5 comments about The Craft and Business of Songwriting (2nd Edition).

1. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to write a hit song? Perhaps you have asked yourself why do some songs become commercial successes while others end up in the dustbin?

   Journalist, talk show host, teacher and consultant, John Braheny, provides us with the answers to these queries as well as many other topics in his blue-ribbon manual The Craft and Business of Songwriting-Second Edition.

   Braheny was one of the founders, along with Len Chandler, of the Los Angles Songwriters Showcase. For 15 years he was intimately involved with this national non-profit organization that was dedicated to creating opportunities for discovering aspiring songwriters. As a result of this relationship, he accumulated an exceptional amount of knowledge pertaining to the business and craft of song writing. The reader is fortunate to have all of this information neatly wrapped up in a compact manual that is split into two main sections, the craft of writing songs and the business of selling and marketing songs.

   Within the section dealing with the craft the author delves into such topics as creativity, inspiration, subject matter, media, listeners, lyric writing, song construction and possible collaboration with other writers. Naturally we would probably be sceptical of a book that purports to teach us how to write a song. Some would say you are born to write a song, others would disagree and say it is possible to be taught the craft. Braheny believes that you can't be taught inspiration or imagination. However, you can be taught ways to get in touch with what you have to say and how to communicate it effectively. Using this premise as a base, the book provides us with the tools that will perhaps uncover our hidden talents.

   The second half of the book deals with the business features of song writing and as the author states, "writing a great song is only part of being a successful songwriter. Unsung thousands possess the talent and craft to write great songs, but without understanding the business and knowing how to protect your creations and get them heard by those who can make them successful, those songs are like orphans." Perhaps we should refer to the second half as the entrepreneurial skills needed to sell, promote and market your songs. Within this section we are introduced to such topics as protecting your songs, securing money, publishing, self- publishing, demos, marketing, Internet and record deals.

   The appendix of the book provides the reader with a very comprehensive listing of songwriters' resources containing names, addresses, phone numbers, web sites and general descriptions of the various references. No doubt this inclusion will save anyone who aspires to be a songwriter a great deal of time and effort.

   After reading the book are you guaranteed that you will be successful songwriter? Probably not. Unfortunately, we don't have a crystal ball indicating who will succeed and who will fail. However, at least after reading and being exposed to the elements of song writing, you will have a better understanding as to how the music industry works in relation to the songwriter, or writer/performer. As the author asserts in his introduction, "it will demystify and humanize what can often feel to a newcomer like a cold, monolithic, and impersonal industry."

   The above review first appeared on the reviewer's own site




2. So what if words and music come natural? We write the stuff down, add a tune and sing it to the world. Then what? This book, The Craft and Business of Songwriting, is a very affordable reference; and probably all you need.I'm happy it contains material that will make me wiser.Buy this or you'll miss out.



3. The first Edition of the book, was a must read, now this 2nd Edition, updated with new information and current song references, is also a must read for everyone that writes songs. The most complete songwriting book, for beginning songwriters to the aspiring, to even pro writers will learn from the book. I often refer to it as "The Songwriters Bible", just full of information that we need in the world of songwriting.
   I have been a Nashville Songwriters Association International coordinator in Charlotte for (6) years, and do at least one activity or read a quote from a hit writer or music professional in the book at every meeting. This book is years of songwriting seminars and workshops all in one. The reader will learn just like the title says, the craft and business from someone who knows what they are talking about, and has led workshops for some of the best songwriters of all time, including the awesome Diane Warren and several other hit writers. John Braheny made a difference with hit writers, with myself, and other songwriters that I have recommended the book to in the past 14+ years of reading the first edition, and now the 2nd edition. I recomend this as the very first book for every songwriter to read and study. If you know someone who writes songs, buy the book for them, and a copy for yourself. Buy a highlighter or two, to use when reading the book. ...Doak Turner
   ...



4. One of my most basic problems when starting off as a songwriter, was the lack of background and knowledge on how to approach a new song. I am talking about your basic strategies and how to structure them into a final product. Where does one begin, what do you need to take into account, what to do first, how to approach rhyme, basic tips about melody, chords etc. I found this book to answer these type of questions in a simple and interesting way.

   The author is obviously a specialist with a very good track record. He taught me how to analyse existing songs to expand my knowledge. No more do I just listen to music, I learnt the skill to expand my songwriting knowledge whilst listening to other songs on the radio or on CD.

   I have learnt how to decide on a basic structure, how to approach the most important issue of finding a "hook" for your song and refining it to something useful. I have discovered that it is O.K. to rewrite songs, but I have learnt how to approach it. This book has taught me how to make songs more interesting and it has made songwriting a more interesting hobby for me.

   I think the most important lesson from this book is how to grow from a songwriter that tries to express his/her own feelings to himself/herself and a few close friends, to someone who can express his deepest feelings in such a way that his song could be loved by millions and could become a commercial success. It also contain an abundace of valuable information on the industry and how to promote your music.

