Lessons I learned about creativity from starting a YouTube channel

Over my last two years of creating social media content on learning piano, I've learned a lot about the process and benefits of creativity. Believe it or not, these lessons are really applicable to people who are interested in being creative at their pianos!

Read More
Songwriting Sarah Cashmore Songwriting Sarah Cashmore

Writing melodies that reflect your emotions

After seeing how popular my post on choosing chord progressions that reflect your emotions was, I wanted to offer another way of approaching heartfelt songwriting — that is, starting with a melody first and choosing your chord progressions afterwards. In this video, I demonstrate my process for infusing my emotions into a melody and then choosing a chord progression that feels right for it.

Read More

Common variations to chords in the major key signature

Recently we’ve been talking about the chords within any major key signature and how you can use them to create chord progressions that express different feelings. Today I’d like to expand on this to talk about some of the variations to the standard chords that musicians often use to express even more emotions in their music.

Read More
Songwriting, Authentic motivation Sarah Cashmore Songwriting, Authentic motivation Sarah Cashmore

How to translate your emotions into chord progressions

Once you know the basics of where the major and minor chords are in a key signature, you’re ready to start experimenting at your piano and finding sequences or chord progressions that you like. But it can be difficult to get started at first because the possibilities for your music seem so endless. How do you know which chords to use and which ones will work best for your song?

Read More
Theory, Songwriting Sarah Cashmore Theory, Songwriting Sarah Cashmore

Introducing music theory for songwriting

Today I’d like to start a series of videos teaching music theory specifically for people who are interested in writing their own music. Because music theory can be intimidating for people, it seems like a good place to start would be to just talk about what music theory is and why it’s important to learn about.

Read More