Writing Music for Hit Songs: Including New Songs from the '90s

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Summary: A very practical and easy understood approach to songwriting
Review: The author is clearly a seasoned songwriter with an abundance of knowledge and skill. Yet, he is able to explain the technicalities of songwriting in such a way that the not-so-professional hobbyist songwriter like myself can follow. Having not had formal music theory training myself I could easily catch up with the essentials without feeling it was a hopeless situation. The author managed to keep my attention and deal with the music theory in such a fashion that I could not wait to see his next topic. I found the approach very practical. In fact, I could immediately apply what I learned and the results were immediate. Still, an enormous amount of information is contained in this book and I am sure I shall refer back to the detail many times in the future. It has also helped me better understand songs that already became hits and the book is full of real examples.

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Summary: bad information
Review: this book is a vague introduction that tries to covers way too much at once and just really doesnt say anything.

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Summary: Excellent for learning to write songs
Review: This book was exactly what I was looking for. I knew how to play the saxophone, but I didn't know how to write music. This book quickly moves through chords (I used "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath to learn the chords on piano) so it's not for a beginner musician. But if you have experience playing an instrument (any instrument), and have access to a piano/keyboard, this book is for you. I'm almost finished with my first reading and I plan to go back and read it again, this time doing the exercises. I wish I had done them to begin with but I was so intrigued by this book I just couldn't stop long enough to do them! If you want to write your own music (and it's not as you may think), BUY THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for learning to write songs
Review: This book was exactly what I was looking for. I knew how to play the saxophone, but I didn't know how to write music. This book quickly moves through chords (I used "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath to learn the chords on piano) so it's not for a beginner musician. But if you have experience playing an instrument (any instrument), and have access to a piano/keyboard, this book is for you. I'm almost finished with my first reading and I plan to go back and read it again, this time doing the exercises. I wish I had done them to begin with but I was so intrigued by this book I just couldn't stop long enough to do them! If you want to write your own music (and it's not as you may think), BUY THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for learning to write songs
Review: This book was exactly what I was looking for. I knew how to play the saxophone, but I didn't know how to write music. This book quickly moves through chords (I used "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath to learn the chords on piano) so it's not for a beginner musician. But if you have experience playing an instrument (any instrument), and have access to a piano/keyboard, this book is for you. I'm almost finished with my first reading and I plan to go back and read it again, this time doing the exercises. I wish I had done them to begin with but I was so intrigued by this book I just couldn't stop long enough to do them! If you want to write your own music (and it's not as you may think), BUY THIS BOOK!

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Summary: For songwriters: a fine book on the music side of the craft
Review: This very useful book lasted barely two years in it's initial printing with Writer's Digest Books, and since alternatives to Josefs in the area of writing music for popular songs are not many, I'm pleased to report that Schirmer Books, in a seeming rush to become a big player in the music-industry book field, has released a 1996 update of this terrific book. (Please, songwriters, buy it! Let's demonstrate that we represent a viable market niche.) Like many of today's working songwriters, author Josefs boasts wide-ranging credits that include arranging, producing, playing, and composing, as well as crafting songs. His book, focused as it is on the techniques of music writing used in today's hits, fills an obvious need, as most songwriting books either skim over the music and talk about lyrics, or, if they spend time on music, tend to be more dated in their approach than Josefs, who, granted, leans heavily upon songs of the seventies and eighties to make his points, but also includes solid nineties examples. Ron Simpson, School of Music, Brigham Young University. Author of MASTERING THE MUSIC BUSINESS.

Rating:
Summary: They don't get any better than this!
Review: Wow! It's amazing how much relevant information Mr. Josefs crammed into this little book. Extremely well organized and laid out! If you're looking for a book on songwriting, there is nothing out there that touches this. It's nice to finally see a music author relate things to the Pop and Rock music of today; instead of taking the same stale approach of basing the book on Jazz and Classical Music concepts. To me, the value of a book is the direct relationship it has to what practical information you can take from it and then apply. This book has changed the way I approach writing songs, especially when I'm harmonizing a melody line. The sections on Minor Key Harmonization, and Borrowing From Minor In a Major Key are worth the price of the book alone. I hope Mr. Josefs next book will be on "Modern Arranging Techniques". Hands down my favorite written book on any subject!