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    So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)
    So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)
    So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)

    By Marc Platt

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    About this ebook

    “So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)”: If you are a budding songwriter, producer and performer, I am one of you and have been for more than 30 years.

    I have played solo and in bands. I’ve had songs placed in television and film. I’ve played little clubs, bigger venues, people’s living rooms and street fairs. I have had the heartbreak and near misses of a record deal back in the day.

    I have taught either songwriting and/or performance workshops in the Los Angeles area for 10 years.

    All of those facts are meaningless in the long run. The only thing that matters is whether YOU can get something out of this book.

    I know you can if you have an open mind about your art and your craft.

    There are no short cuts when it comes to becoming a top rate songwriter, producer and performer. You may ask yourself “Why is he saying producer?” The answer is simple. The nature of the music business has changed so much since 2001 that everyone seems to be recording their own CDs and demos on Pro Tools and similar platforms in their own living rooms. That means YOU are producing these recordings yourself. Like it or not, you are the producer. I am not going to delve into production technique. I will gloss over that stuff suspending my disbelief KNOWING that you will turn the knobs correctly, or find someone who can.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMarc Platt
    Release dateJul 15, 2015
    ISBN9781516387540
    So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters)

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      Book preview

      So You Want To Be a Rock N’ Roll Star (Why Songwriting Matters) - Marc Platt

      So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star

      (Why Songwriting Matters...You Can Do It)

      by Marc Platt

      ©2014

      Intro

      Chapter 1: Man, There Are A Lot Of Songs Out There!

      ­Chapter 2: Don't Bore Us; Get to The Chorus

      Chapter 3: Not Every Song HAS to Be Stairway to Heaven

      Chapter 4:  So, What Do You Think of My Great Production?

      Chapter 5: When Do I Thrust My Song On The World?

      Chapter 6: Your Songs Are NOT Your Children

      Chapter 7: Everyone’s In Show Business in This Town 

      Chapter 8: Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say

      Chapter 9: Maybe It’s Time to Lower Expectations

      Chapter 10: The Game of What If

      Credits

      ––––––––

      Introduction

      So who is this guy writing a book on the sacred subjects of songwriting, production and performance?

      If you are a budding songwriter, producer and performer, I am one of you and have been for more than 30 years.

      I have played solo and in bands. I’ve had songs placed in television and film. I’ve played little clubs, bigger venues, people’s living rooms and street fairs. I have had the heartbreak and near misses of a record deal back in the day.

      I have taught either songwriting and/or performance workshops in the Los Angeles area for 10 years.

      All of those facts are meaningless in the long run. The only thing that matters is whether YOU can get something out of this book.

      I know you can if you have an open mind about your art and your craft.

      There are no short cuts when it comes to becoming a top rate songwriter, producer and performer. You may ask yourself Why is he saying producer? The answer is simple. The nature of the music business has changed so much since 2001 that everyone seems to be recording their own CDs and demos on Pro Tools and similar platforms in their own living rooms. That means YOU are producing these recordings yourself. Like it or not, you are the producer. I am not going to delve into production technique. I will gloss over that stuff suspending my disbelief KNOWING that you will turn the knobs correctly, or find someone who can.

      The performance material in the book is here to aid you in getting those songs across to an audience.

      The book is being written with the assumption that you can go back and re-read sections when you feel stale or stuck. I am your cheerleader. This is a business where you will find you really don’t have as many friends as you’d like to think you have. President Clinton used to say If you want a friend, go get a dog. That isn’t the case here. I am your friend. I have experienced joy and heartbreak as a writer, producer and performer many times and we share the same goals and dreams.

      I have been very fortunate to have great mentors. Some you have heard of and others you haven’t, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is YOU sticking to it. I have taken breaks from writing, performing and producing my music in the past, but never for too long. Music is that mistress who keeps calling me at three in the morning and I can’t say no to. I gladly go back and keep going.

      Enjoy the book and George Matzgov’s incredible design work. George has a way of making the points come to life visually. You can also check out my Multi-Media Digital Pop Music Series at www.popgalleryseries.com

      Thanks.

      Marc Platt

      Chapter 1: Man, There Are A Lot Of Songs Out There!

      As singer/songwriters, we listen to a lot of good, bad and ugly songs by an assortment of writer/artists. Some are by accomplished writers with hit songs on their resumes and some are by newer, younger and less-polished writers. What can we do as writers to better our material and make it listenable to the audience we are trying to grab?

      The first thing I do as a writer is remember what I like as a listener. I try to approach all my creative ventures as a consumer. Listening with a critical ear is essential, but what makes someone like or love a song more than another song?

      Melody, Rhythm and Message are the big three:

      Melody is the first thing the listener identifies with both consciously and subconsciously. As a songwriter, I try to focus on a melody that is both memorable and timeless. A lot of people write very monotone-ish verse melody, which can work in a song like "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan. That melody is both rhythmic and message-oriented, so it works. We will discuss this song when we talk about message.

      The Beatles were masters at verse melody. Their songs were peppered with strong melodic structure throughout the songs. You can pretty much pick any song in their catalog and you will notice this strength. Each musical note corresponds with a syllable and word. Those words go with that melody. From "Please Please Me all the way through Let It Be," the listener can distinguish the notes and the words.

      Go ahead and sing this phrase "Yes-ter-day, all my trou-bles seemed so far a-way. Each NOTE has a syllable that perfectly lies with that note. This makes the song indelible in the listener’s subconscious. Please note that when Paul McCartney dreamed that melody up in 1965, he literally popped out of bed and went to the piano and sang Scrambled Eggs" as a working title. He later meticulously sat at his piano and wrote that lyric, which has been recorded by more people than any other song in the history of the world.

      When he gets to the refrain Why she had to go/I don’t know/She wouldn’t say. That melody is equally as strong as the verse melody. What really makes "Yesterday" so remarkable is

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