teaser) – YouTube Drumeo on Facebook How Mike …
“NFTs stand for non-fungible tokens, and they allow the audience and fan base to take part in auctions for unique content from the artists, labels, and festivals that they love, where the transactions go directly into the pockets of the artists.” This is according to music publicist and blogger Eric Alper, of thatericalper.com. We also …
This week we welcomed five more songwriters who sent us their answers to our latest songwriting challenge, to write a song with a single chord progression throughout. We got two protest songs, a song about social media, a rather tense relationship, and of course, COVID-19. We were so pleased to receive submissions from all over …
This week we reflected on the year that was 2020, and what a memorable year we had! We changed our format from a live radio broadcast / podcast to a Zoom meet pre-recorded podcast, but that also opened up our guests to join us from anywhere in the world, not just Toronto. We talked about: …
Singer-songwriter and Jitters frontman Blair Packham joined us for our latest annual Holiday Gift Guide. We talked about gift suggestions in every price range. Happy shopping for the musician in your life, for yourself, or for your favourite songwriting podcast host (hint: that’s Neel). Thanks to our listeners Don Thomspon, Lorenzo D. Policelli, and Matt …
We talk about the songwriting do’s and don’ts as well as: The 2nd Annual Songwriting Challenge The Annual Holiday Gift Guide Songwriting Dos and Don’ts on Discmakers DO: Write a cool opening line DON’T: Make your chorus melody too much like your verse melody DO: Write interesting titles DON’T: Be afraid to rewrite DO: Polish …
This week we were saddened by the passing away of guitar icon Eddie Van Halen. We talked about his amazing talent and some more stuff. We talked about: Mandolin Orange cover version of Bob Dylan’s Boots of Spanish Leather, and songs with two different points of view (thanks to Jeff from Michigan for the email) …
So are people still writing protest songs? How do the protest songs of the ’60-’70s compare to the songs by Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar? When you start songwriting and your goal is a protest song, how do you start? Vanessa stops by to lend her views. We talked about: Do protest songs chart? Abstract …
In this throwback, we chatted with musical book writer Stephen Witkin about songs with a pride theme, with song examples. Check out the original show notes.
Ooh and ahh and doo and doe your way back to 2017, where we talked about songs with non-verbal hooks. Check out the original show post.
This week on SongTalk we look at a simple songwriting technique that may be more complicated than you think – songs with one chord progression. That’s right, no guest this week just the SongTalk team – Phil, Neel and Mike – talking about the ways songs with just one series of chords repeated over and …
In this throwback from 2017, we talked about the benefits of attending the live Song Talk Meetup (formerly the Songwriter’s Meetup, formerly the Songwriter’s Cafe). This month’s meetup (May 2020) is online (and will be for the next while), so wherever you are in the world, you can attend. We hope to see you there!
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