Customer Reviews

Writing Music for Hit Songs: Including Songs from the '90s

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've paged through many books about songwriting trying to find a way to understand how to construct music to complement my lyrics. This book finally solved my problem and has absolutely revolutionized my songwriting. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone who is a complete novice in music theory because it moves very quickly through a great number of topics. I took notes to make sure I got everything I could out of it! I haven't looked at another music theory book since. If you're serious about writing better music, buy this book!

The author is clearly a seasoned songwriter with an abundance of knowledge and skill. Yet, he is able to explain the technicalities of songwriting in such a way that the not-so-professional hobbyist songwriter like myself can follow. Having not had formal music theory training myself I could easily catch up with the essentials without feeling it was a hopeless situation. The author managed to keep my attention and deal with the music theory in such a fashion that I could not wait to see his next topic. I found the approach very practical. In fact, I could immediately apply what I learned and the results were immediate. Still, an enormous amount of information is contained in this book and I am sure I shall refer back to the detail many times in the future. It has also helped me better understand songs that already became hits and the book is full of real examples.

If you're sick of theory books that only use author's etudes or "Grandfather's Clock" type traditional songs as context, then this book is for you. Dozens and dozens of real, commercial hit songs are used as specific examples to illustrate theory. Use this book with iTunes music store to hear the "big concept" theory (ie. Song Structure, Modulation, Groove, etc.) and use your own instrument to really dig into the specifics.

Do you want to know how Billy Joel came up with those chord changes? Do you want to apply creative harmony (chords) to a melody that you can't get out of your head? Do you want to make your songs more interesting melodically, harmonically or rhythmically? It's all in this little book (and much more).

Do you play and sing a lot of songs? Have you noticed similarities between them? Some similarities are obvious (1,4,5 chords for example). Some are less obvious and some are downright confounding. Often you have this tickle in the back of your brain that there is something more important going on.

There is.

Why does this chord work so well here? Why do Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Hendrix, Dire Straits and so many other group's songs stand out? They sound so unique as to be instantly identifiable. Is there some pattern here?

Yes.

I'm so glad Jai Joseph did not go down the path of these BS internet sites advertising "The Secrets of Songwriting" or "The Secrets of Theory." There's no hype here. It's simply a very organized approach to applying music theory to the craft of songwriting.

I'm a guitar teacher in baltimore. I use this book with my more advanced students. Some do not read anything but guitar tablature (and they don't want to learn standard notation). They still benefit enormously from this book. Some are not songwriters (and they don't want to be), but they do want to be able to learn more songs. They want to learn them faster and retain them over time. They want to be able to figure them out just by listening to the CD. This book has been a godsend for them.

- Jeff Auen
- www.baltimoreguitarschool.com

This very useful book lasted barely two years in it's initial printing with Writer's Digest Books, and since alternatives to Josefs in the area of writing music for popular songs are not many, I'm pleased to report that Schirmer Books, in a seeming rush to become a big player in the music-industry book field, has released a 1996 update of this terrific book. (Please, songwriters, buy it! Let's demonstrate that we represent a viable market niche.) Like many of today's working songwriters, author Josefs boasts wide-ranging credits that include arranging, producing, playing, and composing, as well as crafting songs. His book, focused as it is on the techniques of music writing used in today's hits, fills an obvious need, as most songwriting books either skim over the music and talk about lyrics, or, if they spend time on music, tend to be more dated in their approach than Josefs, who, granted, leans heavily upon songs of the seventies and eighties to make his points, but also includes solid nineties examples. Ron Simpson, School of Music, Brigham Young University. Author of MASTERING THE MUSIC BUSINESS.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. I knew how to play the saxophone, but I didn't know how to write music. This book quickly moves through chords (I used "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath to learn the chords on piano) so it's not for a beginner musician. But if you have experience playing an instrument (any instrument), and have access to a piano/keyboard, this book is for you. I'm almost finished with my first reading and I plan to go back and read it again, this time doing the exercises. I wish I had done them to begin with but I was so intrigued by this book I just couldn't stop long enough to do them! If you want to write your own music (and it's not as you may think), BUY THIS BOOK!

It took me about 6 months to read and fully understand this book. It is so comprehensive and also has exercise to reinforce learned skills. Can be a refresher course for seasoned veterans of musical techniques or else an eye opening book of pure musical technique magic. A must read!

MarQue

My teacher at the school of music told me she was going to make little BAchs out of us! Well, we did all the harmony theory...wrote chorals and when I graduated I went on to compose POP!! Haha what a laugh that was! Little bachs going for pop! Buddy you have no idea!!! This author is amazing. He tells you all the tools and secrets right down to the detail of how to compose POP music. Forget the classical harmony you learned because it is a whole different ball game in POP! He is an excellent teacher! Between all 103 music books I have studied this was number 1!!! I have no hesitation in recommending this book. Just 1 point though...it would have been perfect had there been an audio CD with it to listen to the examples. Thank you and God Bless!

This book is as good as Rikky Rooksby's best book: The Songwriting Sourcebook. Actually, I take that back, it's BETTER. I learned about secondary dominants, secondary subdominants, writing in minor keys, and borrowed chords, which Rikky Rooksby's book doesn't cover quite as well. Do yourself a favor and read this book...TWICE.

Jai Josefs has a real gift for teaching.

This is easily the best book that I've read on pop music theory and structure. Not only does he cover all the material in a way that isn't boring, he adds even more interest with examples from familiar music.

After borrowing a copy from my local library I decided it was essential and bought my own copy.

I studied songwriting with Jai several years ago and am reviewing this book as I get back into after a several year break. It's increadible and an essential foundation. I've gotten copies of every song in this book and it helps tremendously to hear the examples, to really understand what is going on inside of a great song. Why. So you can learn and apply to your songs. Example: I was going a harmonic analysis of the Song Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head recently and I was confused because at one place the chord being played didn't seem to fit what the correct chord should be. I couldn't understand it, but then I remembered Jai's concept of Prosody, which is what is being said in music matching what is being said in the words. The chord that didn't fit was write at the word "fit" in the line "nothing seems to fit". Now that's genius. My new song has the words "doesn't seem to fit" and I will find the right, "wrong" chord. Now that's genius and learning from genius. This book is the pathway to understanding the language songwriters use so you can learn what they have to teach. It is the gateway to The Great Musical Continuum. And it's cheap!

Bob Dylan said "You're better off having a feel for music that you don't have to carry in your head, that you can write down. To me these are the people who are serious about this craft. Not people who just want to pour out their insides". Who's to argue with Bob? Not me.