The Songwriter's Workshop: Melody (Berklee Press) [Paperback]

Jimmy Kachulis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Berklee Press | Publication Date: January 1, 2003

Spark your imagination with hundreds of creative songwriting techniques! This hands-on guide provides lessons on how to write innovative songs, based on popular songwriting courses at Berklee College of Music. Whether you're a beginning songwriter who can't read a note of music, or an experienced professional looking for new ideas, this book will provide new insight into your craft; it teaches the fundamental techniques behind today's hit songs, together with easy-to-follow exercises so you can immediately apply these tools to your own art. This book comes with a CD so you can practice your songs with accompaniment, even if you can't play an instrument.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Berklee Press (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634026593
• ISBN-13: 978-0634026591
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Get the harmony book, March 5, 2006

By 

M. Sindel (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Songwriter's Workshop: Melody (Berklee Press) (Paperback)

I returned this book almost immediately after purchase. 90% of the info that is in this book is in "the songwriter's workshop: harmony" book where it is given a better presentation along with useful info on harmony. If you want some basic rules on how to write a good melody, look up the melody section in "Music, the Brain and Ecstasy" (no its not about drugs or sex), which gives you about 10 useful, non-restrictive tips for writing a good melody. Things like "non-diatonic notes should resolve by going to neighboring tones rather than by a leap".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book of tricks, January 15, 2005

By 

CJ "CJ" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Songwriter's Workshop: Melody (Berklee Press) (Paperback)

I've completed the first two chapters (of five) in this book and found that it is very useful. The examples of each technique are boring, bland, and not very creative, but I guess the author purposely made them that way so that the reader could understand the concept in the first place. There are so many techniques in the book to use only for only melody writing that no reader should be short of ideas after reading the book. It's an extremely detailed look at melody and all the aspects of creating a good melody.

Overall, it's a very useful book of tricks and techniques, but I think it would be better if the author gave better and more interesting examples of concepts. I don't think that the book alone will allow one to write good melodies anyway--I think anyone reading it should seek out melodies from his/her favorite songs (with notes on the treble clef and chord symbols) and analyze how they're put together and what techniques mentioned in the book are actually in that particular melody. A book is not meant to do this part (that's up to the reader), so I don't judge the book badly for this--a book can only do so much anyway.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars bland, September 18, 2004

By 

Jessica "Buck II" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Songwriter's Workshop: Melody (Berklee Press) (Paperback)

I found the examples of melody writing in this book to be boring. I didn't expect the writer to write "hit" melodies, but I think he could have done a better job than the bland melodies written for the book. I did find some information helpful like the scales listed in the back of the book and adding emphasis to certain keywords in lyrics.