Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How To Use This Book
Beginning Your Journey
Songwriting In A Community
What Inspires You?
Get Yourself A Songwriter’s State Of Mind
Bulking Up Your Muscles
How Songwriters Write
Let The Music Flow
On Your Mark, Get Set, Write Lyric
Come Together, Right Now
It Takes Two…or Three, Or Four…
Tips And Activities To Try
Song Form and Contrast
Verse/chorus Form
Verse/refrain And Other Forms
Don’t Be A Bore
She’s Driving Me Crazy
Melodic Contrast
Harmonic Contrast
Contrast Using Arrangement
Basic Theory for Songwriters
It Starts With A Chord
Note Lengths
Key, Time Signature, Tempo, And Scale
Establishing The Key
Relative Keys
Theory And Melody
Melody
Note Name Bad, Melody Good
Repetition, Repeat
Placement: Before, On, Or After
Phrase Length: Short Or Long
Clustered Or Intervallic
Ascending Or Descending
Full Or Empty
Combining The Tools
Harmony and Groove
The Color Of Chords
Keep It Simple
Harmonic Contrast
Groove, Baby, Groove
Rests And Rhythmic Changes
Thinking Outside The Box
Lyric Writing
The Good, The Bad, And The Indifferent
Point, Point, Point To Your Point
What Do You Want To Say?
Journaling And Sensory Writing
Capture The Moment
Don’t Just Walk: Saunter, Hobble, Or Glide
Adjectives And Nouns, Metaphorically Speaking
Flaunt What You’ve Got
Lifting Lines And Making Rhymes
Rhyme Groupies
The Rhyming Dictionary
Get Your Lyric Groove On
Awesome Choruses
Being The Center Of Attention
Beam Me Up, Scotty: Bridges And Prechoruses
Verse/refrain Songs With Sensory Writing
Cleaning Up Your Act
Write Like You Talk
Write What You Know
Activities for Songwriting Groups and Classes
Next Steps
Guitar
Piano
Voice
Teach Me Your Ways, Oh Wise One
How Much Should I Practice?
Listening Is Practicing
Rocking The Band
Sharing Your Music With Others
Forming A Songwriting Group
Songwriting As A Career
Recording Artist
Touring Artist
Broadway And Musicals
Taking The First Step
Who Are You?
Appendices
A. Glossary
B. Song Listening Examples
C. Songwriter Resources
Learn to write songs!
This book presents the basic concepts of popular songwriting, such as song construction, creativity techniques, melodic and harmonic development, how to write memorable lyrics, and other core topics.
Hands-on exercises make it practical, and the accompanying online recording illustrates the concepts for those who don't yet read music.
Write your first masterpiece today!
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