Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction ix
How to Use This Book ix
Beginning Your Journey x
Songwriting in a Community xi
Chapter 1 What Inspires You? 1
Activity 1.1 Feeling Inspiration 1
Activity 1.2 The Idea Notebook 2
Get Yourself a Songwriter's State of Mind 2
Bulking Up Your Muscles 3
Chapter 2 How Songwriters Write 5
Let the Music Flow 5
Activity 2.1 Musical Awareness 6
On Your Mark, Get Set, Write Lyric 7
Activity 2.2 Lyrical Awareness 8
Come Together, Right Now 9
It Takes Two… or Three, or Four 9
Tips and Activities to Try 10
Activity 2.3 Inside Out, Outside In 10
Activity 2.4 Collaboration 10
Activity 2.5 Photos and Words 10
Activity 2.6 Message in a Crumple 10
Activity 2.7 Get Specific 11
Activity 2.8 Music-Inspired Lyric 11
Activity 2.9 Timed Writing 11
Chapter 3 Song Form and Contrast 13
Verse/Chorus Form 13
Activity 3.1 Song Forms 14
Verse/Refrain and Other Forms 14
Activity 3.2 Name That Form 15
Activity 3.3 Form and Function 16
Don't Be a Bore 16
She's Driving Me Crazy 16
Melodic Contrast 18
Harmonic Contrast 18
Contrast Using Arrangement 19
Activity 3.4 What's Driving? 20
Chapter 4 Basic Theory for Songwriters 21
It Starts with a Chord 22
Note Lengths 22
Key, Time Signature, Tempo, and Scale 23
Establishing the Key 25
Activity 4.1 Major or Minor 27
Count with Me, 1,2,3 27
Intervals 27
Time Signature 28
Activity 4.2 Time Signature 29
Tempo 30
Activity 4.3 Tempo 30
Activity 4.4 Setting a Phrase at a Tempo 31
Chords and Scales 31
The Diminished Chord, or "The Weird Uncle" 35
Minor Key Chords 35
Writing Chords Down 37
Moving Outside the Key 37
Borrowed Chords: Use Them, Then Give Them Back 40
Relative Keys 41
Theory and Melody 42
Activity 4.5 Key and Starting Pitch 43
Single Chord Tone 43
Activity 4.6 Melodyand Chord Tones 43
Neighborly Notes 44
Activity 4.7 Neighbor Notes 44
Activity 4.8 Writing with Neighbor Notes 44
Two Chord Tones 45
Activity 4.9 Two Chord Tones 45
Activity 4.10 Writing with Two Chord Tones 45
Passing Notes 46
Activity 4.11 Passing Notes 46
Activity 4.12 Writing with Passing Notes 46
Arpeggios 47
Activity 4.13 Arpeggios 47
Activity 4.14 Writing with Arpeggios 47
A Final Word on Melody and Theory 48
Chapter 5 Melody 49
Note Name Bad, Melody Good 50
Activity 5.1 The Melodic Motif 51
Repetition, Repeat 51
Activity 5.2 Repetition of the Motif 53
Activity 5.3 Repetition in the Chorus 54
The Secret Ingredients of Melody 54
Pitch 54
Note Length 55
Activity 5.4 Contrast Using Note Length 56
Activity 5.5 Melody Writing Using Contrasting Note Lengths 56
Placement: Before, On, or After 56
Activity 5.6 Placement of the Phrases 58
Phrase Length: Short or Long 58
Activity 5.7 Phrase Length 59
Activity 5.8 Changing the Phrase Length 59
Clustered or Intervallic 60
Ascending or Descending 60
Full or Empty 61
Activity 5.9 Full and Empty 61
Combining the Tools 62
Chapter 6 Harmony and Groove 63
The Color of Chords 63
Activity 6.1 Key and Chord Awareness 64
Keep It Simple 64
Harmonic Contrast 64
That New Chord Feeling 65
Activity 6.2 Simplicity with Harmony 66
Slow Change, Fast Change 66
Groove, Baby, Groove 68
Straight vs. Swing 68
Rests and Rhythmic Changes 70
Activity 6.3 One- and Two-Chord Grooves 72
Activity 6.4 Groove Awareness 72
Activity 6.5 Recreating a Groove 72
Activity 6.6 Old Groove, New Tempo 73
Thinking Outside the Box 73
Chapter 7 Lyric Writing 75
The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent 75
Point, Point, Point to Your Point 76
Activity 7.1 Lyric Repetition 77
Activity 7.2 Using Lyric Repetition 77
What Do You Want to Say? 78
Journaling and Sensory Writing 78
Capture the Moment 81
Don't Just Walk: Saunter, Hobble, or Glide 82
Activity 7.3 Using Specific Verbs 83
Adjectives and Nouns, Metaphorically Speaking 83
Activity 7.4 Using Images to Get Specific 84
Activity 7.5 Metaphorical Collisions 84
Activity 7.6.10 Minutes a Day 85
Flaunt What You've Got 85
Lifting Lines and Making Rhymes 85
Rhyme Schemes 85
Rhyme Groupies 86
The Rhyming Dictionary 88
Get Your Lyric Groove On 89
Activity 7.7 Lifting Lines 93
Activity 7.8 Looking for Sensory Language 94
Awesome Choruses 94
Being the Center of Attention 97
Activity 7.9 Mapping the Rhyme Scheme 99
Activity 7.10 Lifting and Stacking Choruses 99
Beam Me Up, Scotty: Bridges and Prechoruses 99
Verse/Refrain Songs with Sensory Writing 103
Cleaning Up Your Act 106
Write Like You Talk 107
Write What You Know 108
Chapter 8 Activities for Songwriting Groups and Classes 109
Activity 8.1 Physical Sensory Writing 109
Activity 8.2 Reflective Listening with Sensory Writing 109
Activity 8.3 Reflective Listening for Verses and Choruses 110
Activity 8.4 Photos and Words 110
Activity 8.5 Crumpled Paper 110
Activity 8.6 Metaphor 110
Activity 8.7 Guided Meditation 111
Activity 8.8 Being the Expert 111
Activity 8.9 Spoken Word 111
Activity 8.10 Melodic Motifs 112
Activity 8.11 Guided Feedback 112
Activity 8.12 Write Happy 112
Activity 8.13.40 Minutes 113
Chapter 9 Next Steps 115
Guitar 115
Piano 116
Voice 116
Teach Me Your Ways, Oh Wise One 117
How Much Should I Practice? 118
Listening Is Practicing 118
Rocking the Band 119
Sharing Your Music with Others 120
Forming a Songwriting Group 122
Songwriting as a Career 123
Writing for Film and Television 123
Writing for a Publisher 124
Writing for Visual Media 125
Recording Artist 125
Touring Artist 126
Broadway and Musicals 126
Taking the First Step 127
Who Are You? 128
Appendices 131
A Glossary 131
B Song Listening Examples 134
C Songwriter Resources 136
About the Author 138
Index 139
