Episodes

  • The Only Songwriting Tip That Matters (+ Important Announcement)

    The Only Songwriting Tip That Matters (+ Important Announcement)
    Aug 29 2024

    We're talking about the only songwriting tip that ultimately matters and an important announcement. ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/
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    31 mins
  • 100 Years | Parallelism, Borrowed Chords, 2 Bridges, Non-Lazy Songwriting, and more

    100 Years | Parallelism, Borrowed Chords, 2 Bridges, Non-Lazy Songwriting, and more
    Jul 17 2024

    ►► Download the 6-Step Lyric Writing Checklist here: https://songwritertheory.com/lyricchecklist/

    In this episode of the Songwriter Theory Podcast, we talk about the power of parallelism in your lyrics, why bridges are the perfect song section to start utilizing modes and borrowed chords, the art of subtly different song structure in our songs, non-lazy songwriting, and more! We're going off of the great song 100 Years by Five for Fighting for this episode.

    0:00 Intro

    2:51 The Power of Parallelism In Lyrics

    12:59 Where To Use Modes and Borrowed Chords In Your Songs

    35:32 Changing Up Song Song Structure

    50:00 The Art of Non-Lazy Songwriting

    1:08:36 Should We Have Our Song Title In The First Line?

    #SongwriterTheory #JosephVadala
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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Everything You Want | Hook Writing, 3rd Verses, Wordplay, and More

    Everything You Want | Hook Writing, 3rd Verses, Wordplay, and More
    Jul 3 2024

    ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

    In this episode of the new format of the Songwriter Theory Podcast, we're learning about Hook Writing, 3rd Verses, Wordplay, and more off of the song Everything You Want by my favorite artist, @VerticalHorizonMusic . We'll be covering what we can learn about hook writing, lyric writing, song structure, and more in this episode. Let's talk about it!
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • 3 Things I'd Tell A New Songwriter To Avoid My Mistakes

    3 Things I'd Tell A New Songwriter To Avoid My Mistakes
    Jun 16 2024

    ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/
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    29 mins
  • Songwriting Advice You've Never Heard Before

    Songwriting Advice You've Never Heard Before
    May 25 2024

    ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/
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    39 mins
  • This Songwriting Attitude Has To Stop

    This Songwriting Attitude Has To Stop
    Apr 19 2024

    ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/
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    46 mins
  • Responding To Your Biggest Songwriting Struggles Part 9

    Responding To Your Biggest Songwriting Struggles Part 9
    Apr 1 2024
    ►► Download the 20 Ways To Start Writing A Song Cheat Sheet here: http://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ In this bonus episode of the Songwriter Theory Podcast, we're talking about your biggest songwriting struggles. We're going to talk through and attempt to give the solution or some advice as to how to get past the struggles you're having in your songwriting. Transcript: We're back with another bonus episode of the Songwriter Theory podcast. It's going to be part eight of addressing your biggest songwriting struggles. No, I didn't forget about this series. Just didn't have time for a hot second, but we're back. We're going to finish out responding to these, not necessarily in this episode, unless actually, almost certainly we're not going to finish in this episode. No, it's not important to have watched the other ones. If you're thinking, Oh my goodness, part eight, do I have to go watch the other ones? No, they're all self-contained. Each one is me addressing different of your responses to this survey that I sent out. And whether you are somebody that actually responded to this and you're waiting to hear specifically what I have to say about your songwriting struggle and maybe the advice I give or whatever it might be. But also you might be somebody who shares a struggle with another songwriter out there. In fact, in going through these, I've realized, wow, there are a lot of themes that come up over and over. So there might be something in here to help you as well. Let's talk about it. Hello, friend. Welcome to another episode of the songwriter theory podcast. Another bonus episode talking about your biggest songwriting struggles. If you haven't already, be sure to grab my free guide. 20 different ways to start writing a song, starting songs and finishing songs or some of the recurring themes that come up here. And this free guide will help you with starting songs. It's a cheat sheet now. It's much shorter. It's very easy, practical to apply. Great way to stay creatively fresh. And just it's good to have a variety instead of being stuck in one way to start a song, especially because sometimes the one way to start a song isn't actually what's best for us. Maybe you've always started a song writing lyrics first and you haven't even contemplated that maybe an easier way to write songs for you is actually starting on the music side. Maybe something specific like a bass line or a guitar riff or chord progression. Regardless, it's a great way to mix things up. Songwritertheory.com slash free guide. Let's dive into question or feedback, I guess. Response. There's the word. Number one, lately I've been having trouble getting into the flow and starting a project and or staying focused. It's a big problem in today's society. Yes, yes, it is. Also, I have trouble finishing projects and following through and letting them out into the world. I'm not very experienced at the mixing process, but I know what sounds good, at least to me. I know I can figure out how to use the mixing tools in Ableton Live 11 Suite, which I recently acquired. Not an EDM artist, however, Ableton is perfect for the kind of music I want to play and I'm playing with all of its tweakable sounds and effects and features. But I feel like my music is so far removed from the mainstream that there's no point in putting it out there because A, no one is going to like it or listen to it. And B, I want people to hear it. But that's not the most important thing.(...) I like I make music because it's what I've always done. I'm originally a singer songwriter and trying new things with Ableton on keyboard guitars, bass drums. Do I need an attitude adjustment? Should I go back to busking on 9th Street with my classical guitar in harmonica? What do you think? 0:00 Intro 3:26 I Have Trouble Getting Into a Songwriting Flow! 8:41 I Have Trouble Staying Focused On Songwriting! 16:44 Who Will Even Care About My Music? 24:19 I Struggle Writing Melodies! 33:06 I Struggle with Metaphors In My Lyrics!
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    38 mins
  • How I’d Learn Songwriting (If I Had To Start Over)

    How I’d Learn Songwriting (If I Had To Start Over)
    Mar 7 2024

    ►► Download the 4 Pillars of Music Theory For Songwriters Guide here: http://songwritertheory.com/musictheoryguide/

    In this episode of the Songwriter Theory Podcast, we're talking about how I'd learn songwriting if I had to start over.

    After writing songs and continuing to learn for around 20 years, I'd certainly do things differently if I had the chance to do it all again. So, in this podcast I'm going to walk you through exactly what I would do in what order if I had to learn songwriting from scratch. What I'd do if I wanted to learn songwriting but had never written a single song before. The ultimate "songwriting for beginners" guide if you will.

    So, let's talk about how I would learn songwriting if I had to start from the beginning.

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    51 mins