Great Songwriting Techniques

by Jack Perricone

In Great Songwriting Techniques , veteran composer and teacher Jack Perricone shares years of experience in the art, science, and pedagogy of songwriting to teach readers the craft. Whether they write for a small group of friends or in the hopes of creating a smash hit, aspiring songwriters can learn how to focus on topics essential to their success in this competitive field; every songwriter must be aware of audience, thick-skinned enough to handle rejection and competition, and most importantly have the confidence to master the craft of composing and producing. Perricone teaches readers to accomplish this through a targeted series of lessons on key elements of songwriting from building blocks like melody, harmony, and rhythm to more advanced topics like lyric placement and tone texture. Chapters explore loop-based harmonic patterns, tone tendencies, form, function, and lyric writing, all in service of preparing the aspiring songwriter to be a master of prosody and keen in
understanding the relationship between words and music. The volume includes examples of exceptional songwriting from well-known artists such as Irving Berlin, Prince, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift.

Genres: Music, Writing, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Zia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much love has been put into this book - it's brilliant. Highly recommend it: really lays out the accepted principles of the form, which I found so helpful so that I could practise them, and then move beyond them. The author wrote a top 5 hit, so understands and has to some degree, mastered, the form he is teaching. I found this both refreshing and reassuring, compared to other similar textbooks. Really grateful to the author for his expertise and generosity in putting all this down.

[Mason Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good resource. I will be returning to it when I feel as though songwriting has become less constructive and dry.

[Kirkosaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not an easy read but it does teach a lot. It could have been so much more than it was but it does have one major flaw. The audio examples are very sparse, though the teachings rely so much on them primarily. The book is riddled with "example 3.4 shows what ____ is" and there are no audio examples on the accompanying website, making it very hard to follow at times. The book is not easy to read as previously said and requires a lot of patience. I have improved my musical knowledge in songwriting and theory greatly with it, but I have needed additional resources from youtube to understand certain concepts, which are made more complicated in the book by the way they are described.

I do recommend it with a few caveats.

- You will need a piano, or any instrument you can read music with to to do the plethora of missing audio examples. Though I do believe a piano is the best option for this.

- You need to know how to read music

- You will need patience, this book cannot be read in a single week. There too many concepts, techniques, definitions, and examples to go through in a short period of time.

- You have a basic to intermediate knowledge of musical theory, or be willing to learn more as you go along with the book; which is what I did and it did require some extra work on my part.

I am disappointed because this could have been a 5 star book, but there just are too many audio examples worth reading. Read it if you are interested in songwriting, you will learn something I am sure. I for myself will read have to read it again to better understand all it teaches. If the publisher/author went back and added ALL the examples in the book on the website, this would be a solid 4 or 5, albeit some occasional dry writing. It is an eye opener book, it's just a shame it falls a bit flat on it's face. I recommend it to those who are serious about songwriting.


*Edit* the book uses a movable Do solfege, that is not advertised when the author starts talking of scales and using the solfege for melodies. This can cause confusion as it did with me. I later learned the appendix mentions it, and has all the scales. I just thought I would let any potential reader know. If this is not understood, examples will not work and/or it will appear as though there as mistakes in the book.

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is pretty much a greatest hits of everything you’d want to know about songwriting from Berklee. Something really great about this being a recent book is that it dissects hit songs that are beat/loop/rap-based in addition to the usual singer-songwriter/ great American songbook stuff.

If you’re gonna get one book on this subject, this is by far the best.

[Bodzsár Tamás · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought many, many books and courses about songwriting. This is probably the ONLY book that I found useful.

[Sophie Bowns · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it felt slightly inaccessible, there were some good tips but I’d give it 3.5*

[maryReads1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for anyone into music and more specifically songwriting!!