Writing Better Lyrics
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Writing Better Lyrics Paperback – January 8, 2010
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About the Author
Pat Pattison is a professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches lyric writing and poetry. His books include Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming. In addition, Pat has developed three online lyric writing courses for Berklee’s online school, and has written articles for a variety of industry publications. His internationally successful students include multiple Grammy winners John Mayer and Gillian Welch. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
More About the Author
Pat Pattison is a Professor at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches Lyric Writing and Poetry.
In addition to his three books, Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming, Pat has developed three online lyric writing courses, available through Berklee's Online School. He has written over 30 articles for Home & Studio Recording Magazine, and Performing Songwriter.
Pat continues to present songwriting clinics across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Several of his students have won Grammys, including John Mayer and Gillian Welch.
In addition to his three books, Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and The Essential Guide to Rhyming, Pat has developed three online lyric writing courses, available through Berklee's Online School. He has written over 30 articles for Home & Studio Recording Magazine, and Performing Songwriter.
Pat continues to present songwriting clinics across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Several of his students have won Grammys, including John Mayer and Gillian Welch.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By
J.B. Fillmore
on December 28, 2009
Format: Paperback
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"Writing Better Lyrics" does an excellent job of providing specific examples and tools for mastering the complex craft of lyric writing. The author extends his formal knowledge of poetry to encompass the additional elements that lyrics require, and does so in a readable, non-technical way. However, no single book can cover all the facets and nuances of writing lyrics, especially since there are so many different artistic temperaments and musical styles. Thus, this book is best used in conjunction with the two other major books for lyricists, The Craft of Lyric Writing (the original classic), and Songcrafters' Coloring Book: The Essential Guide to Effective and Successful Songwriting (the newest, introducing new ideas based on human nature and detailed song analysis). Used as a group, these three books cover all the subtleties and various approaches to the topic, and are sure to provide useful tools for any type of artistic temperament. Each provides a unique set of examples, techniques and insights which work together to create a synergy that is hard to find in any single book.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By
Avrim Topel, Author of GREEN BEGINNINGS: The Story of How We Built Our Green & Sustainable Home
on July 4, 2010
Format: Paperback
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As a songwriter, I've always been wary of over-analyzing the magic that delivers songs to me. Some come prompted from a specific instrument, others from the sound of a note or a chord. Others arrive out of the blue, or from an experience. Mostly, I don't set out to write songs, but rather, songs find me. So, in my mind, over-intellectualizing about this magical process has always been a taboo for me. Don't mess with this God given gift, I've told myself again and again. Well, I've been wrong. Pat Pattison's obviously been aware of this for a long time. His book provides tools, tricks, and awareness to enhance a songwriters ideas and craft. He offers activities to evoke the creative process and templates, formulas, and good rules that one may pick and choose to use or apply to one's songs that are just really good stuff. You don't have to do things Pattison's way at all, but if you want to take your craft to another level, the blueprint is here.
I've found myself re-visiting songs written 20 + years ago and making changes just because I now realize that it really could be better by applying this set of knowledge or that rationale.
I almost signed up to take his on-line Berkley course last week that uses this book, but since I am presently re-reading it for the third time, I'll wait for another one into the future. Songwriters, if you've never read a book that actually gets into the action steps that happen when you write a song, do yourselves a favor and get this book. You can thank me later.
I've found myself re-visiting songs written 20 + years ago and making changes just because I now realize that it really could be better by applying this set of knowledge or that rationale.
I almost signed up to take his on-line Berkley course last week that uses this book, but since I am presently re-reading it for the third time, I'll wait for another one into the future. Songwriters, if you've never read a book that actually gets into the action steps that happen when you write a song, do yourselves a favor and get this book. You can thank me later.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By
Perpetual Dreamer
on January 11, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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I have never been a lyric writier. I wanted to remedy that deficiency. But do I have the talent, creativity, skills to do it? The books I had bought to help me weren't helping. They dispensed facts. Prosody, rhyme, form, blah, blah. This book is different. Pat is a real, breathing teacher. From the first chapter, he has you on a program designed to rewire the way you think--to harvest the rich garden of word memories you have stored away in your brain. To systematically build tables of nouns and verbs that will serve your song. To then really understand rhyme and prosidy. You learn by doing--not by reading and examining other people's songs. It's all about you and your innate skills plus the necessary new skills to harness them. I feel liberated!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Junius Henry
on August 6, 2013
Format: Paperback
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Many better ones on the market. I would search around before buying this one. Format is awkward and not very friendly.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
L. Wallace-Lee
on July 30, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition
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I purchased this book because it was the textbook for a course on songwriting with Pat Pattison through Coursera.com (an online course-facilitating company).
The book covers pretty much every aspect of songwriting, from point-of-view and rhyming to prosody (the idea of all parts coming together to make a satisfying whole).
This man knows his stuff! I would recommend it to anyone struggling to write songs (both lyrics and music). He covers and codifies techniques that you've probably intuitively picked up, but never had labelled and laid out as tools before.
The book covers pretty much every aspect of songwriting, from point-of-view and rhyming to prosody (the idea of all parts coming together to make a satisfying whole).
This man knows his stuff! I would recommend it to anyone struggling to write songs (both lyrics and music). He covers and codifies techniques that you've probably intuitively picked up, but never had labelled and laid out as tools before.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
M. T. Ireland
on January 14, 2013
Format: Paperback
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So... being a right-brained songwriter, I have a tendency to buy these books and then only look at them occasionally when I feel stuck in the process. This book inevitably gives me some nuts and bolts way to look at my song differently and get over the hump to a more creative solution. It also helps me refine my songs once I feel they are 'done' and make them even better. Highly recommend it as a tool in your songwriting toolbox.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Robert Rosina
on December 5, 2012
Format: Kindle Edition
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If you have any proclivity for writing, this will put you on the path to being a talented lyricist. A perfect blend of clarity and simplicity, instructed in a way that helps you absorb the knowledge that all lyric writers who consider themselves artists need to have.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Cyprian Alexzander
on May 7, 2014
Format: Paperback
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I wanted to become a better lyricist because good lyrics are powerful. Pat teaches in such a way that you can be a professional lyricist or know how professionals write and parse what you like. So, yes, you can still be weird and iconoclast, but you can understand how the listener hears the words and use that to your advantage, or completely break every rule.
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