   If I did not read this book I would have missed something for sure. If you are serious about songwriting you cannot go without this book.




5. Although this book isn't as comprehensive as others in the songwriting department, it presents information in a very concise and interesting format. It also has a comprehensive section (half the book) on the BUSINESS. It's a quick, easy read and definitely worth the price. But if you want to get serious about songwriting, you'll also need a book with more theory such as WRITING MUSIC FOR HIT SONGS.

5 comments about The New, Improved Playwright's Survival Guide: Keeping the Drama In Your Work and Out of Your Life.

1. Gary Garrison's New and Improved Survival Guide is an absolute necessity for anyone who even just thinks about writing a play as well as seasoned playwrights. Mr. Garrison shares his many years of experience with no holds barred with humor and sometimes intensity. He warns, instructs and encourages with a candor that is unusual in books of this category. and is permeated with honest and no nonsense advice. This advocate for playwrights should be read by all who are committed to the field.



2. I had been out of college for a few years, and was in need of some guidance, when along came this book. It spoke to me in a way that no other book on playwriting had done previously or has done since. Every playwright, or writer for that matter, should pick up this book, especially if you're looking for a swift, kind kick in the tush. Gary tells it like it is, with his own loving care and unique style of encouragement. Plus, it's funny as hell. Get this book. It could very well change your life the way it changed mine.



3. I really enjoyed this book. Mr. Garrison has effectively distilled his long experience into a very readable, practical handbook. It's a resource whether you need to get rousted out of a writer's funk or for the practical how-to's of getting your play read and produced. I read a borrowed copy but am now ordering my own as I know I'll want to return to it again and again.



4. As a playwright and a teacher of playwriting, I've used THE PLAYWRIGHT'S SURVIVAL GUIDE in my classes, and as a "bible" of sorts for my own playwriting. My students love it. It's accessible, smart, incredibly friendly, and full of good advice that the other textbooks just don't touch. Why? It's the style of the book itself. Most textbooks are full of information, but very few read like a novel. Gary Garrison's "new and improved" guide leads readers--potential playwrights--through a journey, and it's entertaining. My students feel that they get to know the author as much as they do learn about playwriting, so when I assign it, they read it from cover to cover BEFORE they actually have to for class. A professor can ask for little more. But, as a playwright myself, I use the guide to encourage me to keep writing, and to give me great advice along the way. This is the rare textbook that reads like a novel, has the personality and voice of its author, and continues to inspire me. Gary Garrison isn't scared to tell it like it is, and he knows and empathized with his readers. What more can someone ask--and from a text! I am sure there's no better guide out there for students or their teachers.



5. Come on, ... another book that tells you the same things as all the others? It's been done. It's over. Move on. Have a job that fits around your writing schedule, have a space dedicated to that pursuit, don't let others get you down and follow your dream no matter how little those around you understand or accept it, submit to every contest, develop and maintain contacts, read, write and read and write some more. There, I saved you the postage and cost and time you'd otherwise be spending reading something that tells you you should be writing.

No comments about African Dance: An Artistic, Historical and Philosophical Inquiry.

1 comments about The Art of the Actor: The essential history of acting, from classical times to the present day.

1. I thought I might get more out of this book than I did. STill, it is comprehensive and Benedetti guides the reader through the main texts from the Greeks to the present. It's clearly one of the only books of its kind, so it's important to have if you want to think clearly about acting and theater.

No comments about Vaudeville Humor: The Collected Jokes, Routines, and Skits of Ed Lowry.

2 comments about Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton.

1. Julie Kavanagh's biography of Frederick Ashton has been splendidly reviewed below, but there are one or two things I should like to add.

   This biography of Sir Frederick Ashton is a panorama of 20th century dance in Britain and, in some aspects, America also. It is, and will remain so for future generations, a marvellous "Who's Who" of the British ballet establishment.

   I confess I started to skip the love letters to and from the boys. A little love letter goes a long [long] way. Was Ashton really so creatively tied to such people as Martyn Thomas? His choreographic talent was such that I am left wondering how very much greater Ashton's work might have been without the sturm and drang of those relationships. Was Ashton 'passionately lazy' or did he, I wonder, suffer from undiagnosed depression from most of his life because he could not be the great dancer he longed to be? His attempts to 'keep the slate clean' as far as having a good war record and not get caught out in his homosexuality at a time when it was illegal in the UK are commendable, but how stultifying for him artistically! He could never let go and have a really life-enhancing grand passion. I have the feeling that secretly Ashton longed to be a voluptuously beautiful courtesan with the world at his feet. He had his world at his feet most of the time, and his palace was the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, so there were compensations of course. The whole hypocritcal business of the illegality of homosexuality in the UK affected not only Ashton but Noel Coward, Cecil Beaton, Terence Rattigan and above all, Benjamin Britten. How much greater might their artistic output have been otherwise?

