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Song Talk Radio | Songwriting Tips | Lyrics | Arranging | Live Feedback
Song Talk Radio | Songwriting Tips | Lyrics | Arranging | Live Feedback episodes
- Pop songwriting with Emma K
Pop singer-songwriter Emma K talks about rearranging parts of her song to create a clearly structured pop song inspired by Billie Jean. Download the lyrics to follow along.
We talked about:
- Rearranging sections of your song, and ending with the pre-chorus
- Using the same chords in sections of your songs, and still making them distinct
- Working with Matte Black Records Toronto to polish off the song
- Using dance as a songwriting tool, and the interplay between the artforms
- Songs that have declarative chouses, or not – see our episode How to use Declarative Choruses in your songs
About Emma KEmma K is a pop singer originally from Penhold, Alberta.… Read the rest
32 min - Naturally defying genre with Ursula Hegge
Singer-songwriter Ursula Hegge joined us to talk about the process behind writing her song I‘ve been writing lots lately. Download the lyrics to follow along.
We talked about:
- Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future
- Writing a song that sounds natural but really went through many versions
- Finding interesting chord progressions on the guitar by accident
- Using melodic variations in each chorus
- Recording older songs
- Why (or why not) you might want to record to a click
About Ursula HeggeUrsula Hegge is a singer-songwriter from Toronto who has been writing songs for almost 15 years.… Read the rest
45 min - Writing a medieval folk song with Raivo Jackson
Saska Lammila joined us all the way from Helsinki, Finland, to talk about his medieval-style folk song Suspended, for his band Ravio Jackson. Download the lyrics and chords to follow along.
We talked about:
- Taking inspiration from a years-ago spiritual experience, through a poem, and into a finished song
- How Saska wrote a poem in Finnish several years ago, and translated it into English for the song
- Having a 3-verse and coda structure with a blooming, intense ending
- Writing songs with parts for his bandmates in mind, but that also work for a solo singer-songwriter show
About Ravio JacksonRaivo Jackson is a versatile Americana band hailing from Helsinki, Finland.… Read the rest
28 min - DIY Music Distribution with Paul Gallagher
Our longtime friend of the Song Talk Meetup, Paul Gallagher, joined us to talk about everything he learning getting his latest EP out on streaming services, community radio, and other digital services.
Download the extensive and handy documents Paul provided for this episode:
- 10 Key DIY Release Takeaways
- DIY Release Detailed Breakdown
We talked about:
- Getting all your ducks in a row before releasing music, including written agreements with your co-writers
- Capturing a wider breadth of places for your music, beyond typical digital distribution services
- Registering with SOCAN for both reproduction and performance royalties – see this video about the new live music performance royalties and our episode about registration with Allister Bradley
- The importance of preparing and submitting metadata to various platforms
- Make sure your final master recordings are the best they can be
- How IRSC codes are the unique identifiers for your songs and are needed (and free) for tracking your songs on streaming services
- Paul also submitted individually to a ton community radio stations, or you can also use the !earshot
… Read the rest49 min - Collaborating on a love song with Alex Whorms
Happy new year to all our listeners and supporters! For our first episode of 2026, we had Alex Whorms back on the show to talk about her latest collaboration with Garrett Lajoie and Gavin McLeod. Download the lyrics to Let You Down to follow along.… Read the rest
41 min - Year End 2025
For our final episode of 2025, we reminisced over the past year, and talked about Neel’s ongoing exploration of his songwriting challenge song. We talked about:
Some of our favourite episode from 2025- Sync Songwriting with Chris SD
- Songwriting Tips (mostly) for Beginners
- Songwriting through writer’s block with Dexter Sloan
- Breaking the rules with intention with Zoe Thiessen
- Heather Feather: Children’s songs with a message
- Mistakes that “amateur” songwriters make
- 5 tips that will make your band sound better today
Neel’s further exploration of his songwriting challenge song- Neel plays with a polymeter for his songwriting challenge answer
- Suno’s interpretation of the lyric using the AI prompt “Create an epic orchestral gothic rock song similar to Evanescence using this chord and lyric sheet.”
… Read the rest45 min - Writing and producing a song slowly with Kaleb Hikele
Canadian singer-songwriter Kaleb Hikele joined us for the third time to talk about writing and producing the first single from his upcoming album in 2026. Download the lyrics for Slowly to follow along.
We talked about:
- Using a simple drone-like chord progression in the verse, and adding more movement of chord changes in the refrain
- Using metaphors to tell a love song
- How Kaleb decided to not use a capo for this song
- Getting inspired by a Beatles riff when producing
- Embracing the gear in the recording studio to inspire different directions for the arrangement and production
- Is it a good idea to demo your songs at home before getting into a pro studio?
… Read the rest42 min - Neel’s answer to the Song Studio challenge
For this special episode, Neel shared his answer to the songwriting challenge from Song Studio to write a song based on the word “shadow.”
Download the lyrics and chords to Silence, absence, stillness to follow along.
We talked about:
- Replies from our listeners to their featured songs on our songwriting challenge to write a song in an odd time signature
- Use Newsletters spam test by mail-tester.com
… Read the rest38 min - Songwriting Challenge 2025: Listener Songs Volume 2
We showcased and reviewed songs from Dan D’Agostino, Lynn Moe, and Steve Johnson as answers to our Songwriting Challenge 2025, to write a song in an odd time signature.
Dan D’Agostino shared his song October Morning. Download the lyrics, including the time signatures, to follow along.… Read the rest
46 min - Phil experiments with 7/8 time for the first time
Phil shared his answer to our songwriting challenge for 2025, to write a song in an odd time signature. He played around with 7/8 time, for the first time ever!
We talked about:
- The #1 Country song on Billboard’s Digital Songs Chart is generated by AI
- How much of a challenge it is to play a riff in 7/4 naturally
- How Phil glued together a 4/4 beat and a 3/4 beat for his verses, but made a true 7/8 drum part for the chorus
- How Phil is still playing around with the lyrics, the key (to find the sweet spot in his voice), and maybe adding a bridge
- Stretching outside your comfort zone (is a good thing)
- Working on a song until it “lights a fire” for yourself and you consider it better than “good enough”
… Read the rest36 min
About Song Talk Radio | Songwriting Tips | Lyrics | Arranging | Live Feedback
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Songwriters sharing tips and techniques on better songwriting – and the odd bad joke.