Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting

[gburgess]

I got the book about a month ago and have been going through it. I believe Robin provides a wealth of illustrations, common sense, general education, and many insider tricks of the trade. I believe she strives to balance the book so that there is something in there for all levels of songwriting maturity.All in all I believe she did a very nice job and I would recommend it to those still on the fence.My 2 cents.GB

[partyofone]

Hey Jeff, Robin, and all..Yeah I've really been eyeing that book too and glad to hear you like it. I really loved Robin's Rally class in the theater this past November. It definitely got me thinking about things and I took a lot of notes. If the book is anything like the class I attended then it must be awesome!

[indianriverstudio]

Kindof like those books... You can learn to program C++ in 21 days.. Yea RIGHT!!!... But, the book surely does help with a range of new ideas... Heck, anything that makes writing easier is fine... Just takes practice, time and motivation... Mark

[philschon]

I'm a new songwriter, and I really like the book. The do-it-now excersizes are a real help. It's like home gym equipment though....you have to USE it! I started reading it and got as far as shortcut #2 and started writing. 'That' idea alone is great for learning structure. This is definitely a good investment!

[yammer107]

I got the book a few weeks back myself. Its great. For those of you that can't stand the 'commitment' of a book - I can assure you you've nothing to be afriad of here ....... No long laborious chapters that take 3 pages to make their point will be found here......The best trait of this publication is that you can skip & jump around to your hearts delight! Even reading one page a night will provide you with helpful, useful and insightful information. Really Chris

[jwebbinspired]

Ok. A while ago after reading this thread my interested started to perk a bit about this book. I've been hemming an hawing for over a month and just this morning over a cup of coffee I ordered the book. I did think that the $28.99 seemed a little steep, but then again that's nothing in the shadow of a hit song! I'll wave to you guys in the camera when I'm accepting my grammy Andy

[ciskokidd]

I have read many songwriting books in my quest to become an exceptional writer and have seen the good, bad, and plain ugly.Robin's book is exceptional and provides a wealth of strategies to give you the best shot at writing that elusive hit song.My copy is dog eared - full of notes and ideas - and littered with post it tags. Sure the title of the book is provocative. It has to be to get your attention, but still the information hidden inside is vital to any aspriing hit songwriter. If you simply must have a book written by someone who actually has had hit songs then buy Jason Blume's book or Jimmy Webb's book. They are both excellent, but you would missing out on some great teaching from a superb songwriting coach.Thank you Robin for the wonderful book. And I think I'll just be joining Andy at the Grammy's.Best,Cisko

[unit58studios]

I'm writing a book on songwriting its called Less Is More I have never had one lesson or hardly read one book on songwriting. Yes I can write songs fairly easily now. Shall I tell you the secret !!! No Charge. 30 years in Sales - and a whole lot of misery !!! All you need is Drive Ambition Dream half the day Process Strategy Structure ( both logical and iilogical) A Warped Sense of Humor Observational Ability Focus Plagiaristic tendencies !!! ( how can you not listen to music for 30-40 years and not be heavily influenced ) There you go - send me 100 dollars and i will write chapter 2. You are now all brilliant songwriters - its all the other variables that cock it up !!! www.taxi.com/nrjiffy

[derekmcfarland]

Enjoyed this thread... ordered mine today.Also saw it in this month's Recording Magazine.Derek

[blamm]

Just my quick thoughts...I ordered the book and am nearly finished reading through it. I found most of it to be common sense, but good reinforcement of the fundamentals. However, I thought it was worth the price of admission for some of the simple ideas that I'd never really considered...some good brainstorming ideas for songwriters. If you're like me and often find yourself hitting the wall when writing a song, give this book a try...it's helped "unstick" me a couple of times already.(Just to give a little critical input also...I think the numbering of shortcuts in the book is kind of silly and misleading. When one shortcut covers song structures and the next three shortcuts get more in depth with them, that doesn't really give me 4 true shortcuts. And some of them are really just informational tidbits...and not really what I would call shortcuts. But, still, I enjoyed her writing style and got some great stuff from this book.)