5 books about songwriting you should read

Sure, songwriting is about doing, not reading, but learning is also essential — and reading a great tome on the topic can really give you a jump-start.

These five books are ones I’ve either read myself or have been meaning to read, since they’ve been recommended by other songwriters I respect and admire.

1. Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison

My buddy Meg Braun took a class with author Pat Pattison, a professor at the Berklee College of Music,  at the Rocky Mountain Song School and, along with others, recommends this lyric-writing title.

2.  Songwriters on Songwriting by Paul Zollo

This is a huge, huge favorite of mine, featuring in-depth interviews by a singer/songwriter/editor/author with everyone from Paul Simon (yay!) and Brian Wilson to Lou Reed and Carlos Santana. It’s really amazing and I never get tired of it.

3. Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting by Robin Frederick

To me the title sounds overly commercial, but I’m always amazed by Frederick’s great to-the-point, action-oriented tips that you can use anytime, whether they regard melody, lyrics, chords, structure or inspiration. It’s a great jump-start for any songwriter, IMHO.

4. Songwriting and the Creative Process by Steve Gillette

Well, I must admit that I’ve only leafed through this one, but I’m a huge Steve Gillette fan — he taught both at SummerSongs East and SummerSongs West when I attended and is a gentle, supportive guide in terms of helping you find your muse and using it to get good results.  So I’d recommend any book on the topic he had a hand in writing.

5. The Complete Rhyming Dictionary by Clement Wood

I think every songwriter needs a rhyming dictionary, in my opinion. True, I use mine online these days, but I’d still bring one with me when I travel…or at least put it on my hubby’s Kindle.

Happy reading!

  • http://www.nicholastozier.com/words Tozier

    Hi Sharon!

    Definitely back you up on Writing Better Lyrics. I started life as a writer, then connected to songwriting from there, so I’ve long been irritated by illiterate songwriting books. Pattison’s very lucid and interesting.

    Have you read Popular Lyric Writing by Andrea Stolpe? She builds on Pattison’s ideas and takes them in some interesting directions. She too is pretty lucid and technically apt, though her writing isn’t quite as much fun as Pattison’s.

  • http://jimcolbertmusic.com Jim

    Steve Gillette’s book is a personal favorite (as is Steve Gillette!). He also has a neat guitar tutorial CD (it would be killer as a video, but last i checked it was only on CD) that explains his approach to guitar that is pretty cool.

  • http://www.steveleslie.com Steve Leslie

    Kudos to the entries. All very fine books! I’d like to recommend a new one (new to me at least) : Songcrafters’ Coloring Book by Bill Pere. Lots of good stuff here! Anybody have a thought concerning Jimmy Webb’s book?

  • http://www.myspace.com/littlegreenmen21 Paddy Kelly

    Has anybody read the magnificent Sheila Davis books – Successful Lyric Writing and The Songwriters Idea books?