Songwriting, ep 2: Keep Track of How Long You Stay on Chords

[@alwaysevolving281]

Man, I gotta tell ya. I've been playing just over 20 years now. I'm self-taught, partly because the first guitar teacher my parents hired back in the day ghosted me after 4 lessons and stopped showing up for lessons. Secondly, I just never meshed with anyone else and their styles. But you, I've already learned so much from you and we haven't even met. Kudos, my guy.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

That makes me so happy to hear! So much of gtr teaching is stuck in the 80s, but there's more and more of us laid-back weirdos out there that don't care about hot licks.

[@tituschalk]

This is what I always wanted in a guitar teacher. Not just great technique and taste but creativity - so that lessons aren’t just practice, but are aimed at the goal of either improvising or song writing. Great stuff!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks man - the thing I want to share more than anything else is the JOY of it.

[@chrisvsmusicny]

That ghost exit at the end! 😂 Great lesson. I feel like my 2 takeaways from this one are (will rewatch for more later): 1. If simple works, it works. 2. WRITE STUFF DOWN

[@capitaldharma]

Great job pointing out something I hadn't thought about before. This is why I keep coming back to you! Nice hearing the mini Vox too!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! Sometimes you don't need to write a whole new part, just stretchhhhhh the chorrrrrds!

[@hubspin]

Again wonderful stuff! I think you keep directing our attention to the different areas of how the magic works in these songs, rather than running through the mechanical motions of just replicating them. Thank you!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! For me, it's all about SONGS. No amount of cool guitar playing is gonna make a boring song interesting.

[@vdub1959]

Now I get the vibe in the new place! Like the angle of the shot this week too, and the Vox on a vintage suitcase? Damn. Cool. Oh and a craftsman style house is just so on point with your teaching style. Thanks again Eric for all you share with us.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Vernon! Yeah - the new place is so on-brand! Funky and retro like meeeeeeeee!

[@karllongbottomguitars9192]

Sometimes the genius of simplicity is hiding in plain sight 👍 Cheers Eric

[@gimmenames9039]

Ahhhh natural light! So nice!!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Still getting used to the new space but it’s getting better week by week - got some sound issues to sort out next. The lav mic picks up an interesting resonance in the room!

[@macsarcule]

Thank you, Eric! Your new place is looking great! ✌️😌💜

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks! It's just a rental but we love it - old house with loads of character!

[@gustavowendhausen471]

this is awesome!!!!! keep the songwriting videos coming!!!!!

[@paulmundy8312]

There's 2 musicians that inspire me...One is Bruce Springsteen & the other is you Eric. As always a great tutorial, thankyou🙏🏻

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Both Jersey boys! I love Springsteen's one-man show - he's so honest about everything!

[@realpool]

Very useful! Don't stop making songwriting videos! I'd love to hear your ideas on writing a bridge section.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Will do! I approach bridges the same way I do other sections - I don't try to summon them, I just poke around existing ideas to see if anything I already made works.

[@soulman956]

Thanks for posting all your great video's, greetings from the UK

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Lloyd!

[@anthonyg7528]

Neil young is important. thank you Eric!

[@ELMENDORFX]

Thank you. Peas, Love and Las Vegas

[@aritraroy6726]

You are just a pleasure to watch, listen and learn from. Lots of best wishes to you for your new house! ♥️

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks man! It's just a rental but we love it - probably be here for a few years until the market is less crazy for buying.

[@donnellschroeter7941]

this is awesome thanks!

[@blakevanhouten1672]

Tone is great, and the lesson is great too! Thanks!!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Blake!

[@danielpicard3994]

Merci!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks so much Daniel!

[@jrmakawoody]

I’m really enjoying this topic. Thanks!

[@Vladtheimpaler5211]

You are the best dude! Happy for you on your new place!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

It's just a rental but we love it!

[@Andrew-wb2zq]

Dude, that guitar tone sounds freaking awesome. Oh god now I wanna buy a tele.

[@AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken84]

Just starting to get into writing my own stuff with my bassist buddy and this along with your other videos in this series are so helpful! Also, I’m signed up with Truefire and doing your CAGED course. You’re a great teacher man, thanks!

[@createlovehappy]

beautiful menora back there... shabatt shalom

[@collierlandry]

As expected, another great video & lesson full of valuable info. Thanks Eric!

