The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Art of Songwriting

by Casey Kelly

Now newbie songwriters can learn the craft-and sing their own praises online.
Beginning songwriters can hit the right note by starting out with the basics in this guide, including:
? How to create melodies.
? How to create many different harmonies.
? Techniques using deliberate rhythm and stylistic changes.
? How to enable one's songwriting to grow and evolve.
? How to deal with songwriter's block.
? The best places to upload one's work for maximum exposure and opportunities.

Genres: Music

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2011

Reviews

[Sebastian Villeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start with, I’ll give you a short summary of what the book was about. It starts talking about the magic of songwriting, and the influence that a song may have in a person’s life. Then, it explains the structure of songs in every different genre. After that, it tells how and why every single word should contribute to the main idea of the song (which is the chorus most of the time). Lastly, it explains the different aspects of which we have to be aware when writing a song. I don’t want to get deeply into it, since you may not be interested in learning about the topic, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what it’s all about.

To my way of thinking, making a “hit song” doesn’t require any fixed formula. You can’t say if a song will be trending in the global charts before its release, since the audience is the one in charge of making it become true or not. It seems to me that most people see songwriting as something simple and easy. They think that it’s just rhyming words that make sense. I’m not saying that that’s not a part of it. Where I want to get to, is that it requires much more techniques besides just that. Every note, rhythm, word, phrase, and melody has a huge impact on every song itself. The songwriter must be in charge of making a catchy and memorable song.

Honestly, since I first read the title of the book, I was greatly interested in reading it since I really like songwriting, and I want to improve at it. Besides everything I learned from the book, I really appreciated it, since it’s a gift my dad gave to me some months ago.

All things considered, I give this book a rating of 10/10. To say that I learned a lot falls short. I would recommend it to anyone who’s willing not only to learn to write songs, but any other type of writing. I look up to reading another book from this collection since I want to continue learning more, to continue developing, and most of all, to improve on my musical side.

[WriteTheVision · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot of information that i already had in practice, but still useful to know that i am on the right track and utilizing the right tools correctly. the text as a whole is a quick and easy read, and a good intro for a novice.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good overview to the songwriting process. I'm an educated composer, but read this to learn more about writing and crafting songs, and found a lot of good advice on all of it. I learned nothing new from the music side, but thought Casey Kelly's advice was very good, particularly in examples of how to harmonize a melody. Obviously not comprehensive, but it's a good start for an aspiring songwriter.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finish the section needed to know. The rest was on music theory which every songwriter and musician should know anyway. Overall good read.