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3 books match the query 'Songwriting'

cover of Composing Music: A New Approach

Composing Music

A New Approach

William Russo

University of Chicago Press, 1988

A remarkably practical guide to composing for beginners that teaches you how to write music by diving in and doing it
 
Aimed at those who have some knowledge of music but not formal training in composition, this concise introduction to composing starts right in with a brief composition exercise, then proceeds step by step through a series of increasingly complex and challenging problems, gradually expanding the student's musical grammar.
 
The book includes blank music score pages for you to use for exercises and experiments. In addition to covering various styles of contemporary music, including both pop and classical genres, Composing Music addresses the challenge of setting words to music, writing minimalist compositions, and more. 

Composing Music is the perfect introduction to writing music of all sorts for engaged beginners.
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cover of Songwriting in Contemporary West Virginia: Profiles and Reflections

Songwriting in Contemporary West Virginia

Profiles and Reflections

Travis D. Stimeling

West Virginia University Press, 2018

Songwriting in Contemporary West Virginia: Profiles and Reflections is the first book dedicated to telling the stories of West Virginia’s extensive community of songwriters.  Based on oral histories conducted by Stimeling and told largely in the songwriters’ own words, these profiles offer a lively overview of the personalities, venues, and networks that nurture and sustain popular music in West Virginia.
Stimeling is attentive to breadth and diversity, presenting sketches of established personalities like Larry Groce, who oversees Mountain Stage, and emerging musicians like Maria Allison, who dreams of one day performing there. Each profile includes a brief selected discography to guide readers to recordings of these musicians’ work.
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cover of Telling Stories, Writing Songs: An Album of Texas Songwriters

Telling Stories, Writing Songs

An Album of Texas Songwriters

By Kathleen Hudson

University of Texas Press, 2001

Willie Nelson, Joe Ely, Marcia Ball, Tish Hinojosa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lyle Lovett...the list of popular songwriters from Texas just goes on and on. In this collection of thirty-four interviews with these and other songwriters, Kathleen Hudson pursues the stories behind the songs, letting the singers' own words describe where their songs come from and how the diverse, eclectic cultures, landscapes, and musical traditions of Texas inspire the creative process.

Conducted in dance halls, dressing rooms, parking lots, clubs-wherever the musicians could take time to tell their stories-the interviews are refreshingly spontaneous and vivid. Hudson draws out the songwriters on such topics as the sources of their songs, the influence of other musicians on their work, the progress of their careers, and the nature of Texas music. Many common threads emerge from these stories, while the uniqueness of each songwriter becomes equally apparent. To round out the collection, Hudson interviews Larry McMurtry and Darrell Royal for their perspectives as longtime friends and fans of Texas musicians. She also includes a brief biography and discography of each songwriter.

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