Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Songwriting, songwriters, etc

Moderators: admin, mdc, TAXIstaff

Kolstad
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4620
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:19 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by Kolstad » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:52 pm

As solo artist Robin has done a few records in the AC genre http://www.allmusic.com/artist/robin-fr ... 0000301240 , and recorded with Dave Koz among others, and she's has been a producer with Disney, and among others, produced the soundtracks to the multimillion $ successes "The little mermaid" "Pochahontas". So, she has the credentials to be an authority on songwriting, allright 8-)
Ceo of my own life

User avatar
Razor7Music
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 487
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 2:05 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Irvine, CA
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by Razor7Music » Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:50 am

thesongcabinet wrote:As solo artist Robin has done a few records in the AC genre http://www.allmusic.com/artist/robin-fr ... 0000301240 , and recorded with Dave Koz among others, and she's has been a producer with Disney, and among others, produced the soundtracks to the multimillion $ successes "The little mermaid" "Pochahontas". So, she has the credentials to be an authority on songwriting, allright 8-)
Thanks. I saw her bio on the back of her book, but I couldn't find anything of hers to listen to.

EDIT: Wait a minutes! What a bozo! I've been spelling her name wrong. The search results were right.

D'oh!!
Thanks,

Stephen Davis, Songwriter
Music: here
For Daily Progress Reports on Twitter: @razor7music
Facebook: @r7mStephenDavis

“If everyone likes you, you're doing something wrong” --Jenna McMahon

Kolstad
Serious Musician
Serious Musician
Posts: 4620
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:19 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by Kolstad » Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:44 am

You can also listen at the link I provided you with to allmusic.com. Just tap in at "songs" and you will have lots of opportunities to listen to Robin Fredrick's music at Spotify and other vendors.
Ceo of my own life

User avatar
andrewhand
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:22 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by andrewhand » Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:29 pm

Hey,

I'm just watching John Braheny's final interview with Michael at the Rally and I know that one of his favorite sites and one I can honestly say has been a HUGE change for me in writing is Hit Songs Deconstructed (http://hitsongsdeconstructed.com).

It's run by David Penn (Fellow TAXI member) and he is one of the best people I know of at breaking down hit songs and teaching you what is making the hits and how to apply these techniques to your own songs.

You can subscribe for a 1 month FREE trial and it honestly is unlike anything else around for totally breaking down hits. My word isn't worth nearly as much as John's, so here's what he sent out about Hit Songs Deconstructed (HSD) in his Newsletter:

BEST NEW WEBSITE FOR SONGWRITERS. http://hitsongsdeconstructed.com

I, and all the songwriting teachers I know, tell their students that one of the best exercises they can do to educate themselves about song craft is to deconstruct hit songs and look for the factors that made them work for their listeners. There have been, until now, only sporadic attempts at doing this but never a sustained effort to analyze current chart hits. It's just too much work. So it was a real breakthrough to find David Penn's Hit Songs Deconstructed (HSD). This is a dream of a site that not only features charts and graphs showing the song intensity peaks and valleys but breaks down the structures, strengths and weaknesses in melody and lyrics in pop and rock formats. Their Chart Wire also covers a quick analysis of structure etc. for county and info on current trends which it also does for the other categories. I could go on and on but I'll just tell you I love this site. Discover and subscribe (free) yourself.

---

Dave is also one of my dear friends and I can tell you that he has a heart and deep passion for helping people get better at the craft of songwriting and writing better songs. I truly believe that he is one of the most gifted set of ears in the industry and I know you will find Hit Songs Deconstructed to be an invaluable learning tool to help you improve your craft!

Hope that helps you all...

Andrew

User avatar
Razor7Music
Impressive
Impressive
Posts: 487
Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 2:05 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Irvine, CA
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by Razor7Music » Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:27 pm

andrewhand wrote:Hey,

I'm just watching John Braheny's final interview with Michael at the Rally and I know that one of his favorite sites and one I can honestly say has been a HUGE change for me in writing is Hit Songs Deconstructed (http://hitsongsdeconstructed.com).

It's run by David Penn (Fellow TAXI member) and he is one of the best people I know of at breaking down hit songs and teaching you what is making the hits and how to apply these techniques to your own songs.