   It doesn't matter that many of Ashton's ballets have not stood the test of time. Some of them certainly have, Les Patineurs and Les Rendezvous are great works for, beside, and because of, their choreographic content, they are wonderful for improving and strenghtening any corps-de-ballet - and how many ballets of the 20th century can one say that of? Symphonic Variations and Scenes de Ballet are masterpieces of their genre. Daphnis & Chloe was a marvellous realisation of the score, as was La Valse. I use the past tense deliberately.

   Julie Kavanagh has captured the essence of the life Ashton led, and brings him to life with more sympathy than perhaps he deserves. Objectively, then, one should seperate the man from his choreography, and it's up to each reader to do so. One aspect of his art that Ms Kavanagh has captured is the man's 'theatrical theatricality.' Ashton was theatrical in the best sense of the word. It pervades his ballets and certain effects, such as the billowing curtain in Marguerite & Armand stay in the mind's eye, [well, it has in mine anyway], long after the image of the choreography has faded. That a man of Ashton's years could produce A Month in the Country is a testament to his genius, his theatricality and his self-revitalising humanity. As Ms Bonifaccio points out below in her review, should one judge a ballet for it's revivability? No. Ballets are here and now. I am reminded by this by a friend of mine who knew Mme Karsavina in old age. He once said to her: "I'd love to see Le Pavillon d'Armide revived." Mme Karsavina laughed, and replied, "Believe me, you wouldn't."

   Julie Kavanagh's book is here and now, but I do see great 'researcher trouble' ahead. Some of the prose is misleading because she assumes, rightly, that we KNOW what she is writing about. I can just see a post graduate student doing their thesis in say, Kansas in 2050, and writing about Dame Ninette de Valois longing to jitterbug with a handsome negro at the Caribbean Club. [Page 305]. This is because Barbara Ker-Seymer tells Billy Chappell that 'Madame was in charge... She longed to be whirled into a jutterbug.. but nobody asked her to dance. Maybe it was her WAAF's uniform that put them off.' 'Madame', 'she' and 'WAAF' all in one sentence are going to be read by the uninitiated as though Dame Ninette de Valois was present in uniform when she was, clearly, no-where near the place. [And how I do agree with Sir John Drummond that calling Dame Ninette de Valois 'Madam' was a fearful practise.] That irritating habit [bad theatricality this time] of referring to men as 'she' pervades this book. [Jocelyn Bowlan, a dancer in the English National Opera Movement Group in the 1980'S once complained to the ENO's Head of Dance, Nicky Bowie; "DO the boys have to always call each other SHE?" Ms Bowie replied: "Jocelyn, I joined London Festival Ballet when I was 18 years old and since then everyone's been SHE."] On page 435 'Debo' is mentioned. She is, of course, the Duchess of Devonshire, but you won't find this in the index. Little things, they may seem quibbles, like this are a minefield for future generations who will be hard put to understand where Ashton and The Royal Ballet establishment stood in relationship to the British upper classes. In fact, Ms Kavanagh captures the glorius postwar collision between the Brideshead generation and the Establishment. The whole situation, outlining Ashton's artistic predicament, is wonderfully and accurately summed up by Lincoln Kirsten to Cecil Beaton on page 438. This alone is worth the price of the book.

   A wonderful wonderful book!!




2. The most amazing thing about Ms Kavanagh's book is that it NOT a hatchet job on what seems to be a rather unpleasant man. Underneath the many layers of Ashton's exhibitionism, egocentricity, tightfistedness and manipulative scheming Kavanagh reveals a rather sad, but talented, figure, whom one feels a certainy sympathy for.

   Was Ashton a great choreographer? Probably he was. Future generations will be hard pushed to know though, as his ballets are massacred by the Royal Ballet in the UK. One should, I feel, never judge a ballet by it's revivability. Those of us present at the first night of "Enigma Variations" or "A Month in the Country" knew we were in the presence of greatness. In many ways Ashton was a choreographic Somerset Maugham, who managed to evoke a lost world in a few steps of a short ballet, very like Somerset Maugham's short stories. Who knows whether they will stand the test of time?

   I can't help feeling that Ashton wasn't a very pleasant person, though not as unpleasant as the snarlingly awful Antony Tudor with his chips on his shoulders and his deep seated inverted snobbery. Ashton's sexual politics within the Royal Ballet would be considered highly politically incorrect, [while his treatment of some of the dancers would be considered sexual harassment and, if pursued through the courts would have won huge payouts], in this day and age. The whole set up sounds [and probably was] terribly incestuous. Ms Kavanagh quotes extensively from Ashton's love letters to and from young men, letters which, in most cases, are too foolish and should have been submitted to a strong editorial hand.