[@ravigunslinger]

Great stuff! I’m learning so much. Been playing for 15 years and resisted learning about the process of songwriting! Also you have a very relaxing asmr voice! 😀

[@Rodiniaband]

Dope concept, killer tone as always and congrats on the house! It looks great!

[@chilldude30]

Hey Eric I just wanted to say completely apropos nothing that I'd be totally fine if you would have a sponsor section in your videos. I'm not saying you should just saying I love your videos and they're free and I'm sure all your fans would be fine with it. Idk what it's like in the States but here in britian everything is so expensive and the cost of living is crazy so do what you can to earn as much cash from your videos as possible, hell, you flippin well deserve it!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Joey! I’ll look into that - right now I make some money from generous folks on patreon, but maybe setting it up here on YT would be better!

[@chilldude30]

@@EricHaugenGuitar I don't know about Patreoning but I'll take a look. I get a lot of 'value' from your videos and yet I don't pay anything for the privilege!

[@hubspin]

Agreed

[@funhousebaby3104]

Yep, agreed. If it means you have more peace of mind to continue producing awesome videos I concur. Still not adverts (man I hate ads) but you providing a sponsor and getting a little extra cash I'm sure we can get behind and I know you will only pick things to sponsor that you genuinely dig. Thanks again brother ✌️

[@ookie007]

Sweet new pad.

[@masemachine]

love these vids. 🙏🏼

[@FreakG.M.O]

Sounds great man! Thanks

[@SLP-eb1wp]

You are making some excellent videos man. Love the tone and guitar too!

[@pm8278]

the camera is closer, the new deco it s very cool to watch !

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks bruh! It's so cozy in here!

[@richardlynch5632]

Helps to visualize 😃 😎👍❤🖖

[@vltjd]

Like your new amp stand. Increases echo and sustain.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Also gets the amp visible in both camera shots for product placement 🤓

[@coastercook]

Thanks, Eric. I like these song writing lessons. The new space is coming together nice. A little bit of an echo from the room on vocals.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Ugh I know! There’s a weird frequency at 500hz I’m having trouble dialing out

[@CC-qb9sm]

Great ideas and lesson as usual E! I’m a few weeks behind on your offerings, looking forward to catching up. Congrats on your new home, I wish you much happiness there. I could say this every week but man what a great tone you have there, it’s epic 🤠

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Cc! It’s just a rental but we love it here!

[@darwinsaye]

You’re getting an incredible Neil Young Tweed Deluxe tone from the Deco and the Vox… which is boggling my mind a bit…

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! To me, one flappy crunch sound is as good as any other - I’m not too specific about it.

[@joshphillips9033]

@@EricHaugenGuitar For two amp fun, a Tweedy and a Voxy amp together are wonderful. Lots of tone searching led me here, for the similar loosey-goosey but very differently eq'd gain structures that really fill out a lot of frequencies when played together I think this is what you meant, but would love to hear your thoughts Eric! My son goes back to school in 2 weeks, and plan to get your stuff on truefire, with more free time for practice Curious if you checked out Rayland Baxter, I think he shares a similar approach and mindset to all the musical things

[@leekthomas737]

this is a nice room

[@Jeronimo365]

Great vid, great guitar sound. 👍

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Jeremy!

[@jason4485]

Love these videos! Alabama by Neil Young is a great tune too. He certainly sets the songwriting bar high.

[@chilldude30]

Every time I see you with this guitar it makes me look at my butterscotch 50s reissue baja Tele and want to install a bigsby. There's almost something which feels transgressive about having a whammy bar on a telecaster

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

I actually don’t recommend it! It changes the whole feel of a tele. This old tele is factory bigsby so it’s never known anything else!

[@chilldude30]

@@EricHaugenGuitar I'm actually so glad you said this. Now I can put that voice in my head telling me to do it to bed! My Mexican Baja Tele was my first proper guitar and still one of my favourites to play so I didn't want to modify it like that, but i couldn't help wondering.

[@michaeldematteis3409]

Why does that rock n roll song sound so familiar?oh,phish covers it!!,going to have to find your lesson on it.thanks man. you’re the coolest guitar cat on utube

[@jonathan-smith]

Diggin' the new pad man

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Jon! It's a funky old house with lots of character - kinda a new cast member in it's own right!

