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The Amazon Store at MillionDollarPetPix.com ( In association with Amazon.com )TuneSmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting - A must read for songwriters or wannabesJimmy Webb covers a lot of ground in this book but its a suprisingly quick and enjoyable read. It was comforting to realize that even highly successful songwriters share the same struggles as those not so famous. One point hit home well and that is "songwriting is work". Nothing will happen unless you sit down and put your fingers to the instrument. There's just enough music theory in the book to understand the foundation of a good song. Jimmy spends equal time discussing lyric and melody as well as the interplay between the two. There's also a fair amount of coverage on the music and songwriting industry. The book includes perspectives from other notable songwriters as well. Published in 1998, it only hints at the forthcoming transfomation of music distribution brought on by the internet. None the less, a highly recommended book. Rating: - The Master Songwriter SpeaksTunesmith is, in my opinion, the best book on songwriting in existence. It is conversational in tone and yet sophisticated in approach. It would likely contain some portions (such as those on harmony) that contain some challenges for a complete novice, but for someone with some basic theory knowledge, the book is eminently approachable. The conversational style makes you feel that you are sitting by the piano with Webb as he explains his views of rhyming, prosody, lyric structure, groove, harmony and melody. The portions on lyrics and harmony are particularly outstanding. As another reviewer mentions, Webb has an extended discussion of harmonic substitution and illustrates an approach that I have found useful ever since reading the book and still use. If there was one portion of the book that could have been expanded upon, it would have been the section on melody (but for that, we have Jack Perricone's book, which is excellent--I just wish it could have been written in Webb's converstaional style). I read this a few years ago, lost my copy and bought another to re-read. I learn something new every time I revisit it. Rating: - An exceptional bookI have read scores of how-to books and none better. Jimmy Webb manages to convey his love for and exasperation with writing songs along with some solid ideas and inspirations for songwriters. Rating: - The only songwriting book you will ever needThis book is great. Unlike other songwriting books, which do little more than define terms (What is a metaphor? What is a rhyme scheme?), Webb steps you through the process of writing a song. How to generate lyrical ideas and lines. How to generate rhymes. How to generate a melody. How to generate chords for that melody. He starts writing a song himself during the course of the book, so you see it develop. He has the guts to expose himself, so you see all the crappy early lines he initially came up with. But then you see how he improved on them. And, even by the end of the song, the lyrics still aren't that great, frankly, IMHO. (I wonder if he did more editing after the book was completed; I don't think he ever recorded the song). But at least you get to see the *process* at work. I've never seen that in any other songwriting book. Webb also throws in a lot of anecdotes about songwriters and songwriting, which might be more properly found in a memoir. Some may find that annoying or distracting, but I found them interesting and humorous. His personality shines through, cynical at times, even bitter, but a guy with a big heart, a guy I'd love to go out and have a beer with. For those beginner songwriters with no knowledge of music theory, the chapters on melody and chord progressions may seem intimidating. (If so, I strongly urge you to learn basic theory; it will greatly help your songwriting.) But you can still get a lot out of the book anyway--for example, the chapter on lyric writing. Finally, for songwriters who are not interested in writing pop or commercial music, don't automatically dismiss this book. I don't write commercial music. You may be surprised. Rating: - Good BookTheory about songwriting inside this book is the deepest I have found. Even the language of the writer is good, it is hard for non english spoken people because of the extensive use of non common words.
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