Book includes expert songwriting tips and advice on how to avoid the most serious songwriting errors that new songwriters tend to make…
A new songwriting tips book titled ‘How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success’ aims to help aspiring writers steer clear of the many songwriting traps that they can easily fall into.
Written by experienced music publisher and music consultant Brian Oliver, the book takes a close look at the essential elements that are consistently found in the structure, melodies and lyrics of all hit songs.
It highlights the most common errors that are made when these key components are built into a song, and shows writers who are just starting out how to avoid such mistakes in their own songs.
Written in an easy, non-technical style, the book identifies frequent causes of songwriting problems – from faults in basic song structure, to having the wrong mental attitude and an unsatisfactory writing environment. From getting the blend of core ingredients wrong, to flawed choices when it comes to titles, melodies, lyrics, hooks, choruses, intros, bridges, pre-choruses – and even the song demo itself.
Now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store and Apple’s iTunes Store, the book sets out to help songwriters and lyricists develop their own unique writing style while avoiding fundamental errors at each key stage in the song development process.
The book includes important tips on fixing and strengthening songs, along with a detailed checklist of 101 common mistakes that writers can measure their own songs against – no matter how ‘finished’ they think their songs are.
Most songwriters have, at some stage, had to endure the disappointment of having their songs rejected and ended up asking: “Could I have done more to make my songs better?”.
This book aims to help writers recognise weaknesses in their songs, so that they can re-work them, make them stronger, and hopefully achieve the breakthrough that they’re striving for.
The book’s author Brian Oliver – who has worked with legendary songwriters such as Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, Albert Hammond, Chip Taylor and Gilbert O’Sullivan – warns that new writers’ chances of success could be hampered if they fail to spend enough time examining their songs and eradicating weaknesses in their songwriting.
Says Oliver: “Someone once said ‘All great songs are unique, but all bad songs are the same’. It’s also true to say that all bad songs share common faults. That’s why this is more of a ‘How Not To’ book rather than just another ‘How To’ book on songwriting.”
Oliver adds: “When a new song idea suddenly hits you – and everything comes together so quickly that the song almost writes itself – it’s very easy to fall into the trap of rushing straight into a studio and recording a demo. You then confidently submit the song to a music company believing it’s the best thing you’ve ever written – only to suffer the agony of having the song rejected.
“Sometimes it’s better just to slow down, take a step back, and re-examine each element of your new song,” he says. “If you don’t spend a little more time polishing it, there is a danger that it may still contain weaknesses that you failed to spot first time around.”
‘How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success’ is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) or HERE (UK and Europe).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
If you’re a songwriter, we also recommend this blog: The Hit Formula.
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Sh-Boom! Magazine 