Customer Reviews

Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm not a fan of Jimmy Webb and came to know him through Paul Zollo's book Songwriters on Songwriting. As a beginning songwriter (but longtime musician) I found a lot of great things in this book. This means I have no reverence for Jimmy Webb & am reading this as a simple student of songwriting. I'm about halfway through with it right now.

Jimmy Webb's dedication to his craft is obvious, and it comes through the pages. The increadible amounts of work that go into writing a song are tracked momenty by moment in this book. Just about every step to songwriting, all of the options are in these pages. From various "tricks" of chord substitution to which rhyming dictionaries he likes and why - it's all here. His approach to songwriting is that of a master craftsman, and he doesn't hold back in his lessons.

One odd thing. As a musician I was able to follow through as he introduced different elements - inverted chords, 7th chords, etc. The novice, however might have difficulty. He introduces each piece individually, but then makes logical leaps that I still don't quite get. Specific examples escape me, but he'll take great pains to describe something simple and a paragraph later give you an example that incorporates something he hasn't yet introduced to you. He'll go on about how to construct a triad, and then jump PAST 7th chords. I was able to follow it, but I've been playing music for 10 years.

I also disagree (but this is personal preference) with his chord substitution ideas: just find any chord with one note in common. Maybe he brings it all together in a later chapter, but he should let the reader know that he's wandered into the land of Chordal Compositions (compositions with no particular key) and away from the diataonic world that dominates Western music. Then again, maybe I'm just an old stick in the mud who Likes Diatonic composition. :)

These two points aside, this book still rates 5 stars. I've learned SO much from this book that it's earned a permenant spot on my bookshelf. I thank Jimmy Web for giving this gift to the world.

Somewhat more pedestrian, but also reccomended is "Writing Music for Hit Songs." It may pay to go through that book before getting into this book. It may help fill in some of the gaps I mention above. It's a straightforward good book.

Write me at fourstrings@mailandnews.com with comments or questions. I'm ALWAYS interested in talking music with anyone - experts, beginners... anyone.

Warning: People who want to learn basic songwriting should go elsewhere.

****************************************************************

From 1965 to 1970 or so Jimmy Webb was inescapable. You watched the Carole Burnett show, and there were the 5th Dimension singing "Up, Up and Away." Turn on the radio, and Richard Harris' cake melted in the rain. Glen Campbell rode the Witchia line, drove through Phoenix, and ruminated about Galveston. Those incandescent melodies entered my childhood and have stayed with me.

Hard rock drove this more upbeat music from the airwaves, but Jimmy Webb's legacy remains in the catalog of fine songs he wrote at a precocious age. Now his book gives us some insight into the mind who might arguably be called the last great songwriter of the 20th century.

Many people coming to this book will eagerly open it, hoping to extract the secret than made Jimmy Webb into a wealthy man, and they will come away dissappointed and frustrated. This is not a book about how to write a song, so much as it is a repository of the mind of Jimmy Webb. True, Jimmy writes about how he composes a lyric, and how he creates a chord progression. His discussion of prosody is excellent, too. But there is more here that simple technical discussion of song writing.

This book a cultural history of the American song up to the end of the 1960's. Jimmy Webb gives us stories, his own history, his background, and discussions of songs from the beginning of the modern era to the present. For some like me, who has a deep interest in American Cultural history, this book is a gem.

Musican theoriticans might have a fit when Jimmy Webb starts giving his version of Secondary Dominants and other chord substutions, but again, when they've written "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" I'll listen to them.

Other reviewers say that it would be better to have some knowledge of music theory before you read this book, and I agree with that. When Jimmy starts on about 7th chords No 3 with a minor 2nd in the bass, you might start stratching your head if you don't know what he's talking about. Have a keyboard around so you can play the examples.

This book is like taking a master class from a professional, not a seminar by a music teacher who never's sold one song, let alone had hit after hit, gold records, Grammies. Jimmy Webb is an authentic American genius - he and Brian Wilson on the west coast - Dylan on the East - who blew the roof off of the stilted 32 bar song and the 12 bar blues.

Tunesmith is about songwriting, not about how to write a song. If you have to ask the difference, you'll never know.