You can subscribe for a 1 month FREE trial and it honestly is unlike anything else around for totally breaking down hits. My word isn't worth nearly as much as John's, so here's what he sent out about Hit Songs Deconstructed (HSD) in his Newsletter:

BEST NEW WEBSITE FOR SONGWRITERS. http://hitsongsdeconstructed.com

I, and all the songwriting teachers I know, tell their students that one of the best exercises they can do to educate themselves about song craft is to deconstruct hit songs and look for the factors that made them work for their listeners. There have been, until now, only sporadic attempts at doing this but never a sustained effort to analyze current chart hits. It's just too much work. So it was a real breakthrough to find David Penn's Hit Songs Deconstructed (HSD). This is a dream of a site that not only features charts and graphs showing the song intensity peaks and valleys but breaks down the structures, strengths and weaknesses in melody and lyrics in pop and rock formats. Their Chart Wire also covers a quick analysis of structure etc. for county and info on current trends which it also does for the other categories. I could go on and on but I'll just tell you I love this site. Discover and subscribe (free) yourself.

---

Dave is also one of my dear friends and I can tell you that he has a heart and deep passion for helping people get better at the craft of songwriting and writing better songs. I truly believe that he is one of the most gifted set of ears in the industry and I know you will find Hit Songs Deconstructed to be an invaluable learning tool to help you improve your craft!

Hope that helps you all...

Andrew
Yes, that one was recommended to me--thank you. I just started reading Jason Blume's "6 Steps" today and am really liking it so far. I know there is a lot of duplication between books, but when you're trying to learn something, the the repetition can be good--especially when phrased a different way.
Thanks,

Stephen Davis, Songwriter
Music: here
For Daily Progress Reports on Twitter: @razor7music
Facebook: @r7mStephenDavis

“If everyone likes you, you're doing something wrong” --Jenna McMahon

User avatar
AnthonyCeseri
Getting Busy
Getting Busy
Posts: 120
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:54 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Book?

Post by AnthonyCeseri » Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:39 pm

neilmct wrote:All the above recommendations are great. I would add John Braheny's book as well. This is the first songwriting book I read and it really was great. As far as current - that's always changing. These books all have timeless advice. For what's current, subscribe to Robin Frederick's email newsletter. She analyzes current tunes and in doing so shows you how to analyze them. Really great.

Neil McTavish
Agreed on John's book. A lot of detailed and varied info in there!
Stream my latest singer-songwriter album here: https://ffm.to/anthonyceseri

CabDriver
Active
Active
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:27 am
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Bo

Post by CabDriver » Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:31 pm

One of the most insightful books about songwriting that I have read in the past is "The Craft Of Lyric Writing" by Sheila Davis. I still have the hard cover edition from 1985 so the book is not as new as some of Pat Pattison's excellent books. It is, however, considered a true classic in its own right and is full of timeless songwriting techniques and tips:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0898791499

melodymessiah
Committed Musician
Committed Musician
Posts: 535
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:16 pm
Gender: Male
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Bo

Post by melodymessiah » Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:13 pm

which hit songs have robin fredrick written?

User avatar
6bq9
Getting Busy
Getting Busy
Posts: 90
Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:44 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Bo

Post by 6bq9 » Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:35 pm

melodymessiah wrote:which hit songs have robin fredrick written?
From her site: http://robinfrederick.com
Robin Frederick is a professional songwriter, music producer and recording artist. Nick Drake's recording of her song "Been Smoking Too Long" appears on the FAMILY TREE album. She is also a contributor to the album notes in the re-release of the FRUIT TREE box set and FAMILY TREE CD.

Over her 35 years in the music industry, Robin has written more than 500 songs for television, records, theater, and audio products. She is a former Director of A&R for Rhino Records , Executive Producer of 60 albums, and the author of "Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting" and Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV.
-- Sean Utt
"Trying to make noises that make me happy."
http://soundcloud.com/6bq9
http://soundcloud.com/ohdotoh

AhjayStelino
Getting Busy
Getting Busy
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2011 7:17 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Can Anyone Recommend a Good (Current) Pop Songwriting Bo

Post by AhjayStelino » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:52 pm

neilmct wrote:All the above recommendations are great. I would add John Braheny's book as well. This is the first songwriting book I read and it really was great. As far as current - that's always changing. These books all have timeless advice. For what's current, subscribe to Robin Frederick's email newsletter. She analyzes current tunes and in doing so shows you how to analyze them. Really great.

Neil McTavish
Hi Neil,
Where do i subscribe for Robin's email newsletter?I cant seem to find a link on her website.

Ahjay

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests