Listen up: scales aren’t just torture devices invented by guitar teachers... When you use a scale, say, C major, you are playing ‘in the key of C’. The word ‘diatonic’ simply means ‘within a key’, so ...

Guitar skills: If there’s one thing you'll need to do to take your songwriting to the next level, it’s getting to grips with new chords. Use our acoustic guitar chord charts - from basic open chords ...

Give your chord progressions colour and flair by introducing a handful of ‘out of key’ notes. We’ve previously looked at diatonic chords, ie, chords belonging to a scale or key. As their name suggests ...

The ii-V-I has been referred to as a chord progression, a turnaround, and a cadence depending on the circumstances it is used. It is most known as the jazz progression as it is the backbone of many ...

A lot of the elements that make pop music successful relate to it being catchy and familiar. As a songwriter, there are many ways to engender this feeling in listeners, to do with song structure, ...