Songwriting: A Complete Guide to the Craft

Rating:
Summary: Basic and More Advanced Songwriting in One Book
Review: I am not a songwriting professional, but thanks to thoroughly reading Citron's book, and skimming "You Can Write A Song" by Amy Appleby (and utilizing internet chord and scale building resources), I have written five songs. It is a fun experience to write a song for the first time.

Since I am at the very beginning of my songwriting hobby, I look for books that explain the basics clearly, but also allow room for growth with more advanced techniques and chord usage. I also want to know the music theory behind the lessons, so that in the future I can write without the formulas provided in the books. With the exception of Citron's book, I have rarely found a songwriting book that moves beyond basic music theory. In the roughly 150 pages Citron devotes to music, he teaches rhythm, scales, chords, harmony, and more, so that you will know what a C6 "chord" is, and what the Lydian mode is, even if you don't care. He also teaches melody-building by starting with a motive, developing into a phrase, and finally into a period, which is a quite organized way to focus ideas. Maybe all of this is not necessary for a beginning (or straight rock) songwriter, but in an age where every Joe and Jane write songs, knowing more than the basics might put you at an advantage if you wish to make a career out of it.

Citron also covers lyrics. The first 125 pages are devoted to crafting lyrics (construction and form, types of song, rhyme, and word usage). He discusses how various styles have developed, such as rock and jazz. He covers important topics like accents, rhyme schemes, and poetical forms. At the end, he has a helpful glossary.

Overall, this book is appropriate for the beginning songwriter (with some musical experience). While much of what Citron writes is indeed for the more intermediate songwriter, he also covers the basics, explaining time signatures, note values, accidentals, etc. This is why I bought and enjoy this book: he explains the basics and then takes you to a higher level if you wish. If you don't care about ninth chords, modal scales, or other more advanced topics, then read it and forget it, but even some of the best rock, folk, and country writers have used more advanced chords and scales. Ultimately it took me getting out a keyboard, setting its rhythm, and playing chords to get me from reading about songwriting to actually writing. However, once I took that step, Citron's book proved very helpful in getting my songs ready. One drawback is that the book is from the 1980s, and he doesn't cover the newer genres. Another is that he covers so many genres that those seeking rock or country writing might not find the specifics they need. However, the fundamentals are the fundamentals.

Rating:
Summary: Good background on songwriting
Review: Like the book says, it's a complete guide to the craft of songwriting. The book covers several in-depth subjects like the history of songwriting, how various type of songs came to be popular, loads of information about the use of musical theory, and various approaches to writing songs. I'd recommend this book for any serious musician or novice songwriter.

Rating:
Summary: Good background on songwriting
Review: Like the book says, it's a complete guide to the craft of songwriting. The book covers several in-depth subjects like the history of songwriting, how various type of songs came to be popular, loads of information about the use of musical theory, and various approaches to writing songs. I'd recommend this book for any serious musician or novice songwriter.

Rating:
Summary: Song writing
Review: This is a great book for anyone new to songwriting. This book covers the critcal areas of song writing including lyrics and music and tackles often debated question of which should be composed first. A useful resource for music students.

Rating:
Summary: Dated, but contains some interesting materials
Review: This is a very engaging book, and is very enjoyable to read, though it definitely shows its age--the examples only run up through the early to mid 80s. If you are looking for all the latest information about current styles, this isn't your book.

Having said that, this is an extremely interesting book that has its roots primarily in classic Broadway musicals, and the kind of timeless songwriting that created standards that have lasted for generations (though other genres, from blues to country to rock, are also covered).

There's a lot of discussion of lyrics, rhyme schemes, various themes for songs, and the different structural parts of a song, but not as much discussion of writing a song line-by-line as Sheila Davis's excellent book on lyric writing.

There's also what seems to me to be an extremely thorough section on melodies, chords, harmonies, and common chord progressions. He discusses ways to fix up a stock melody, and even discusses when to use different intervals, and what they accomplish. I can't compare this with Jai Josefs's book--which I have heard good things about--because that is out of print as of this writing, and I haven't been able to locate a copy yet.

If you are just looking for a template to use to create songs that sound like what's on the radio, this book isn't your best choice. But if you want a broader background which you can then adapt yourself to styles that interest you, this is an excellent book to have.