Songwriting: a complete guide to the craft
Author
Publisher
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Publication Date
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Language
English
Table of Contents
From the Book - Second edition.
Preface to the new edition
Preface
Acknowledgments
First considerations
Concept
Which comes first, melody or lyrics?
Collaboration
Finding and working with a collaborator
How much technical training do you need?
Supplies
Part 1: Lyrics
1: Construction and form
How and why we label form
How and why we label rhymes
Verses and choruses
Folk songs
Spirituals
Blues, classic and pop
Operettas
1900-1920
1920s
1930s and 1940s
Musical theater since World War II
Late forties
Fifties
Sixties
Seventies
Eighties
Nineties
Twenty-first century
Rock
Rock and roll
Beatles and the revolution in form
Rock
Acid rock
Hard rock
Bubblegum
Folk-rock
Seventies
Eighties
Country
Your style
2: Types of songs
Starting with parodies
Things to remember when writing parody
Writing lyrics to songs in the public domain
Things to remember when writing lyrics to songs in the public domain
Writing a lyric to already existing music
Translations
Story songs
Dos and don'ts for story songs
Descriptive songs
Situations songs
Some situations for song
List songs
Tips on the list song
Social message songs
Birthday songs
Foreign or pseudo-foreign songs
Patriotic songs
Holiday songs
Gimmick songs
Nonsense songs
Suggestions for writing nonsense songs
Punch-line songs
Inspirational songs
Gospel songs
Love songs
Unsuitable concepts
3: Rhyme
What makes rhyme?
Paper rhymes
Identical rhymes
Regional rhymes
Imperfect and false rhymes
One-, two-, and three-rhymes
Inner rhymes
Non-rhymed lyrics
Rhyme schemes
Original rhyme schemes
Words that will not rhyme
4: Word usage
Simile and metaphor
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Words that do not sing
Connecting the words
Inverted language
Filling out or telescoping a lyric
Matching accents and meaning
Inappropriate speech
Poets' handbooks and rhyming dictionaries.
Part 2: Music
5: Melody
Basics of notating a melody
Staff
Sharps, flats, and naturals
Bar lines
Time signature
Time values
Major scale
Putting it all together
Transposition
Key signature
In which key shall I write my song?
Accidentals
Intervals
Motives
How to turn the title into a musical motive
Single-note motives
Two-note motives
Three-note motives
Motives of four or more notes
Where to take the motive
How to freshen a worn motive
Expanding the motive into a phrase
Expanding the phrase into a period
Range
Tessitura
Melisma
Sequence
Some rules for melody writing
What your song should include
A1
A
Bridge or release
A3
B and C
Coda
Interlude (trio)
Extension
Verse
Fade
6: Chords
Triads
Major triads
Minor triads
Diminished triads
Augmented triads
Triad abbreviations
Scale-tone triads
Numerical relationship
Seventh chords
Dominant seventh
Major seventh
Minor seventh
Altered chords
Diminished seventh
Scale-tone sevenths in series
Altering scale-tone chords
Inversions
Added sixth chords
Ninth chords
Eleventh and thirteenth chords
7: Scales
Major scale
Relative minor and parallel minor scales
Harmonic minor scale and melodic minor scale
Scale-tone triads in minor and scale-tone sevenths in minor
Other scales
Modal scales
Ethnic scales
Color scales
8: Harmony
Two-chord harmony
Two-chord harmony in minor
Three-chord harmony
Three-chord harmony in minor
Changing harmony for intensification
Imperfect cadence
II V I
I VI II V
Commercial bridge
Bridges in the minor
Bridges that modulate to foreign keys
Circle of chords
Diminished cliche
Old-fashioned ending
Bass lines
Ascending
Ascending through the augmented
Descending
Descending in minor
Chord substitution
Intensifying the chords
Suspension
Anticipation
Scale-tone substitution
Turnarounds
Evasion
Blues melody and harmony
9: Rhythm
Beat
Tempo
Meter
Rhythm
How rhythm fills the music
Syncopation
Rhythms of popular music
March
Fox-trot
Modified fox-trot
Shuffle
Boogie
Ragtime
Cakewalk
Polka
Alley cat
Gavotte
Minuet (menuet)
Waltz
Boston waltz
Country waltz
Jazz waltz
Gospel waltz
Charleston
Jazz rhythms
Jig (gigue)
9/8
12/8
Country
Disco
Tango (habanera)
Tango (Argentine)
Bolero
Merengue
Cha-cha
Conga
Guaracha
Rumba
Beguine
Mambo
Samba
Bossa nova
Paso doble
Reggae
Bo Diddley
Punk rock
After the song is completed
Getting a song on paper
Lead sheets
When preparing a lead sheet
Three-stave arrangements
Things to remember about three-stave arrangements
Two-stave arrangements
Things to remember about two-stave arrangements
Arrangements for a group
Professional copies
Getting your song recorded
Home demos
Studio recording
Copyright
How to copyright a song
Instructions for filling out copyright form PA
What you cannot copyright
How much can you quote?
Language of the music industry
Unions, agencies, and organizations
Afterword
Appendix
Bluegrass
Gangsta rap
Heavy metal
Hip-hop
Hip-hop in the twenty-first century
How to go about creating a hip-hop song
Music-notation software
Public domain songs
Punk rock
Rap
Reggae
Ska
Glossary
Bibliography
Permissions
Index.
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