I want to get really good at writing songs. My experience is that getting good at anything involves two activities; learning all I can from people who are already good at it and lots and lots of practise. This site is where I’m curating the things I discover. There are three main areas Books, Other Resources and Songs.
Books
There are 1361 “Songwriting” books on Amazon UK. I’ve started reading them but it may take me a while. In the meantime I will post reviews of any that I think are worth reading. I have included a link to your local Amazon site (if the clever plug in thingy works) at the top of the page Just click on the picture and it should open a new tab on your browser. You might not see a picture if you are using a pop up blocker on a “Chrome” browser so either switch off the pop up blocker of paste the title into your search engine.
At the bottom of each review there is a “Best Bit” If you see the book in a shop you could check this out first. I have also given each book a star rating out of 5. 5 Stars: This book really is the “cat’s pyjamas”. 4 Stars: This book is excellent in parts but not quite a 5 Star. 3 Stars: A few good bits but might not be worth it. I probably won’t waste your time with 1 and 2 star reviews; I’m sure we both have better things to do than read these books.
Please, Please Please. If you find a really good book on song writing, I’d love to hear from you so we can share it with everyone else.
Other Resources
There are some amazing places on the internet where you can learn from people who know how to write good songs. Videos: on Youtube and elsewhere such as the BBC. Sound files: People talking out how they write.Websites and Facebook areas for people to connect. There are also lots of physical places to experience such as courses.
Please, Please Please. If you find a resource, I’d love to hear from you so we can share it with everyone else.
My Songs
When I have finished a song I play it at a local Open Mic (The Candle Club, The Edge, Bar 104 ) to see how it works live. I may change it a bit before recording it. I’ll then add it here, with a few comments on how I came to write it. I’d love to hear what you think works and what doesn’t. The aim of the Adventure is to write better songs so I’ll be really grateful for anything that helps me improve.
Please bookmark this site as I have a lot of things to add over the next few months.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Nick in “Sunny” Southampton