
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
Music, Lyrics, and Life is the songwriting class you always wish you'd taken, taught by the professor you always wish you'd had. It's a deep dive into the heart of questions asked by songwriters of all levels, from how to begin journaling to when you know that a song is finished. With humor and empathy, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mike Errico unravels both the mystery of songwriting and the logistics of life as a songwriter. For years, this set of tools, prompts, and ideas has inspired students on campuses including Yale, Wesleyan, Berklee, Oberlin, and NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Alongside his own lessons, Errico interviews the writers, producers, and A&R executives behind today's biggest hits and investigates the larger questions of creativity through lively conversations with a wide range of innovative thinkers: astrophysicist Janna Levin explains the importance of repetition, both in choruses and in the exploration of the universe; renowned painter John Currin praises the constraints of form, whether it's within a right-angled canvas or a three-minute pop song; bestselling author George Saunders unpacks the hidden benefit of writing, and revising, authentically; and much more. The result is that Music, Lyrics, and Life ends up revealing as much about the art of songwriting as it does about who we are, and where we may be going.
This is a book for songwriters, future content creators, music lovers, and anyone who wants to understand how popular art forms are able to touch us so deeply. Mike Errico has honed these lessons over years of writing, performing, teaching, and mentoring, and no matter where you are on your songwriting journey, Music, Lyrics, and Life will help you build a creative world that's both intrinsic to who you are, and undeniable to whoever is listening.
Alongside his own lessons, Errico interviews the writers, producers, and A&R executives behind today's biggest hits and investigates the larger questions of creativity through lively conversations with a wide range of innovative thinkers: astrophysicist Janna Levin explains the importance of repetition, both in choruses and in the exploration of the universe; renowned painter John Currin praises the constraints of form, whether it's within a right-angled canvas or a three-minute pop song; bestselling author George Saunders unpacks the hidden benefit of writing, and revising, authentically; and much more. The result is that Music, Lyrics, and Life ends up revealing as much about the art of songwriting as it does about who we are, and where we may be going.
This is a book for songwriters, future content creators, music lovers, and anyone who wants to understand how popular art forms are able to touch us so deeply. Mike Errico has honed these lessons over years of writing, performing, teaching, and mentoring, and no matter where you are on your songwriting journey, Music, Lyrics, and Life will help you build a creative world that's both intrinsic to who you are, and undeniable to whoever is listening.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Music, Lyrics, and Life by Mike Errico in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Media & Performing Arts & Music. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Introduction
- 1. Terms of Service
- 2. Some Tools
- 3. God? Y/N
- 4. Your New Attendance Policy
- 5. Behold! The Awesome Power of the Daily Journal
- 6. Silence
- 7. What the Brain Likes
- 8. Mission Songs
- 9. The Quadrants of Trust
- 10. Blue
- 11. Rhyme and Repetition
- 12. Who Are Your Collaborators?
- 13. Facing Down the First Draft
- 14. The First Draft
- 15. Troubleshooting
- 16. Writer’s Block
- 17. Related Tips from Unrelated Fields
- 18. Beware the Ides of Myspace
- 19. Walk the Walk
- 20. Transformation Cost
- 21. Facing Down the Second Draft
- 22. Is It Done?
- 23. No, Really: When Is It Done?
- 24. Dealing with Critics
- 25. Money
- 26. The End of This Book Is the Beginning of Your Next Song
- Acknowledgments
- Appendix: Summer Reading List for Sometime Later in Life
- Bibliography