July 2003
Guild Tidings
The official Publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 8, No. 7
NEXT MEETING
5:00 PM
Sunday, July 6th, 2003
The International Songwriter's Guild meets the first
Sunday of every month at the Central Florida
Musician's Union building at 3020 East Robinson (at
the extreme east end of Robinson less than a block
from Herndon Airport).
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do.
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Membership Coordinator
Susan Foster-Trewick (407) 760-2153
Web Consultant
Asli Walker (407) 359-0506
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Since it's so close to the 4th of July, I want to say enjoy it but take care of those fingers if you celebrate with firecrackers! You need those fingers to write an award-winning song for our next meeting.
Next meeting, both Matt and I will be there. By coincidence, we were both in Washington, D.C. last month at almost the same time. He was visiting relatives, and I did appearances at the White House. Anyhow, we're back! Member Bob Barker was helpful with officer's duties during Matt's absence; I appreciated that. This is a good time to give thanks to Matt and Art Cappuccio for making it possible to have our monthly newsletter. I really do appreciate them.
Susan Foster-Trewick (a.k.a. SusieCool) has arranged an important seminar for songwriters on July 26th. She will tell about it at the meeting. There is more info elsewhere in this newsletter, or you can call her for details at (407) 679-4017.
Last month member Michael Barry had us critique one of his instrumentals (no lyrics). It was beautiful, but he needs some one to co-write. Let's try to find a member that can write lyrics. Our guild is a great place to find collaborators.
Scott Dunfee also had us critique a song he had written. The beautiful recording was produced by Seven Richards in his Sanford studio. Seven and his wife Laura are not only owners of a fine recording studio, but are also agents and managers. They handle copyrights, arrange music, and do everything it takes to help you get your song "out there". Laura and Seven are also popular local performers and have appeared in Europe.
I'm looking forward to the meeting Sunday, and hope to see all of you there. Come meet your peers, team up, and enjoy.
Best ever,
Russ Robinson
What to Read, What to Read...
by Matt Griffin
We've talked about songwriting books in this newsletter and at ISG meetings before. And I think the topic is worth revisiting from time to time. For one thing, songwriting books are an excellent way for a beginning writer to learn his/her craft. But I've also found that reading is a great way for a more experienced writer to brush up on skills and even to get new ideas for songs. And you may even discover, as I did recently, that you don't know as much as you thought you did (more on that later).
There are certainly many books on the subject. A couple of weeks ago I counted 30 songwriting titles at a Borders book store. Most are at least useful, but I've found two in particular to be outstanding: The Craft of Lyric Writing, by Sheila Davis, and Writing Music for Hit Songs by Jai Josefs. As is evident from the titles, Davis' book concentrates on construction of effective lyrics and Josefs' book deals with writing the music. Together, the two books make for a truly thorough tutorial on the songwriting craft.
Sheila Davis has the precise eye for detail of an English teacher. No one in our guild knows that better than Dan Jones, our former Vice President. Dan once wrote an article based on The Craft of Lyric Writing for our newsletter, and sent it to Davis in hopes of getting a simple stamp of approval. What she sent back was a careful rework of the article, complete with dozens and dozens of marks and changes in bright red. Dan was impressed not only with her meticulousness but also with the considerable time she clearly had devoted to the task.
Davis' book reads the same way. Many (including myself) consider it the bible of lyric writing. Of course the Craft of Lyric Writing thoroughly covers the more obvious topics, like song forms, titles, and rhyme. But beginning writers will find a wealth of additional topics they probably never even considered, like voice, repetition, wordplay, plot, setting--yes, much of the material is based on skills of good writing in all its forms. And like other forms of writing, songwriting is a craft. Davis drives that idea home: write, rewrite, edit, rewrite, and so on. When I first read the book, I was writing the way many new writers do: compose the song, then move on to another. The idea of reworking or crafting a song to make it better had never occurred to me. Now I'm convinced that any song can be made better with yet another rewrite; Sheila Davis planted that idea and made it stick.
I have to confess I was ill-prepared to find out my songwriting knowledge had a gaping hole in it. I am still amazed how much material in Jai Josefs' excellent Writing Music for Hit Songs was completely new to me (especially considering that I read the book after attending Josefs' informative seminar in Ormond Beach, October 1999). And I suspect other writers, especially non-musicians, will experience similar shock upon first reading it. The book begins with a discussion of basics like song forms and introductory music theory. Then come the eye-opening topics: secondary dominants, inversions, various techniques for changing keys (modulation), rhythmic phrasing, motifs, and minor-key harmony. Rather than just guessing or searching hunt-and-peck style for appropriate chords, Josefs supplies the tools for intelligent selection, especially for finding chords outside of the current key that really work.
The two books have more in common than a discussion of song forms. Both are full of terrific examples, mostly culled from hits in popular music of the last thirty years or so. And they both read like first-rate textbooks. Josefs, in fact, wrote his book because he couldn't find a text adequate for the class he was teaching. What makes these books work
as a tandem, however, is what they don't have in common: subject material. Because one focuses on lyrics and the other music, the books complement each other impressively.
For beginning and experienced writers alike, I heartily recommend both The Craft of Lyric Writing and Writing Music for Hit Songs. If you have read one but not the other, who knows what you may be missing!
(This article previously appeared in Guild Tidings in January of 2000)
ISG Bulletin Board
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best (griffinmc@netzero.net).
Printing services for Guild Tidings are graciously provided by
Printing USA, 4732 South Orange Blossom Trail (just south of
Holden), Orlando. Phone: (407) 857-7468.
Custom CD Cover Art � Full color paintings, black & white illustrations to computer-edited photos with half-tone for photocopying. Prices start at $25. Call John Martello at (407) 293-1739 or email: omegaltd158@juno.com.
Omega Ltd. Productions
3415 Silverwood Drive
Pine Hills, FL 32808-2847
Songwriting Workshop on Saturday, July 26th
SusieCool, Rich Allen, and Asli Walker would like to invite you to attend a songwriter's workshop presented by Kim Copeland and Susan Tucker from Journey Publishing and Sage House Music in Nashville. All songwriters from novice to advanced are welcome.
When: Saturday, July 26th, 10 AM to 5 PM
Where: UCF Rehearsal Hall
(also: showcase at Underground Blues, 7 PM)
Price: $45 pre-registered ($40 if NSAI), $50 at the door. Price includes 3
hours of studio time at YRS studio in Orlando!
To register, call 1-800-776-4231, access code 11
Only if pre-registered, your fee also includes:
One song pitched to a publisher
Can perform at showcase
First 15 pre-registered will have an original song critiqued at the workshop;
others will be selected at random, time permitting.
One-on-one sessions also available on Sunday ($50 per hour). Call 800 number above for info.
More info: http://susiecoolsongs.com/workshop
Or call Asli at (407) 359-0506
We're always looking for material for the newsletter.
If you have any information that you would like to see
added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at
the meetings, or you can email him at
griffinmc@netzero.net.
Please keep your articles brief and to the point.
Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks
prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to
members in good standing in the ISG. For more
information on display advertising and/or
classified advertising for non-members, please call
Russ or Matt or email: griffinmc@netzero.net
We're always looking for new faces and new music.
Come to a meeting and check us out!
June TOP FIVE
Winners of last month�s evaluation session
(members only)
(1) Tremont Avenue Bob Neace
(2) Somehow I Knew Patricia Locke
(3) Is Heaven Far Away? Scott Dunfee
(4) Jack Glass (tie) Bill Von Tobel
(4) Please Tell Me (tie) Jose Rodriguez
� 2003 ISG