Moderators davie Posted January 2, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 2, 2013 Has anyone read any of these books on songwriting by Pat Pattison? He teaches songwriting at Berklee. Was thinking about picking up a book.http://www.amazon.ca/Songwriting-Wit...6846537&sr=8-2http://www.amazon.ca/Writing-Better-...d_bxgy_b_img_bhttp://www.amazon.ca/Songwriting-Ess...ref=pd_sim_b_2 I watched this video and found it really interesting and insightful. Thoughts and opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted January 2, 2013 Members Share Posted January 2, 2013 I haven't read anything, but this forum went through a Pat Pattison kick a couple of months ago... to the point where I'm conscious of how I speak now. Can't say I've applied it too much to my music (yet), but I'm now listening to what words people accent in everyday speech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldgitplayer Posted January 3, 2013 Members Share Posted January 3, 2013 Yes, I have 'Essential guide to lyric form and structure'. It helps to get this stuff under the belt, so it can be pulled out and used when appropriate. Obviously sticking with all the 'rules' does not necessarily a good song make. Pat Pattison runs a degree course, so he packs a lot in, but knowledge is only knowledge. It takes understanding and experience to apply appropriately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted January 3, 2013 Members Share Posted January 3, 2013 Oh dear God... I once owned Songwriting for Dummies. I learned more from listening to Richard Thompson than any book could teach me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aj_guitarist Posted January 3, 2013 Members Share Posted January 3, 2013 Not to be rude. But whats is your aim? are you wishing to buy to gain knowledge (which you will apply later)? are you wishing to expand your thinking/prepective? or are you just after some improvement in your own craft and skills? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted January 3, 2013 Members Share Posted January 3, 2013 I've read at least one of his books, but I don't remember which one. I've read just about every songwriting book in every library I've had a card to, which is into the dozens now. There's tons of good information out there--a lot of "oh, of course" moments that saved me a ton of time trying to intuit out the "rules". Rhyme schemes, song structures, types of songs, opening lines, the function of intros, choruses, bridges, codas, interludes, prechoruses, etc.--these are all things you can figure out by listening to a lot of music, but why not get it all downloaded in plain English? You've still got to do the work--listening to The Beatles, tuning in to Top 40 radio, analyzing what you're hearing, and, particularly, noticing the rule breakers and figure out what they've got going on--but reading a book (or a hundred books) to get the formal vocabulary in place is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 3, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 3, 2013 I read all three. I'd start with Writing Better Lyrics. The Berklee one about structure is really DEEP. It's great, but could also have the effect of bogging one down. I tend to not get bogged down with this stuff but I know a lot of folks have mentioned how the minutia can distract. If any book has the potential to, this is it, but I found it a fantastic and very thorough exploration of lyric structure. Not rules, ideas to use or not. Writing Without Boundaries I didn't enjoy at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted January 4, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted January 4, 2013 Thanks for input, guys. I think I'll take Lee's suggestion and get the 'Writing Better Lyrics" book. I'll start with one of the books first, anymore at a time may seem overwhelming. Some people may be skeptical, but I think books are a great resource for improving your craft. I've already made good progress from reading Jason Blume's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted January 4, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 4, 2013 Originally Posted by davie Thanks for input, guys. I think I'll take Lee's suggestion and get the 'Writing Better Lyrics" book. I'll start with one of the books first, anymore at a time may seem overwhelming. Some people may be skeptical, but I think books are a great resource for improving your craft. I've already made good progress from reading Jason Blume's book Yeah... good choice. And it is wise to get one. I've found that the most benefit comes from just going with the flow of a book. You most certainly don't have to agree with everything, but Pattison is really great at poking at those bits of your mind that are already at attention and bringing some light and sense to the things you've already been feeling intuitively. And he helps you make sense out of the stuff you already love. Sure, the guys that wrote that stuff didn't think about it, but it is stuff they did intuitively. He makes sense out a lot of that and helps us sort of wrap out minds and intuition around it. Very helpful for me. He's one of those "aha!" kind of guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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