Songwriter
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A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition (chords) or melody to songs, or both. That is to say,a songwriter is a lyricist, a composer, or both. The word "songwriter" is however more commonly used to describe one who writes popular songs than to describe a writer of art songs.
[edit] History and background of songwriters
Songwriters may perform the songs they write themselves, or they may write for somebody else to perform. People who sing their own songs are nowadays typically called singer-songwriters, although the tradition of doing this dates back hundreds of years. More recently, the troubadours of the Middle Ages sang their own works, as did the German Minnesingers. In the contemporary era, the songwriting competition has become a valuable venue for aspiring songwriters.
Most art songwriting is written for somebody other than the composer to perform, although it is known that Franz Schubert often sang his own songs at private parties. In fact most popular songwriters of today enjoy having their work recorded by a variety of artists and hearing different renditions.
Many modern rock and roll bands have one or two songwriters, usually members of the band. Then there are songwriters like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Sir Paul McCartney, Prince and others that write songs then record them playing their own instruments or all the instruments using a process called overdubbing (see multi-track recording). The advantage to being able to play many instruments and operate a studio is one can write the music first then weave the words into the tune, experimenting on the way. Still, many songs or foundations of songs are written with simply the songwriter and one instrument. The guitar and piano are the most popular instruments to use for songwriting because they have chordal as well as melodic capabilities. There are no rules although commercial writers speak of hooks and such required to fit into radio formats but in the 60s and 70s writers broke new ground and forced the radio to make room for them. To become a songwriter it is strongly recommended that one study music theory and poetry, as the craft is one of merging music and words. However, many talented songwriters have attained success without formal training.
A few popular songwriters/songwriting teams in no particular order are listed below.
- John Lennon and Paul McCartney
- Cole Porter
- The Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland (collectively known as Holland-Dozier-Holland)
- The team of Stock Aitken Waterman
- Amy Winehouse
- Jesse McCartney
- George and Ira Gershwin
- Rodgers and Hammerstein
- Irving Berlin
- Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
- Mark Knopfler
- Ne-Yo
- Diane Warren
- Burt Bacharach and Hal David
- Gerry Goffin and Carole King
- Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry
- Brian Wilson (and The Bee Gees)
- David Bowie
- George Harrison
- Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
- Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann
- Stevie Wonder
- Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora
- Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
- Daryl Hall and John Oates
- Morrissey and Johnny Marr
- Elton John and Bernie Taupin
- Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
- Leonard Cohen
- Nick Drake
- Jeff Buckley
- Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
- Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam
- Khia
- Michael Jackson
- Trent Reznor
- Gloria Parker
- Noel Gallagher
- Ian Brown and John Squire
- Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway
- Koshi Inaba and Tak Matsumoto
- Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett
- Geoff Stephens and Tony Macaulay
- Rodgers and Hart
- Janis Ian
- John Fogerty
- Sherman & Sherman
- Jay-Z
- Chris Cheney
- Xenomania
- Martin Gore
- Kurt Cobain
- Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood
- Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
- Ashford & Simpson
- Keisuke Kuwata
- Robert Plant and Jimmy Page
- Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
- Eddie Galan, Pete Doherty and Carl Barat
- Don Henley and Glenn Frey
- Roger Waters and David Gilmour
- Brian Tatler and Sean Harris
- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
- Daron Malakian and Serj Tankian
- Grant McLennon and Robert Forster
- Nicky Wire and Richey James Edwards
- Steve Laine and Ken Cox
- Freddie Mercury
- Ryan Tedder
- Dave Mustaine
- James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich
- Ian Curtis
- Alex Turner
- James Taylor
- Eddie Vedder
- Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe
- Desmond Child
- Max Martin and others at Cheiron Studios
- Guy Chambers
- Cathy Dennis
- Glen Ballard
- Kara DioGuardi
- Matthew Gerrard
- Pete Townshend
- Simon & Garfunkel
Many songwriters also serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers. Songs in country music are often written by staff writers; songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Legally, songs may only be copied or performed publicly by permission of the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or otherwise transferred. This is governed by copyright law. Songwriting and publishing royalties can be a substantial source of income, particularly if a song becomes a hit record.
Songwriters in the popular music genre often also work as record producers, commonly using the professional title Producer-songwriter.
The old apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by some universities. It is possible to learn how to write songs. For instance, Bangor University has a degree course, English with Songwriting, which teaches the composition of songs by showing how the metaphorical and rhythmical structures of language are combined with music, in history, theory, and practice. A knowledge of modern music technology and business skills are necessary to make a career in songwriting.
[edit] References
- Rimler, Walter Not Fade Away Pierian Press (1984) ISBN 0-87650-159-5
- Waterman, J. Douglas, Ed. Song: The World's Best Songwriters on Creating the Music That Moves Us Writer's Digest (2007) ISBN 1-58297-424-1