Introduction

Welcome to Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition. If you’re merely flipping through the pages of this book right now at the local bookstore (looking for the fast track to writing a sure-fire hit), do yourself a favor and buy it. You can thank us later! There’s simply too much information packed into this baby to get a hold of in one sitting. If you’ve already purchased this book and are sitting down ready to discover the ins and outs of songwriting, congratulations! It’s going to be a great adventure. We’re riding the wave of a great songwriting revolution. What better time to be a part of this business? The record labels are still looking for memorable, meaningful, and long-lasting songs for their artists — songs that make a difference — not disposable ditties (at least this is our reverent prayer), and now there is a whole new world to explore since the digital revolution has firmly planted its feet on the ground. What you’ll find in this book is a practical and lighthearted look at that impractical and unnecessarily serious subject of writing a song. We hope you get some encouragement and inspiration from our labor of love. We know that with a little work and dedication you can unleash the creativity inside you. Feel free to share it with a friend — who knows, he may be your own Bernie Taupin!

About This Book

This book was written to give you a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the noble pursuit of songwriting. It offers basic songwriting concepts, as well as shortcuts and slightly unconventional methods not necessarily found in other books. It’s coming from authors who have “been there” and “done that” in all areas of the music business. This isn’t for people who dream about writing a song, this is for those who are ready to dig in and try it. The book is also meant to be useful to the already up-and-running or successful writer who’d like to refocus his creativity or gain a little validation on what he’s been doing right all along. The text of the book covers all aspects of the business and the pleasure of songwriting from the collection of ideas to the creation of a song, from creating a demo of your song to assembling a team for its marketing. It includes not only the nuts and bolts of constructing a song, but the spiritual or mystical side that gives it wings. It includes a Practice Makes Perfect section at the ends of Chapters 2 through 11 geared toward honing your songwriting skills with methods of practicing your newfound skills. It includes the latest resources to go beyond the bindings of this book and explore the outer reaches of cyberspace and the inner reaches of your limitless imagination. Above all, it debunks the idea that you have to be a virtuoso on a particular instrument or that you need years of music theory and schoolin’ to write a song. All you really need are ears, a good imagination, a lot of determination, and a (reasonably) organized procedure in order to make your bid at enhancing the world through music.

Foolish Assumptions

We’re assuming that you are in some way curious about how a song gets written. Maybe you’re wondering if you have what it takes to write a song yourself. Perhaps you’re looking for the next step in getting your song from your hard drive to the shelves of the record stores. In any case, we don’t assume that you’re a musical genius or that you have astounding technique, or any technique for that matter, on a particular instrument. Our whole premise is that anyone can write a song with the right inspiration, methods, and collaborators. The genius in writing a song is your ability to bring all your skills into a common focus to create a verse and chorus that, in addition to yourself, the whole world wants to hear.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is organized into six parts, which cover everything from writing lyrics to selling your songs.

Part I: So You Want to Be a Songwriter

The first section of this book asks you to identify and assess your ambitions, prior experience, expectations, and preconceptions regarding songwriting. You’ll take an inventory of the talents and skills you can bring to your own songwriting experience. We will explore the vast smorgasbord of styles to choose from when writing and arranging your songs, and assess which genres suit your style of writing. This part also shows you how to capture song ideas so they can’t escape, and gives you an introduction to song structure with a discussion on song forms.

Part II: Unleashing the Lyricist in You

This part is dedicated to channeling the “word power” and expressiveness within you into the lyrics of your next song. We give you some concrete tips for writing lyrics, including the definition of a hook and where to put it and how to use rhyme in your lyrics. We also show you the successful lyrics of many popular songs, telling you exactly what the lyricist did to achieve greatness.

Part III: Creating Memorable Music

This part addresses how rhythm, chords, and melody come together to make a great song. All these ingredients are critical to a song’s success — and we make sure you don’t neglect any of them. We also explore the “cheating” side of town through the use of shortcuts and cool technological advancements.

Part IV: Cooperation, Collaboration, and Community

Our “Three C’s” of songwriting might just be the ticket that “lights your fire” and starts you on your way towards a long and successful career as a songwriter. You can collaborate to write the next pop hit or try your hand at country or R&B. You can also write for many different types of arenas, such as the stage, screen, and television. The possibilities are virtually endless as you build your community spirit — just think how awesome your demos will be once you master the art of cooperation.

Part V: Getting Down to Business

In this part, we examine how the words music and business can shake hands and be friends. From finding out just who the business players are to filling out paperwork, and from creating goals to meeting deadlines, it’s the part you must force yourself to read to assure that your song is on track and being properly looked after once it’s created.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

In this section we review some of the great songs throughout history. We also throw in some highly prudent and useful contracts for good measure.

Icons Used in This Book

For Dummies books are nothing if not user-friendly and fun. To this end, we have included various graphic icons in the left margins of the pages. These clever little cartoons give you an immediate “heads up” to nuggets of truth you need right away, plus snacks you can choose to save for later.

This is a lesson we’ve learned in our decades of experience. It can be as crass as a shortcut to success, or as heady as a gateway to your soul.

This icon is the mother of all icons. This is the reminder of what you should already know through reading this book. Fight the temptation to slam down the book and cry, “Give me some credit for brains, ma!”

This needlessly ominous icon is reserved mainly for blatant no-no’s in either the creation of a song or with the business and legalities of songwriting.

This is the icon that tells you there is more to know if you really feel the need. However, you have our permission to skip over this stuff if you’d rather stay immersed in the creative flow of an artistic mindset. For those of you who love gadgets and want more techie info, these are the areas to note.

This icon indicates a “pearl of wisdom” or a quotation from one of the top experts in the various areas of the music business that we have corralled just for you.

This icon indicates the under-our-breath, down-and-dirty truth that you now have the dubious privilege of knowing. With whom you share these boardroom secrets is entirely up to you, but please, act responsibly!

Where to Go from Here

Please note that it’s okay to skip around in this book. Although we had some crazy notion about a logical unfolding of information, truth be told, it works even if you throw all the chapters into a blender and hit “frappé.”