It's an event when Jimmy Webb, the songwriter who epitomized both the romance and the innovation that characterized the songcrafting of the sixties and seventies ("By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "MacArthur Park," "Up, Up, and Away," etc.) turns his attention to writing a book about the songmaking process. Not only a great songwriter, Webb in his heyday was also admired as the possessor of a bright youthful intellect and a zany, happy sense of humor. The bulk of his hit-laden song catalog was completed by age twenty-five or so, at which time Webb mostly disappeared. For those insiders and fans who have been paying close attention, Webb has added to that catalog in more recent years, contributing such underpublicized gems as "If These Walls Could Speak" (Amy Grant, et al, early eighties) and "California Coast" (Linda Ronstadt, about 1990), a song that also helped celebrate the comeback of Brian Wilson, who created delicious and plaintive Beach-Boys-style background vocals for the cut. In TUNESMITH, we're allowed to be there as Jimmy Webb explains which writers and which songs he has admired, and we watch in fascination as Webb dissects a few of these personal favorites to lay bare the structure and the art within. Jimmy Webb is said to have spent four full years creating TUNESMITH, and his love for the craft is obvious as you turn the pages and absorb the insights being shared. A tip for researchers: Paul Zollo did an excellent retrospective interview with Webb after the songwriter had been silent for at least a decade. The original interview can be found in the annals of SongTalk, the journal of the National Academy of Songwriters, or much more easily in Zollo's excellent book of reprints, SONG- WRITERS ON SONGWRITING. And finally, a trivia question for Webb fans: on which pop album can a version of Jimmy Webb's very first song, "There's Someone Else," written as a teenager in Oklahoma, be found? Answer: Art Garfunkel's "Watermark."

I have about ten books on the subject, and no other book I've read comes close in terms of actual, practical skills necessary to develop songs. Other books go into sources of inspiration, interview famous songwriters and their perspectives, and different processes, but this is the only one that consistently gives detailed information about many facets of the song development process.

For example, a lot of songwriters, especially those who aren't formally trained (which is most of them in the popular genres), come up with melody and lyrics first. How do you develop that into a complete song? Most other books simply mention that it can be done, but he actually goes into what first choices you have for accompanying chords, and policies about passing tones, and the strategy of either changing chords or notes in the melody to dress a song up.

If you read only one book about songwriting and song development, I think this is the best choice.

For those currently seeking to expand their knowledge of the skill of songwriting I couldn't go past recommending "Tunesmith - Inside the Art of Songwriting" by Jimmy Webb of Macarthur Park, Galveston, The Highwayman etc fame.

Published in 1998 it's both comprehensive, and contemporary yet written in a warm, friendly style. It's comprehensive in it's explanation of . inspiration and how to cultivate it . the process of writing a song . the structure of songs in their many conventional forms (and some not) . the vexing topic of rhyme (To rhyme and how to rhyme, that is the question as even non-rhyme can be considered a deliberate rhyming act.) . the development of melody and musical literacy (This section is great for those at all levels of musical experience as it starts from the basics but goes way beyond for those who need/want it.) . the business of music (how to promote and market your songs, how to win friends and influence influential people in the music business in the age of computers and the internet) . the commercial realities for a songwriter . keeping the faith in yourself It's contemporary nature is particularly important in a dynamic and diversified industry.

You feel real empathy here and a sense of being treated as an equal. Jimmy makes no bones about the fact that it's a precarious and at times disheartening business. Any illusions you may have about quick and sustained success through songwriting before reading this, are dispelled. You realise that even someone of Jimmy Webb's skill and stature has had a hard go of it - with a golden period, a long drought, a brief encore and a smattering of hits and misses since, but he admits he wouldn't change it for anything. And couldn't help it anyway. So it's a hard reality, but I believe that accepting it can help sustain you for the long haul.

If you don't have commercial aspirations then treat it as a terrific book about making your songwriting more informed, flexible and, believe it or not, spontaneous.

What got me the most though was Jimmy's passion for the art. You feel it on every page. He evokes the feeling I occasionally get, sharing my songs with other writers, that we're part of a unique brotherhood/sisterhood that tries to give voice to the human spirit - in a fairly succinct and melodious fashion.

Jim Webb is one of our true American treasures in the world of pop music. How lucky we are as songwriters to get the opportunity to get inside his heart and mind as he moves through the process of writing a song. Particularly interesting is Webb's take on lyrics......why he would or wouldn't use certain rhymes, for example. He addresses every part of the process, from formulating ideas to coming up with the best hook to the form of the song and on to writing the lyrics, melody and chord progression. He talks about some of the best written songs in pop music, disecting them and using them as examples. There is such an amazing amount of useful information in this book, it requires multiple readings to fully grasp it all. All in all, reading this book is like going to school and studying with the very finest master there is in the field of songwriting!

Readers, please forgive me for being technical in my opening remarks. I know of no other way to make my point.
I first opened to chapter 7, where Webb talks about harmonic movement in accompaniment. It turned out to be, in my opinion, the book's finest hour, or at least the most useful to me for these reasons: 1. He gives CONCRETE EXAMPLES. 2. This is absolutely subjective, but for me (a composer of instrumental music, chiefly jazz, and roughly of Webb's generation and weaned on much of the same music), the most lasting and valuable contribution of that period's better writers (Stevie Wonder, for example) is the ingenious way they found to manipulate simple triad harmony by using pedals and "open" sounding chords (No 3rds, etc. which Webb explains and demonstrates beautifully). It goes without saying that they also wrote good melodies, or they'd have been long forgotten. Analysis of melody construction/components also is first-rate here (Webb deals with treatment of lyrics in depth in in other chapters). Stephen Sondheim has said "art is craft". Webb spells out the mechanics of that craft masterfully. Also to his credit, he dismisses the inference that any formula for good writing can be gleaned from his (or probably any) book. He encourages people to learn those mechanics, but trust their own creative muses. Other well-turned discussions (of his predecessors' work, for example) show a man who has thought long and hard about his craft--and learned much. (A chapter on at least basic arranging---beyond piano voicings---might have been helpful, too, because presentation is half the battle, especially for people trying to sell songs to extremely jaded artists, executives, etc).

