Summary of Jimmy Webb's Tunesmith

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The truth is that most amateur songwriters do not have a chance of being heard by anyone of importance. The primary factor that separates the rejected amateur songwriter from the accepted professional is that most amateurs do not regard the writing of songs as serious hard work.

#2 The writer’s ultimate purpose is irrelevant because a good songwriter can do all of these things and even do them all at the same time. The writer should be able to write a song in any genre for any purpose.

#3 Songwriting is the process of creating songs, and it is hard to define where idea and title are not virtually synonymous. For example, if you add the following sentence to the above example: I want to write a song about someone who goes through acute mood swings, you have an idea even though the song may not end up being called Problem Child.

#4 There is a technique used by all great songwriters, and it is not a very difficult one to learn. It involves free-associating on a legal pad, and then pareting down lists of cross-referenced words or phrases that can be used in lyric lines.