Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary : The Most Practical and Easy-To-Use Reference Now Available item #16637 [Paperback]

Kevin M. Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Acclaimed by the New York Times as "part muse, part quick reference," this pocket-sized dictionary is an easy-to-use tool geared specifically toward the contemporary songwriter. A concise collection of the most-often used words in popular music, the simple format allows for fast reference, while the 15,000 entries provide more than ample rhyming options.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Pub Co (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882847295
• ISBN-13: 978-0882847290
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Popular
  • #57 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > English
  • #85 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Reference

More About the Author

Kevin M. Mitchell is a writer and a musician. He graduated from the University of Missouri--Kansas City Conservatory of Music. As managing editor for the campus paper, he wrote news, features, and humor pieces. This led him to the hilarious position as obituary writer for the Kansas City Star. He moved to Los Angeles and worked at the Groundlings Improv Theater, which staged a one-act comedy he wrote. Three full-length musicals he wrote, composed, or co-wrote were performed in L.A. and St. Louis. He's published more than a dozen books including How to Put a Band Together, Making a Great Demo, Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary, Hip Hop Rhyming Dictionary, The Musician's Ultimate Joke Book, and St. Louis Dad. He contributes to many magazines about musical instruments and the live entertainment industry. Mitchell is producer and head writer for the Parnelli Awards, an annual ceremony that celebrates lighting designers, audio engineers, and other professionals who make concert touring possible. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and two children, where he also fronts a popular jazz group, the Kevin Mitchell 4.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reference for general song writing tips., August 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary : The Most Practical and Easy-To-Use Reference Now Available item #16637 (Paperback)

While this didn't necessarily have the greatest amount of information, and not all the words were cross-referenced back to each other all the time, it was still a very useful tool. Since it's small, you can carry it around easily. The abscence of more complicated words was rationalized by the fact that most songs would sound odd with scientific references and other such words in the lyrics. It only had the most used words, but there were plenty of them. However, I found the greatest value in this book at the very beginning within about the first ten pages. These pages provided an excellent tips section for song writing in general that has the best list of 10 useful tips I've ver seen. I lost this book, and I will probably buy it again (mostly for the tips section, but also because it is a great reference you can carry anywhere).

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great to stimulate ideas as well as rhyme, August 20, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary : The Most Practical and Easy-To-Use Reference Now Available item #16637 (Paperback)

Every songwriter who uses rhyme has moments of searching for the right word. This dictionary is perfect: easy to carry, very easy to use, and chock full of good words. I find that looking for the right word can also stimulating song ideas.

I've tried other, more technical books, for poets. But I've found this to be at once sufficient and comprehensive for my songwriting.

You never can tell,
So use it well.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Handy but lacking, January 23, 2004

By 

"samiy" (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary : The Most Practical and Easy-To-Use Reference Now Available item #16637 (Paperback)

This is a handy book. It's small and easy to carry around and you can pretty often find what you're looking for in it. It's good if you're browsing for ideas and it has a small section on basic rhyming schemes and useful hints for beginner songwriters.
There are some serious drawbacks though. The obvious one is that it's not very big and doesn't have all that many words. Another is that while it lists words in different tenses, it does for some reason not appear to have any words in plural listed. It has 16 rhymes for the word "star", but "stars" (or any words that rhyme, like cars, bars, etc.) is nowhere to be found.
So while this is a handy book for the beginning lyricist, people who are really serious about songwriting should probably go for something more extensive.
But then again, it's only 6 bucks. And for 6 bucks it's not a bad book.