Songwriting For Dummies

This friendly, hands-on guide tackles the new face of the recording industry, guiding you through the shift from traditional sales to downloads and mobile music, as well as how you can harness social media networks to get your music "out there." You get basic songwriting concepts, insider tips and advice, and inspiration for writing — and selling — meaningful, timeless songs. Songwriting 101 — get a grip on everything you need to know to write a song, from learning to listen to your "inner voice" to creating a "mood" and everything in between Jaunt around the genres — discover the variety of musical genres and find your fit, whether it's rock, pop, R&B, gospel, country, or more Let the lyrics out — master the art of writing lyrics, from finding your own voice to penning the actual words to using hooks, verses, choruses, and bridges Make beautiful music — find your rhythm, make melodies, and use chords to put the finishing touches on your song Work the Web — harness online marketing and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and others to get your music heard by a whole new audience

[...]... about Song Form 53 Dealing with Verses 55 The single-verse form 55 The two-verse form 57 The “Standard” Form 58 Learning about the standard form 58 Taking the standard form further 60 The Verse-Chorus Form 61 The verse-chorus form using a pre-chorus 64 The verse-chorus form using a bridge 65 The verse-chorus form using... 243 Chapter 14: Writing for the Stage, Screen, Television, and More .245 Songwriting for Film 246 Understanding the role of the music supervisor 247 Getting to the music supervisors 249 Understanding the creative side of songwriting for films 250 02_615140-ftoc.indd xiii 6/25/10 7:48 PM xiv Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition Songwriting for Television 251 Knowing... Getting to television music supervisors 254 Songwriting for Commercials 254 Writing jingles from scratch 255 Getting your songs placed in commercials 257 Songwriting for Video Games 257 Songwriting for Musicals 258 Submitting your songs for musicals 258 Understanding the creative side of songwriting for musicals 259 Practice Makes Perfect ... you must force yourself to read to assure that your song is on track and being properly looked after once it’s created Part VI: The Part of Tens In this section we review some of the great songs throughout history We also throw in some highly prudent and useful contracts for good measure 04_615140-intro.indd 3 6/25/10 7:49 PM 4 Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition Icons Used in This Book For Dummies. .. vacations, professional songwriting is not for you If you’re feelings are hurt easily, co-writing is not for you And if you can’t stand rejection, don’t even think of songwriting as a career If you think this foreword is harsh, the music business is harsher It’s my intention to steer you away from this profession now and save you the heartache I’d rather see you admit to yourself that songwriting is more... you want to do for work Now for honesty Your parents had good reasons for telling you to always be honest If I had been honest with myself 20 years ago, I probably would not have gone to Duke University to be a lawyer I got a late start writing songs, and that was only because no one believed in me enough to allow me to 03_615140-flast.indd xvii 6/25/10 7:48 PM xviii Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition... hurry 336 02_615140-ftoc.indd xv 6/25/10 7:48 PM xvi Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition Protecting Your Songs with Copyrights 336 Rounding up the right forms 337 Filling out Form PA 338 Using the copyright notice 339 Filling in the Blanks and Being Organized 339 Using a prospects-and-contacts form 341 Creating a song-history tracking sheet 341... 03_615140-flast.indd xviii 6/25/10 7:48 PM Introduction W elcome to Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition If you’re merely flipping through the pages of this book right now at the local bookstore (looking for the fast track to writing a sure-fire hit), do yourself a favor and buy it You can thank us later! There’s simply too much information packed into this baby to get a hold of in one sitting If you’ve... been doing right all along The text of the book covers all aspects of the business and the pleasure of songwriting from the collection of ideas to the creation of a song, from creating a demo of your song to assembling a team for its marketing 04_615140-intro.indd 1 6/25/10 7:49 PM 2 Songwriting For Dummies, 2nd Edition It includes not only the nuts and bolts of constructing a song, but the spiritual... songs before you stumble upon anything great, and because of that, WORK in some cases is more important than talent I wrote for seven years before I made a dollar And I learned that every bad song you write gets you closer to a good one As my famous songwriter friend Marti Fredrickson says, “It took me 47 years to write that song.” (By the way, he’s 47; and he co-wrote “Jaded” for Aerosmith, “Sorry” for . specifically for this book, go to www .dummies. com/cheatsheet /songwriting by Jim Peterik, Dave Austin, Cathy Lynn Foreword by Kara DioGuardi Songwriting FOR DUMmIES ‰ 2ND. Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies. com, Making