In my previous post, I asked which of three ideas for an Ebook I should follow. Judging from the comments on that post and via twitter, the most popular idea was ‘Songwriting Rules and How to Break Them’.

Basically I see this book as being a slightly tongue in cheek antidote to the ‘How to write a top forty hit’ books that all advise ultra conservative songwriting, and all seem to be written by people from Nashville.

Here’s a completely unedited, very rough, first draft attempt at an introduction:

There are rules to songwriting and you can learn them, if you buy the right book. There are countless books to choose from, books that tell of songwriting secrets, of tips and tricks and essential techniques. They give you rules to follow and promise they will lead to the only kind of songwriting success that apparently matters – commercial success. These books will often have been written by someone with a career connected to the city of Nashville. They will for, some reason, mostly talk about country music or top 40 hits, and emphasise lyrics to such an extent you would think they’re about poetry rather than songwriting. They all have two things in common.

They’re right and they’re useless.

Right, because you could learn a set of rules, follow them exactly and turn out commercially viable songs. You might be even turn out commercially successful songs and make a lot of money.

Useless, because the world does not need any more cookie-cutter, auto-tuned, bubblegum pop. Useless, because if the history of the music business tells us anything, the route to long term artistic success lies in having substantial, meaningful, unique songs. Useless because the vast majority of songwriters do not have any interest in writing for commercial reasons.

This book is for those songwriters – the songwriters who want to get as far away from the top 40, as far away from the soulless cookie-cutter pop song, as far away from being told they need to write commercial hits. This book is for people who want tools to improve their songwriter, but don’t want to follow the crowd.

Some of the rules I’ll advise breaking are, in no particular order:

• You should wear your heart on your sleeve
• Your songs should be accessible
• A song should be 3 and half minutes long
• Being ‘commercial’ matters
• You express yourself through the lyrics
• You should use the pop song structure

What other songwriting rules are there? Which are worth breaking, and which are essential?

For some time now, I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a songwriting ebook. I’ve previously written my little free ebook, Worksheets for the Songwriting Guitarist, and I’ve started a few other projects only to lose heart.

This time I’m serious, I’m going to write an ebook on songwriting. I’ll make it available online, and maybe go all Radiohead and give people the option of paying what they want for it (including free).

The problem? I can’t decide what it should be about. So, I’m going let you know my options, and ask you to use the comments to give me your thoughts.

Which of these would you want to read?

1. Songwriting rules (and how to break them)

A slightly tongue-in-cheek stab at recieved songwriting wisdom, this book would show you exactly how NOT to write a three and a half minute, hook laden song with simple chords,  and heartfelt lyrics that oozes commercial viability.

Instead, it will argue that doing the exact opposite will make you a better and more satisfied songwriter.

2. Improvisation – A Guide for the Songwriter

This book will provide hands-on practical advice, tips and prompts to help you use improvisation in your songwriting. Chapters will include:

• How to expand your musical pallette
• How to structure whole band jam sessions
• Visual and structural prompts
• Improv strategies and starting points
• Eno-isms – Whacky improv ideas
• Using recording technology to capture the moment

3. 100 Ways to Start a song

Nice and simple, 100 pages, each page illustrating a starting point for a song, including, but not limited too:

Melody:

• Starting with a leap
• