1000 Songwriting Ideas (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A lot of it is fluff/filler.

I counted the music theory-related songwriting ideas, and there are a total of 82 ideas. The other 918 ideas are "contemporary" ideas such as "What's the song that would go best with a ten-gallon hat?" and "Write a song about angels."

Ok, well... no.

I'm from the alternative school of thought, when it comes to songwriting. I grew up on the Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Dinosaur Jr., Pumpkins, etc (the 90s). Music with edge, with soul, with staying power (like certain stuff from the 60s and 70s-- Beatles, Nick Drake, and Sabbath).

What I dislike most are books from Nashville/contemporary songwriters, who write top 40 "hits" for pop artists (most of which go unheard for the most part).

I have nothing against Ms. Aschmann as a songwriter (I've never heard her music) but the ideas are just... fluffy. That's the best way I can describe it. Don't get me wrong, there ARE gems to be found inside this book, but they are few and far-between.

A lot of these ideas are lyric or story-related. I think Rikky Rooksby's book "Lyrics" is a better option if you're stuck for lyric or story ideas.

Oh, here's another problem I have with this book - a lot of her ideas aren't clearly explained. In one idea, she talks about a guitar tuning called "Taro Patch." I had to look it up on google and wikipedia to find out that it's simply an open-G tuning. Also, a lot of the songs she cites, I have never heard them, ever. Cheesy titles that seem like they're in the public domain, musically. I listen to A LOT of different music, from 40's jazz to metal and everything in between, and I just couldn't even bother to look up the songs she mentioned or what they sounded like.

I've said it before in several songwriting book reviews -- check out Rikky Rooksby's songwriting series, especially How To Write Songs On Guitar.

This is a great effort from Ms. Aschmann, but it just falls a bit short. In all honesty, I think this book of ideas would have been better suited for a website, free for all to read and utilize.

Click Here to see more reviews about: 1000 Songwriting Ideas (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides)

Product Description:
###############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################

Get 22% OFF

Want to read more honest consumer review about 1000 Songwriting Ideas (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) now ?