Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook - A Radical Guide to Cutting Loose, Overcoming Blocks, & Writing the Best Songs of Your Life (Softcover) (Paperback)

by Coryat Karl (Author) "WHEN YOU ARE a frustrated songwriter, it isn't enough just to write a song..." (more)
Key Phrases: Song Game, Immersion Composition Society, Start Deck (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This book teaches an innovative method called Immersion Composition that drives musicians to engage their creativity by writing as much music as possible in a set time period. After learning to apply the method, elusive moments of inspiration can be summoned on command. The book also explains how to form a group of like-minded songwriters (a "lodge"), presents dozens of tips and games for making the most out of an Immersion Composition session, and shows how to turn brainstormed raw materials into polished songs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879308796
• ISBN-13: 978-0879308797
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,101 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #31 in	Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Songwriting
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even for a pro writer, these ideas are fantastic!, August 9, 2006

By	Ruth Greenwood - See all my reviews

People never have TALKING BLOCKS...so why should they have writing blocks?! This book is a radical blast through stuckness, perfectionism, laziness, creative slumps and it is ALSO a cure for the thought that songs only happen when we're fondled by the Muse.

Sure, it takes a long time to learn the craft of writing, to do brilliant REwriting, and some songs take a long gestation period.
But sometimes you have to GO FOR IT. Going for speed and quantity, in the ways this book suggests, can be liberating. And there are fine points here that can be adapted to support your creativity even when you're not doing an all-out 24hr thing.

I'm a pro writer, with major label, TV credits, singer-songwriter credits, I teach writing. (My CD's available on Amazon.) But THIS book made me want to jump up and down because IT'S SO DIFFERENT THAN ALL THE OTHER SONGWRITING BOOKS! Whatever's on your shelf...you don't have what's here...

The only thing that puzzles me is why there are no lodges yet in Nashville...or on the East Coast. Are only West Coasters unafraid and radical and willing to go on a 24-hour writing marathon?

I may have to start my own lodge.

Working on the secret handshake. Buy the book. Have FUN!

Ruth Greenwood, Ruthenium Music

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Busting the Block, June 5, 2006

By	James Armstrong (Oakland, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These guys have cracked the code. They have solved the mystery. They have found a way for all of us tortured genius songwriters, squashed by overactive, hypercritical superegos (often the result of a dicey childhood), to re-enter, at will, that magical state called "flow", that divine order of play, that childlike state, where time stands still, creative juices threaten the levees, the muses descend from Olympus to sing nine-part harmony in your ear, the background fades into soft focus and you write a whole bunch of songs. If you have ever felt stuck as a songwriter, you have to read this book. You will feel the cameraderie, support, encouragement, empathy and acceptance of the authors and the brother and sisterhood of the songwriting groups that have adopted the methods set forth in the book. I have been writing songs for more than 35 years. I have taken many songwriting and creative writing classes and seminars, but the authors of this book are "Hobgoblin running off with the garland of Apollo". I mean they have performed a miracle here and really want you to join in.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook, May 12, 2007

By	Spokanistan Steve (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews

The approach taken in the book reminds me of "Morning Pages" in "The Artist's Way." (Writing 3 pages of "flow of consciousness" material a day) Although I have not, (nor plan to) begin what the authors call a "lodge," I find the exercises helpful and insights into creating songs refreshing. I think the main jist of the book is to forget your perfectionism and write, write, write.