Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Diana M. Wilson's avatar

Love the Annie Dillard story--every time I find a penny, I am POSITIVE it's a sign. So thank you all those "Annie Dillards" out there.....

Expand full comment
Dan Hochberg's avatar

Three vs four chord songs. I spend a fair amount of time creating chord progressions on my guitar and attempting to write songs. I do like to write hooks that are catchy but not the same as what others are doing. And I try to have the flexibility to throw in a jazz chord to create some uniqueness.

But I decided a while ago that I need to let the idea of the song take precedence over the creativity of it. In principle if a simple song delivers the message better I want to not be afraid to be simple and cliched.

In practice I usually just create some progression and then I listen to see what I would like to put next. If I like it chances are others will.

Though sometimes I just throw out random chords in unusual places to see if I can discover some new territory.

Expand full comment
142 more comments...

No posts