The Songwriter's Handbook: Power Strategies for Crafting Great Lyrics - Hardcover
The Songwriter's Handbook: Power Strategies for Crafting Great Lyrics - Hardcover
by Mark Winkler (Author)
Platinum award-winning singer, songwriter, and lyricist Mark Winkler provides a handbook on writing great lyrics, chock full of songwriting exercises and engaging personal vignettes. This book crosses a variety of genres andteaches the craft of modern commercial songwriting as practiced by the likes of Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars.
The book includes:Highlights of great songwriters and their songsExercises that focus on storytelling and rhyming while adding specificity and color Practical tips for writing great lyrics with accompanying templates Annotated examples of songs to illustrate effective exercisesInformation about people you need on your creative and business team Next steps after you've written a great songTips on being a successful live performer to make songs pop
By using great songwriters and their songs as blueprints, Winkler reveals the tricks of the trade and shows how you can improve your songwriting skills.
Author Biography
Mark Winkler is a platinum award-winning singer/lyricist who has had over 250 of his songs recorded by such artists as Dianne Reeves, Steve Tyrell, Liza Minnelli, Jane Monheit, and Lea Salonga. He has written lyrics for tunes by such esteemed composers as Wayne Shorter, Dexter Gordon, Joshua Redman, and David Benoit. He has released 21 solo albums that regularly place high on the jazz charts, and he has gotten excellent reviews including two "Top Vocal CDs of the year" in 2021 and 2023 in Jazziz Magazine. He has written songs for the hit musical revue Naked Boys Singing! and is also the co-writer for the musical revues Bark!, Too Old for the Chorus, and Play It Cool. As an educator, he has taught his lyric writing class at UCLA extension for 19 years and at The Songwriting School for over 10 years.