Now for the bad news: throughout the book's body, Webb continually digresses, editorializes, and especially seems to want to settle accounts with the (mostly Broadway) scribes of the past, whom he upbraids for their snobbery and rebuff of rock and roll. (In fairness, he goes on in the epilogue to dress down his own generation for their OWN hypocracy and peevish conservatism in rejecting today's young writers.) He grows especially bitter in the epilogue, and his philippics are kind of unbecoming. He is himself opinionated in the extreme, dismissing (for but two of many examples)the chromaticism of late Romantic music and the Schoenberg people (so much for "lightweight" Alban Berg) in a way that frankly doesn't convince me he really listened.

What's wrong with this? Nothing, on its face. It's food for thought,and at times great fun. But Webb, of all people, should know not to break his own first rule of composing, one which doesn't quite make the leap of faith from songwriting to book writing: make a promise in the first "bar", then deliver on it. Unless I got some bad drugs in the '60s and flashbacks are causing hallucinations, on the cover the subtitle is "Inside the art of songwriting". Webb also states more than once his purpose: to help the amateur songwriter, and I would never doubt his sincerity. But how these long winded polemics help aspiring songwriters, who after all are impressionable and more in need of bricks than brickbats, learn their craft is beyond me. Such raw and subjective ruminations belong---would be great---in an autobiography or a "rant", NOT this book where they end up a distracting sideshow.(I don't mean music business advice, which he also gives, along with his work habits/routines, both to good effect.)

I feel guilty coming down so hard on elements of a book still so valuable, but that first chapter I read promised so much. I find it ironic that someone who so successfully reads and speaks to his public (and is his own best editor in his imaginative and well-constructed songs) could so succumb to self-indulgence and come dangerously close to being saboteur of his own best intentions. But this is merely my opinion. And I still recommend "Tunesmith".

Songwriting is similar to painting in that some people will like what you create, and others will hate it. There's a lot of subjectivity in music, and Jimmy Webb's music strikes me as being a touch "cheesy".

However, that does NOT diminish the usefulness of this book, as you will learn some interesting and different ways of going about constructing melodies, lyrics, chord progressions and song structures. It can be hard reading sometimes (particularly the chord substitution section, which is excellent though), but it finishes up with light, anecdotal stuff that's very easy on the brain. Make sure you understand basic theory first, and it's a great idea to read it with a piano / keyboard close at hand, to listen to the concepts for yourself.

You'll definitely learn things you can immediately apply to your own work, and for the better. Recommended.

This book is great. Unlike other songwriting books, which do little more than define terms (What is a metaphor? What is a rhyme scheme?), Webb steps you through the process of writing a song. How to generate lyrical ideas and lines. How to generate rhymes. How to generate a melody. How to generate chords for that melody. He starts writing a song himself during the course of the book, so you see it develop. He has the guts to expose himself, so you see all the crappy early lines he initially came up with. But then you see how he improved on them. And, even by the end of the song, the lyrics still aren't that great, frankly, IMHO. (I wonder if he did more editing after the book was completed; I don't think he ever recorded the song). But at least you get to see the *process* at work. I've never seen that in any other songwriting book.

Webb also throws in a lot of anecdotes about songwriters and songwriting, which might be more properly found in a memoir. Some may find that annoying or distracting, but I found them interesting and humorous. His personality shines through, cynical at times, even bitter, but a guy with a big heart, a guy I'd love to go out and have a beer with.

For those beginner songwriters with no knowledge of music theory, the chapters on melody and chord progressions may seem intimidating. (If so, I strongly urge you to learn basic theory; it will greatly help your songwriting.) But you can still get a lot out of the book anyway--for example, the chapter on lyric writing.

Finally, for songwriters who are not interested in writing pop or commercial music, don't automatically dismiss this book. I don't write commercial music. You may be surprised.

Excellent book. The title is well-chosen. Insight and enlightenment, I got a little of both.

The author uses song examples, slices of life (Hmm. good song title), historical perspective, and a bunch of other tools to make his point and inform the reader.

Indeed, you'll follow the author as he takes an idea through his songwriting process to a finished work. In my opinion, it's worth the price of the book alone.

I started reading around page 168 and then went back and read the entire book. Some of the earlier chapters were not 100% of interest to me but others are sure to love them.

I once heard John Breheny talk about how one must work at the "craft of songwriting." I think now I understand exactly what he means.

If you are serious about your craft, I believe this book is a good investment of your time.