   It's bizarre to read that Dame Ninette de Valois retired from the Royal Ballet in 1964 for she wielded enormous influence there even 30 years later. In fact there was no real reason for her to retire then at all, as her retirement caused a choreographic block in Ashton. Her shoddy politics in the affair do not show her in a good light at all. It's also bizarre to think that the cradle of British ballet as such was in the hands of these people, who were little more than dilettantes, and who lost in the early post-war period the two great influences on them; Constant Lambert and Sophie Fedorovitch. What was the alternative? Marie Rambert? I think not! Page 476, Ashton to Kavanagh: "There are things I have to say about Ninette....but I'm not going to tell you while she's alive." Did he ever say them? I bet he did!

   I do have some small issues with Ms Kavanagh's approach. She talks about the men of the early post-war Royal Ballet as having good techniques. This is nonsense. Believe me, until the advent of Nureyev British male dancing was of a pretty poor standard as there were no outstanding male teachers at the Royal Ballet School in those days. For instance, there was no male variation for the Prince in Sleeping Beauty until just before the Royal Ballet's Russian tour in 1961 and no coda to the pas-de-deux until well into the late sixties. There were one of two plausible dance-actors, Alexander Grant being one of them, but he was miscast in any thing remotely classical, i.e. The Two Pigeons. Michael Somes [and what a fearful baddie he turned out to be, his behaviour bordering on psychotic!] simply could not dance by today's standards. He couldn't even walk properly onstage and was really just a 'porteur' for Margot Fonteyn. I never in my life saw David Blair [page 446] perform eight en dehor turns consecutively onstage, and I saw him often. Nureyev's arrival at the Royal Ballet did not really wipe out a whole generation of British male dancers [page 471n] because there weren't any who could be remotely compared to Nureyev. Certainly not the gormless looking Christopher Gable who, with Lynn Seymour, nightly mistook barnstorming for acting. Which reminds me: There is a myth that is gaining circulation [page 485] that Seymour and Gable were deposed from the first night of Romeo and Juliet. There would never have been any question of them doing the first night whilst Fonteyn and Nureyev were in the offing. When the press announcement of Romeo and Juliet was made [if memory serves] in late December 1964 it's opening two performances, February 9th and 11th 1965, had Fonteyn cast as Juliet with Nureyev as Romeo. Think about this: If Nureyev had been around in 1960, "La fille mal gardee" would have been for Fonteyn and Nureyev, not Nerina and Blair. Nadia Nerina, [page 472], should keep this in mind when criticising "Marguerite and Armand." If one Ashton ballets survives it will be "La fille mal gardee" and Nerina, for all her bitterness at not being Fonteyn's successor, will be remembered as the first Lise in Ashton's production. [Mercifully preserved in a complete black and white kinescope.]

   Despite my quibbles Julie Kavanagh has produced a great book. I hope she's planning a companion piece, the life of Dame Ninette de Valois! That will be something to look forward to.

4 comments about Student's Guide to College Music Programs: How to Obtain Financial Aid * Music Industry Careers * Guidelines for a College Audition (Student's Guide to College Music Programs).

1. Please reconsider if you are going to college for music. Keep music as a hobby or at most a minor.



2. I could have saved myself the $14.95 wasted on this "book" if I had only scrolled down to read what others thought of this garbage. How can an outdated list of schools be considered a helpful book???



3. This book is not at all what it is billed to be. It is simply a (very long) listing of all colleges in the U.S. that offer degrees in music, and their addresses, phone number and website addresses. There is no other information offered. What does a parent or student do with all this information? Not much!



4. My daughter expressed interest in pursuing her music after high school, so this book caught my eye. One would expect that a book entitled "Student's Guide to College Music Programs" might actually provide some information about college music programs. This book is little more than a list of colleges that offer a music program, along with website listings. A five minute Google search will provide more information than is offered by this "guide". The schools are organized by state, and in an apparent effort to beef up the book a little, each state section starts with a recitation of the state's population, state bird, motto, flower and tree, the total number of square miles in the state and the date the state was admitted to the United States -- crucial information when selecting a music program.

No comments about The Feminist Spectator as Critic.

No comments about The Life and Legend of Tom Mix.

1 comments about Contemporary Plays By Women of Color.

1. Admittedly, I am biased towards this book because I was an intern for Roberta Uno's New Works for a New World some years ago. This review is, however, based on my students's evaluation of the book. I teach in an urban setting. Students of color--black and hispanic--comprise the bulk of our population. I ordered the book anticipating a class of 20 or so black and hispanic women. I found myself teaching a class of 10 black men. They loved each play. Their favorite, by far, was The Queen's Garden. Do not be afraid to assign this book to any group of students. The work is so exciting that any theater lover, woman or man, young or old, of color or other, can find a lot to enjoy.