What's in a Song

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Scarlet Keys is joined with Forensic Musicologist Dr. Joe Bennett.  Joe breaks down the chords in this song and shares Nashville tunings for the guitar. Joe gets granular in this discussion as he compares Lenny Kravit's "It Ain't over 'til it's over" with "Ruin the friendship" and clarify's what constitutes copyright inf...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk about Taylor Swift's narrative and lyric techniques.  We break down the bridge in the song "Ruin the Friendship"  with a focus on lyrical techniques and a touch on melody.  We talk about the power of a bridge and the alchemy this bridge has on the rest of the narrative. Support this podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys  Venmo: @sca...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk about the critical thinking skills of a songwriter and the puzzle of the song.   When your song feels like it's missing something or you might feel bored by your own song but don't know what to do to change it.  After the song is written, it's important to know what to look for on how to make the song as effective as possible.  I hope you wil...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to a new season! We are continuing on with the Life of a Show Girl interpreted with new up coming episodes. Today, I am joined with Dr. Joe Bennett as we break down "Eldest Daughter" by Taylor Swift. Songwriting retreats: Star Island In person songwriting retreat: https://starisland.org/program/songwriting-intensive-the-art-of-the-song/ Support this podcast:...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we break down Father Figure from Taylor Swift's record "The Life of a Showgirl". In this episode we look at: The chord progression Melodic hooks Rhetorical devices Guitar voicings The stunning bridge and what the back ground harmonies are bringing to this section to make it so spectacular Phrasing Prosody Sign up for the Master class: The songwritin...

Send us Fan Mail Track32 on "The Life of a Showgirl" - Opalite I'm back with Forensic Musicologist Dr. Joe Bennett In this episode we look at: The chord progression Chord tensions Harmonic rhythm Borrowed chord Rhetorical device Production Direct modulation To sign up with the virtual live master class "The Songwriting of Taylor Swift" with Scarlet Keys:  https://www.event...

Send us Fan Mail Track 2 on "The Life of a Showgirl" - Elizabeth Taylor I'm back with Forensic Musicologist Dr. Joe Bennett In this episode we look at: The chord progression Chord inversions Tensions Harmonic rhythm Phrase lengths Melisma Writing from a title Melodic hooks To sign up with the virtual live master class "The Songwriting of Taylor Swift" with Scarlet Keys:  h...

Send us Fan Mail This is the first of a 12 episode series where Berklee College of music professor Scarlet Keys talks about each song off of the new Taylor Swift album "The Life of a Showgirl" searching for clues and signature moves that Swift uses as a writer to write songs that resonate with millions of listeners and pack stadiums.   They are listening for literary devices, chord progr...

Send us Fan Mail About this weeks guest: Roger Brown is an American businessman, philanthropist, and academic administrator and former president of Berklee College of Music . Brown is also the co-founder of Bright Horizons and founder and chairman of the Salt Lick Incubator.  He is most recently a grammy nominated songwriter!!! In this episode, Roger talks about becoming a songwriter later in life...

Send us Fan Mail Today, Ariel Hyatt introduces the concept of the Three Communities every artist must understand:  - **Ambient Fans** who are aware of you  - **Engaged Fans** who pay attention and interact  - **Superfans** who support, advocate, and stick with you over the long term. She talks about the power of the mailing list, gaining true fans and if you only have 10 min a day to market, how s...

Send us Fan Mail To sign up for the online songwriting in process class: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1376858744569?aff=oddtdtcreator On today's show I have Psychologist Dr. Jill Stoddard  So much of what goes into a song is the psychology of the songwriter.  Mindset is so important to the creative.  Today, Dr. Stoddard talks about how to work with our inner critic, why we have it, how to foc...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Mark Simos takes us through writing songs for social change, political protest, songs for that evoke empathy and songs of conscience. We talk metaphor, point of view and the most effective way to handle this delicate topic. We give you a song prompt and this episode is woven with songwriting crafts gems. Spotify songs for social justice: https://open.spotify.com/p...