[@DeGroove]

Wow, is that the same room as last weeks video!? Already a night and day improvement. Diggin’ it, the music as well ofcourse, as always. 👍

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

I moved out of my guitar room into the living room - like I used to do way back in 2016 when I started!

[@nickpeterson6647]

Tone so, so nice

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Tele and a Vox = TRUTH!

[@nickpeterson6647]

@@EricHaugenGuitar I have to agree!

[@chilldude30]

Everybody's gangsta until Eric gets his clipboard out

[@Bobby_Digital37]

Man that Vox sounds great!! Really digging the Webber Blue Dog Ceramic Hemp, it’s so smooth. Did you get any doping, and if so was it light moderate heavy or pre-rola doping??? Also what wattage did you get?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

I got the 15w light doper - I figured since I'll never be cranking this thing to 125db, there's no sense in spending more for the alnico compression.

[@Bobby_Digital37]

@@EricHaugenGuitar Thank you!

[@scottkidwellmusic9175]

I usually find myself with lyrics and a melody first. I write the lyrics or snippets down, the melody sticks in my head (when I re-read them, oddly)and I work on harmony from there. Many scraps of paper, notebooks, and legal pads covered in words and chords... I sometimes get lucky and get a harmony going first... but yeah, write it down. Thank you, Eric ✌🍕

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Interesting! You work backwards from me - I’m a music and melody first guy I wish words came as easily!

[@scottkidwellmusic9175]

@@EricHaugenGuitar- I'm not saying they always come easy. Usually bits and pieces. Eventually things come together. Sometimes I'm able to capture the lightning in the bottle.

[@kfr5018]

Same with you Eric but I have learned lyrics can lead us down a different melodic/rhythmic path. Even if the lyrics stink.

[@jdb2722]

Thanks for the video. Great stuff. Love that vox amp of yours. I’ve almost bought one about 5 times after the review you did. Did you ever end up changing the speaker out?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! I put a weber ceramic blue dog (hemp cone) in there and it's KILLER!

[@kentbeery4941]

Nice

[@palebelew]

Awesome I caught a sneak peek. Great video! I’m taking your advice and I’ve started writing things down. I’ve been making memo recordings and videos to catch those fleeting ideas for a while now. Really is helping having that visual component of the rough chart as a part of the process. Nice new digs by the way 🏡

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yes! Having a sketchbook is so essential!

[@stoyan3597]

I like this new series, it helps me put things in context. Would there be any tips on adding lyrics to a chord progression?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Oh yeah we'll get there too! I do the thing where I first write whatever nonsense comes to mind, and then over the course of a month I change it into something that feels like something to me. Sometimes those nonsense lines stay though!

[@stoyan3597]

@@EricHaugenGuitar thanks for the preview, I'm looking forward to the next episodes 😁

[@petergoddard1960]

Yeah man, pay attention. Love the new digs, very nice. Is there a poignancy that you're now at 'ground level'? Back to earth, with your head in the clouds. Oh, wait a minute. That's me.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

There’s a history and character to old places - if these walls could talk!

[@theenewmath]

I love the way Neil spices up basic chord progressions with hammer ons and picked notes - do you have a video that covers that technique or similar? I am working my way through your Truefire course - love your teaching approach in general. And it just occurred to me that Cass McComb's track Bum Bum Bum might owe a little to Alabama's licks. Love that guy!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Oh yeah Neil is so underrated! The secret to Neil's rhythm playing is actually rooted in old-timey carter style folk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6LOo3xseKqXo6s And hells yeah I love that Cass McCombs record! "Rancid Girl" is so great!

[@theenewmath]

​@@EricHaugenGuitar fantastic! I must have missed that vid when I was browsing the EH Archives

[@BrunoVernay]

I am curious to see how you will visually arrange your fireplace. You could do a video (maybe even a channel 🙂) just about making a visually pleasing, yet unobtrusive decorum.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Bruno! My brother's and architect and his wife is an interior decorator - I text back and forth with them all the time about decor decisions! robinrains.com/interiors

[@741246]

Fun follow up to this might be to look at the way Pixies play with some of these ideas. They often shave a bar off when moving to a bridge or chorus and it plays with your expectations to create a sense of momentum.. Look at something like Here Comes your Man

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! The Pixies move in 3s a lot!

