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    How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less
    How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less
    How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less

    By CJW Books

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    About this ebook

    This is a crash course in quick songwriting. It features a very detailed section of what the various types of songs that there are to create. There is a very detailed break on how to write different verses and choruses, how to write hooks that get radio attention. It even features sample songs and explains how they were constructed. It is also chalked full of ideas on how to get your creative juices flowing to start a song, or two, or three, or 10. It is songwriting taught in 140 pages.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCJW Books
    Release dateMay 31, 2014
    ISBN9781311162212
    How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less
    Author

    CJW Books

    Born in Reno Nevada, Cody Weinmann has been a writer for the freedom, success and prosperity of all people. He published his first story at the age of 6. He's been writing poems and short stories ever since. Now he is attempting to upgrade to novels. His first novel about a girl sitting on welfare falling in love with a guy who is destined to make his mark as a successful writer, and another, A Failed Camelot, about a man knocked down at every turn for freedom shine out as politically motivated novels to watch. His current book America vs. America is a poetry anthology for an era that needs courage and new hope to be prosperous. Stay tuned!

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      Book preview

      How to Write a Song in 30 Minutes or Less - CJW Books

      How To Write A Song in 30 Minutes or Less

      Copyright © 2014. Cody Weinmann

      Smashwords Edition

      How to Write A Song In 30 Minutes or Less

      Written in 2012-2014.

      No one may copy, redistribute, or in anywise write a portion of this book for their own commercial use without the express, written consent of the original author.

      Foreword

      Introduction

      Understanding Basic Songwriting Forms

      Remove Distractions

      Have Something That Draws Your Attention

      Pick A Genre

      Choose Which Route You Want To Go--Lyrics or Melody first?

      You Can’t Forget About Chords

      Come Up With a Main Melody

      Write And Play Through Main Melody Repeatedly

      Pick a Phrase That Lends Well To Lyrics

      Finishing The Other Verses of The Song

      Constructing The Second Verse

      Play Through Main Melody and Sing Your Hit Phrase

      Do The Final Mix down

      Call It Done

      Songwriting Products to Enhance Your 30-Minute Writing Experience

      The Next Steps. . .

      After It Is All Done...

      Foreword

      To many people, music is sort of a foreign language. Many people in this realm, don't think they could write a song on their own. They listen to music willingly. What if you wanted to write music for a living? What if you are trying to come up with a song and you're in a time crunch. What do you do? Why, write a song in 30 minutes. Yes, it can be done.

      The music business is always a high stress situation. Writers and performers race to the punch to put singles out to beat or contend with other artists' singles. With gigging on a constant basis, there is little time reserved for writing songs. You have to come up with songs on the spot. The Beatles had to come up with their tunes at various points between gigs. Many times, they had to have a full album in a week, which means most of the songs had to be written within a few days. Most albums had ten tracks on them and if you were planning on doing all original tunes, you had to think fast. That is no different than the way it is today.

      With time being a precious commodity, we have to maximize our creative resources as much as we can and it can produce some of the most simple and popular songs that could become radio hits.

      In this book, I wanted to try and break down what a normal songwriting process would be for me and how I'm thinking when I'm quickly jotting down lyrics to a song. My attempt with this book is also to show you the creative musical process and how much there is to think about when writing songs within short amount of time.

      I always wanted to learn how the master songwriters wrote all those hit records in the past. I agree that a lot of it could be spontaneous creativity. Keep in mind that many artists don't have the musical training in the classics to possibly know exactly what everything is. To most songwriters, it is all about sound and rhythm, both of which are auditory elements. Very little visual perception is involved.

      In this book, I try to give you some elements of music composition and theory without getting too involved in the written virtues of music. I teach you how to write lyrics fast and give you the tips that I've learned to help me write lyrics and music at a fast pace.The faster you write the song, the faster you can get it on the charts.

      I wanted to try and make the best of a step-by-step guide to quick writing as much as I can. Amendments can be made if the instructions and tips in this how-to aren't clear enough. Therefore, I will thrive on your comments and reviews, as I will be making a blog based upon this book and the art of songwriting. So, let me know what you think as readers.

      I knew I had to capitalize on my songwriting experience when all the people around me for years have asked me how I came up with all my ideas and my response would usually be I just made it up on the spot. Usually, the song would come after several productive hours at playing random stuff on the piano.

      When I would play these bits on the instrument, people would ask, How do you do that? I just don't get it. Well, this book is the answer to that question.

      I've been writing songs since I was six years old. At first, it was just a matter of simple three-chord songs that I could write. Then, I started hearing re-makes of popular songs on television and began playing those. This taught me by ear the chord changes and the notes that would form a melody. I got to the point where I could play many songs on the keyboard note for note only ten minutes after first hearing them on the television. In the later nineties, this lead me to writing my own songs. From these came It's You and many others that I wrote inspired by groups like the Eagles, Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel among others.

      From this, my talents evolved into writing even more original songs, most of which I hope to get published soon enough. All through high school, I wrote arrangements and original songs that I committed to tape on the weekends when I wasn't busy with school. After my graduation, my talents grew to studying and writing classical music, a few pieces of which were contenders of the Sun Dance Film Festival in 2009 and the 58th Annual BMI Student Composer Competition. Not bad, considering I have a slight case of Cerebral Palsy that limits my mobility.

      To this day, I still write songs with great speed, not skimping on detail and poignancy if poignancy is warranted. I hope that this book is of value to all who read it. It is my pleasure to help and serve you in your songwriting process.

      Introduction

      This book is a rough guide for those who want to get a quick scoop on the 30-minute songwriting process. This entire guide requires some focus, energy and commitment to writing a song. For some of you, this will be your first attempt at writing a song that could be a potential hit. Some of you are veterans who know the art inside and out and have been writing songs for years. It is my hope that with this book, however, that you can write songs faster with bigger returns.

      This 30-minute writing process may or may not be for you. If you're a fairly experienced or seasoned songwriter, you may find this book really appealing to you, to give you a jump into writing your next great hit. If you're a fairly experienced songwriter who is running into a couple of snags that are really getting you down, this book could help you pick up ideas and run with them at a faster pace. We all hit songwriting snags now and then.

      If you are not the songwriter or song enthusiast, this book will not be for you. You will be confused by some of the language. You are going to get bored with this book. You may not be able to write a good song in thirty minutes. It may not be a hobby of yours. Your attention span may be short when it comes to music. The latter would definitely prove that this thirty minute songwriting process is not for you.

      This book is for you if you are a songwriter or write songs as a hobby. If you'd like to know exactly how the songwriting process works (and quick), then this book is for you. This book is full of ideas to get the beginning songwriter started on the road to songwriting mastery and success in the music industry. This book is for those who can handle a bit of songwriting theory while applying practical steps to jumpstart creativity.

      If you are in need of a more in-depth songwriting book, wait for the followup to this book to come out, Medium Quick Guide to The Craft of Songwriting. The latter book will show you in more detail how to write songs and give you more of the fundamentals of where the art of songwriting comes from and how you can become a great songwriter as well.

      So, keep on reading and get the scoop on how to use basic songwriting forms and techniques that will help launch you into creation upon creation. Heck, you may come up with the next million dollar anthem. It is important to think long term. Some of the songs that are written in 30 minutes or less go onto be integrated into the radio, movies, television shows and video game soundtracks. Keep this

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