Send us Fan Mail Upcoming classes: To sign up for the April 5th workshop: "The songwriting of Taylor Swift":   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1252499231919?aff=oddtdtcreator To support this podcast and membership: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys Show take aways: Try writing a song using the words and rhythm of a nursery rhyme to try audio doodling in your melody. Write your chorus fi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I speak with Neuroscientist, author and musician Dr. Daniel Levitin on how music affects our health.  From reducing cortisol to lessening the effects of Parkinsons and how we can use music as medicine!  We talk science and his new book "I Heard there was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine":  Daniel Levitin's music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7iR...

Send us Fan Mail To sign up for the November 23rd virtual LYRIC WRITING WORKSHOP:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1070697919299?aff=oddtdtcreatorhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/1080037885389?aff=oddtdtcreator My guest today is New England based singer/songwriter Jesse Terry. Before I introduce him I wanted to let you know that on Saturday Nov. 16th I am offering a virtual 3 hour songwriting workshop. ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I talk with singer/songwriter Kylie Rothfield. She shares what she learned about singing and stage fright from Alicia Keys.  We talk about what she learned from writing with some of the best writers in Nashville, song craft, process and so much more.  This was a good one! Pre save Kylie's single coming out Sept. 27th here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ky...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, singer/songwriter Michael McDermott talks about writing process, writing from your life and shares new songs off his two new albums dropping Sept 13th. Join the "What's in a Song" membership community: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys https://michael-mcdermott.com/home Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/ Otto Gross: https://w...

Send us Fan Mail Today I have Berklee Professor Ben Camp on the show discussing AI We talk about where it is now and what it means for songwriters in the future.  We talk ethics, creativity, originality, works that are derivative and Ben takes a song we wrote together years ago and puts it through AI to demonstrate some of the current possibilities AI offers creatives. Ben Camp has taught songwrit...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Pat Pattison, author of "Writing Better Lyrics" walks us through step by step of how to find metaphors. This is the exercise I gave to writer Madi Diaz that she talked about in the previous episode. Pat talks about the difference between simile and metaphor for songwriters, passing metaphors and central metaphors and takes us through a song by Eli and Fu...

Send us Fan Mail My guest today is one of my former students singer/songwriter Madi Diaz Madi grew up in Pennsylvania where she was homes schooled by her mother and took piano lessons from her father at the age of 5. After high school, Madi was accepted to Berklee College of Music and met her first collaborator Kyle Ryan which led to her recording her first record skin and bones in Hawaii. Later,...

Send us Fan Mail In this minisode, I talk about writing melody and thinking of melody as the song's tone of voice. Auditioning melodies to make sure we pair the best notes with our most important words and the power of unstable notes in writing great melodies. To join my summer songwriting class "Writing Better Melodies" click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/melody-writing-intens...

Send us Fan Mail "Inspiration is for Amateurs" " Don't be 'a writer' but instead be writing." - Faulkner "Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe To join the "What's in a Song" community membership: https://buymeacoffee.com/scarlet.keys Link to song from band Corner Boy &quo...

Send us Fan Mail In this Episode, Robert Ellis Orrall talks about writing with Taylor Swift.  What she was like as a young writer, how he set up the showcase that got her a record deal and shares two songs her wrote with Swift along with an original from his latest record. Upcoming workshop: Taylor Swift Master class this Tuesday May 28th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-songwriting-of-taylor-swi...

Send us Fan Mail My guest today s an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Will Kimbrough. As a producer, he has produced albums for Rodney Crowell, Todd Snider, Kim Richey, Garrison Star and Matthew Ryan to name a few. His songs have been recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Little Fear, Jack Ingram, and he has collaborated with Rosanne Cash, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris,...

Send us Fan Mail The storytelling effects of nouns. Mixed by Peter Sykes: https://www.petersykesmusic.com/ Otto Gross: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMnxx19QD-vxD4wnYGTn3Jw Scarlet's website: https://www.scarletkeys.com Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarletkeysofficial/ Scarlet's website: https://www.scarletkeys.com Scarlet's instagram: https://www.instagram...