[@ewanchalmers9498]

Makes things like the chorus of Dig For Fire a head wreck to figure out

[@741246]

@@ewanchalmers9498 agreed.

[@azbluesdog]

EHGY (Eric Haugen Guitar & Young)

[@amanuscar]

I’m gunna book a lesson, not only because I want to get better at guitar and learn some proper techniques, but mostly because you said chu-orus 😂

[@Mike-rw2nh]

Thanks to this channel I am currently working my way through The Super Furry Animals back catalogue and giving it the Hendrix treatment. Totally normal behaviour!😋

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

I approve of this 100%!

[@dannysh4418]

Loving this series, and can’t wait to see more! I have somewhat of a dumb question, but maybe you can speak to it. How do you make a riff or chord progression that sounds good? Every time I come up with something, it sounds so bland and cliched. But all the songs I listen to have such interesting riffs and melodies that I would never have even stumbled onto accidentally. For example, the beginning riff to Dig A Pony is just G-D-A, but it’s so much more interesting than that! Hopefully I made a bit of sense

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Remember: COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY! If you’re shooting your own stuff down before it’s even finished into a song, it’s a formula for misery! Embrace the bland - the only way through it to the good stuff is to make friends with it!

[@iduncanw]

Hey Eric, love your content but often feels like quite a bit goes well above my knowledge. In this video for example, you mentioned that the chorus section of the first song you did stays on Am for 2 bars, yet there was lots of movement up and down the fretboard. In the second song, it was obvious the chord was the same as you didn't really move. What am I missing with the first song please, maybe the same chord in different positions or chord inversions? Maybe it's covered in your guitar zen course which I've got but haven't done much of it yet (need some structured practice time). PS, your new place looks great and that room definitely matches your vibe 😎

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Aha - I think I confused you by adding the melody to the chords! The chorus of "Alabama" does indeed stay on Am for 2 bars before it goes up to D for 2 bars - that's the main thing I was trying to illustrate :-)

[@meriam4109]

The theory of song writing you can learn, but inspiration....... Still don't know how to finish my song🤨 But I'll get there some day.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

I wouldn't finish a single song unless I book studio time - cornering ourselves with output goals is a great way to get things done!

[@Al-iv8su]

You should do a Neil young Tone video :)

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

It's funny how well that Vox does the Tweed thing!

[@Al-iv8su]

@@EricHaugenGuitar Yeah sounds amazing, I thought forsure it was your vibro champ Thanks for sharing.

[@kegstandjesus]

Weird, looks like if it’s unlisted you can still find the video

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Aha! Yeah - often times I put a draft up and leave it unlisted so YT can run its copyright checks. If it's part of a playlist it will show up for y'all - sneak peek!

[@Cognitobot]

Dude, how do you have so many nice guitars and gear?

[@danielsauriol]

Eric, I am silent sub, and listen to most of your vids because they contain so much useful info; thanks a lot for that. As an akward sidenote, just wanted to let you know that your unformal attitude is so nice, but not as nice as wild as yyour hair !!! Keep yp man, you are doing an AMAZING job...... (who is your hair dresser?!!! lol!!!!)

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Daniel! This Bob Dylan jew-fro is fun on a good day! But a lot of the time I check myself in the mirror right before I shoot and say "...nope, hat day today."

[@noodlemans]

Love the lesson. Just wish you’d write bigger.

[@thesaltybeard1793]

3:38 did you just pronounce "chorus" with the ch sound lmao

[@onoesmurlocs]

Love these song writing videos, if you did a course on just songwriting that would be amazing, would love to buy that. One weird songwriting trick I do is to do a bob dylan impression and imagine how he would write the song ,then dial it back till it sounds a bit more like me again , One time I saw a video of the rolling stone writing sympathy for the devil and it sounded like Mick Jagger was doing a Bob Dylan impression at some points , I swear he most of had the same idea lol or something. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3LNdGWCac1-eK8 this one here.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Oh yeah! Sympathy for The Devil is a whole rockumentary - I love it!

[@BrunoOrtizMachado]

It's fun to see how master songwriters just circle back to the most basic devices to create tension and variety in a song. Simplicity is hard. Also, love your tone! It's just the Tele into the Vox?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Yeah! The deco is on a little bit to tame the hard spikes, and then some room reverb in post