The Building Blocks of Great Melodies

To write a melody that your audience will remember, you need to know the 3 basic ingredients of many great melodies.

The “Whistle Factor”

If you can't sing/whistle it, it probably won't be catchy. Powerful melodies tend to stick within a singable range of an octave and a fifth.

Small, Strong Motifs

Catchy melodies start small, using either...

I've been making YouTube videos for over 15 years. I started my channel in 2006, beginning with piano covers and slowly shifting to educative content for composers.

So after all that time and effort, has YouTube finally paid off?

Well... yes and no.

On paper last year, I made less than $1900 in revenue from YouTube ads. At 1 video per week, with each video taking 5 hours, that's a grand total...

 If you want to compose for a living, you'll have to learn how to push through creative blocks.

Here's 6 tactics for when you're feeling stuck, and how to get back to creating quickly:

Establish a Routine

Don't wait to feel "inspired". Try working at the same time each day to help discipline your mind to be creative on command. Our brains rewire to accommodate recurring routines, so you'll...

Composing a minute of music used to take me 20+ hours. I wanted every second to be perfect. But no matter how long I worked, I was never happy with the finished product. 

I had to learn how to let go of perfectionism to keep my passion for composing alive.

Here's four strategies I use every day to avoid the perfectionist trap:

Give Yourself Less Time 

According to Parkinson's Law,...

Pursuing creativity isn’t easy. The choice to become an artist is already difficult, let alone dealing with other people's opinions about it.

And when it comes to art, everyone has an opinion.

Here are some criticisms I've received over the years (from some not-so-nice clients):

"Your music doesn't sound original."
"I only hired you because my friend said you worked for free."
"This job was...

In 2019, I moved to LA to continue pursuing a composing career.

6 months later, COVID hit the US, sending us into a nationwide lockdown.

Quarantine forced me to be creative with finding new opportunities.

I replaced in-person networking with forums/Zoom calls.

I made educational videos on YouTube instead of sending job applications.

I made an e-book, launched a podcast, and created a webstore.

 Balancing my work as a composer, content creator, and educator can be tough.

To prevent myself from working weekends or pulling all-nighters, I employ six strategies to protect my time and maximize my efforts:

Plan Tomorrow (Today)

Take 10 minutes at the end of each work day to plan tomorrow's activities. Waking up with a premade agenda sets you up for success before you've even woken up....

Mastery of composition (or any art) comes from 1000+ hours of quality practice. Implement these four strategies into your practice routine, and over time you'll see incredible results: