Writing Better Lyrics

This is an excellent book which not everyone will like. If you want a book that you can skim through with lots of lists that you can quickly digest, put into use and immediately improve your songwriting, then buy something else like Robin Frederick's book "Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting: 126 Proven Techniques for Writing Songs That Sell", which is a great book in its own right: (http://www.amazon.com/Shortcuts-Hit-Songwriting-Techniques-Writing/dp/0982004001 ) . This book requires work, dedicated concentration and more than anything else, practice. You can easily live with this book for 6 months or more. Pattison's approach is very analytical and it deals only with lyrics and how to communicate them in a way that best transmits the emotional effect which the songwriter has in mind. The book goes far beyond Pattison's Coursera Songwriting course and his Youtube video lectures. I have found that for me, his techniques work best in rewriting my songs. There is so much here, that it is difficult to implement it all in the real-time process of songwriting. But once I have written a song, I can go back and apply his techniques to improve my songs. Especially interesting is his technique to use the 5 rhyme-types (perfect, family, additive/subtractive, assonance, consonance) and a rhyming dictionary as a search engine to brainstorm ideas to write a song from a concept or a title. I have never heard anyone else use this method, but I find that not only does it work for me, it also opens my ear to more easily find rhymes other than the perfect rhyme. Some people will not have the patience to work through this book, and for them, it will be a waste of money to buy. But I really like the book and it has taught me a lot of useful information to improve my songwriting.

Brilliant. Every chapter should have been obvious to all of us since forever, yet it seems to me that only songwriters who have read and studied Pat Pattison's works are doing these things well. People who simply write songs for fun are cool too, but if you you haven't studied Pat Pattison then you're just not trying to become a serious songwriter. I'm not usually dogmatic about anything, but Pattinson is really that good at this craft (or maybe I was just that sloppy with my lyrics before). Buy this one as your first songwriting book, or buy it as your hundredth (personally it was my eighth or ninth book on songwriting).

I’m only 3 chapters in and already feel that this is improving my poetry/song writing efforts. It’s potentially a little more “nerdy” or granular than some writers might enjoy but as someone who spent 4 years of college focusing on creative writing, it appeals to me on intellectual and nostalgic levels. It feels familiar in the way that reminds me of college writing workshops, but (unlike college classes) it has given me practical tools to improve my ability to generate really “tasty” words and vivid imagery in an easy and natural way. I’ve been doing the “object writing” exercises daily for 4 weeks now and can already see an improvement in my more formal/intentional writing efforts. This is the closest thing to a “writer’s workout trainer” I’ve ever read. Somehow it improved upon the lessons of King’s ‘On Writing’ and Lamott’s ‘Bird By Bird’ and has “clicked” for me the way that college classes never did. I’m looking forward to letting the rest of the book guide me through more useful exercises to build up my creative muscles so that I can find my flow more quickly and create even better pieces. Now… if only it could teach me piano basics!

I heard about this author and book from CD Baby’s podcast, DIY Musician. After songwriting for over two years, this is my first lyric help book I have purchased and while I’m only on page 27, so far I have not been disappointed. Pattison gives a nomenclature for techniques I was already using and expands and encourages the reader in those areas. It has been a creative blast for someone not only to give me permission but to give me an assignment to engage daily in creative writing. Regarding the very first exercise, daily 10-minute Object Writing, instead of picking random objects, pick objects/concepts within current song ideas you’re developing and apply his other concepts within that time. Powerful exercise. Thank you, Pat! Write on, creatives!!

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.

This book has great information and techniques to help improve your writing styles. With many unique approaches to get you in flow whether alone or collaborating with others. Worth it if you’re looking to expand your approach in any form of writing.

the ideas and systems being set in place very early on in this book have gotten me more focused and thoughtful of the craft. it is a great book, one I knew I would want in a hardcopy, not kindle, as it feels better reading it in a book for some reason. that said, if you are struggling with writing lyrics or just need a boost, this is top advice from a master of the method. very much worth the money. there are a lot of excercises. I am doing some of them, most, but not doing all if they seem too much. there is a lot of emphasis on a writing class, which sounds nice, but I am not in one, so this is the next best thing. I think people already writing lyrics would do well to buy this.

This might be a great book for some people... like unemployed people who have all day to work on getting better through lengthy super-time-consuming processes. I was actually looking for a different approach to training and writing exercises. But then maybe my problem is I need to make more time somehow and do this work? IDK. Maybe I should quit my day job and go all-in on songwriting? :-) Maybe I need a book to tell me how to do that and avoid living under a bridge with my family at the same time. I do remember that the pain and uncertainty that soaks into your soul when you are poor is a source of ideas and inspiration and power when you are writing. But I guess none of this is about the book. The book is well written and will likely be helpful to many people... but you should go into it knowing that for every few pages you read there is a connected extended sometime very lengthy exercise that goes along with it. This book shows you ways to change your daily writing habits for the better. But if you don't go all-in with each idea it's a bit of a time suck.

Pat Pattison teaches the tools of lyric writing as a springboard to get your ideas down and fleshed out into something emotionally impactful, these techniques can be transcended into the genre of music you're working in. You start out writing from your senses, utilising appropriate form, gramma, structure and rhythm suitable for your songs narrative, then stacking the emotional obstacles of your subject, down to the finishing touches of your lyrics. The emphasis is on practice within the 50 exercises - you learn the value of this through your efforts, not what you read :) I would strongly recommend this book if you are struggling to write from your own experiences, fleshing out ideas (getting the story going) or even if you're like me an accomplished musician but ok/crappy lyricist. I used this book to assist with writing lyrics for other audiences - for personal subjects I am not familiar with. I found myself being able to flesh out multiple versions of scenes I was not there to witness personally but have the lyrics impact me emotionally when I read them back days later. I compared what I created from this book to what I wrote before, and the difference is night and day! I also now look at other peoples works and find better ways they could have written theirs! Strongly suggest writing notes down for the milestone learning points - found these handy when I write my own lyrics. Took me about 3-4 months to complete it, ranging from 2-10 hours a week, you may be able to do it faster. I spent a-lot of time on some key exercises which allowed me to walk away with useable sections I couldn't come up with before starting this book. It feels like an epic journey when you finish it, first book I ever read without skipping the end! Thanks so much Pat Pattison

This is a must for any song writer. I don't care how pro or amateur you are. It will also impact all poets and prose writers. There's a whole section where words come to life as sounds, conveying not only emotion, but cool techniques for echoing structural dissonance, nostalgia, unity. The book helped me start looking at rhyme in a whole new way, like a pallette of emotional and structural colors.

Ich brauche das Buch um meine Liedtexte zu verbessern.

I have the Kindle edition of this book. And I'm grateful that vey few people know that such a book exists! As it said in its foreword, it's a hidden gem, hiding in plain sight!

Excellent book for those who want to be lyrics writers in English. The books is written in a pedagogic way, so everyone can follow. The book provide advice and techniques to polish your lyrics.