Free Book Excerpts
Videos by American Songwriter
Free excerpts from Compose Yourself will be published in conjunction with the blog. You can get the first one just by emailing [email protected] and writing “Request Compose Yourself Excerpt 1” in the Subject line.
Alternatively, you can order the book (or Kindle book) directly from Amazon. Eventually the entire book will be serialized here for free, but having all 220 pages available now will allow you to get ahead of the game, if you want. Some people just like having a book in their hands, too.
As a welcome gesture to new students (or “fellow songwriters”), I will knock a few bucks off the current price of the book. The Kindle version is available for $7.99.
Musical Imagination
A lot is said about musical imagination in the book excerpt. What I would like to emphasize here is its dual nature. On the one hand, it is as wild as you want it to be: you never know where it might take you. On the other, you can train your musical imagination to be as precise as mathematics. These two traits may seem somewhat contradictory, but I can tell you from experience: both sides are equally developed among the best musicians and songwriters, though the mathematical side has received far less publicity than the wild side.
In rhythm we meet with both aspects of musical imagination: the creative and the precise. Through the dialog games, we will develop both at the same time. Our goal is to strengthen our sense of time enough to give us freedom to add harmony, melody, and form to the framework of time at will, without causing the scaffolding of time to collapse.
We will also add words to various rhythms. Almost any kind of words will do, including nonsense syllables. When we’re done with the course, you will view songwriting as just an extension of your everyday language abilities. We want to cultivate this ability from the beginning. It’s got to be natural or your songs won’t flow. One of the side effects of the dialog games is getting “in the zone” where you do your best work, and yet don’t even seem to be trying. Jef’s concept of limited material, unlimited freedom is what allows you to get creative and get in the zone immediately.
Sight Reading
The videos for the course will teach you how to read notes. While some aspects of sight-reading are unique to each instrument—where you find the note “A” on the third string of the guitar, for example—other parts of it span all instruments. I am including this material because Compose Yourself was written with intermediate musicians in mind. It is filled with musical examples that beginning musicians will have trouble understanding, and I want to include as many people in the course as possible. I’ll be playing all of the examples in the video, as well.
Preview of Blog 2
In next month’s blog, I will have more to say about the dialog games. I will also respond to any reader questions (email me at [email protected]).
Meanwhile, check back frequently. I will be adding new videos on a regular basis.
6 Comments
Leave a Reply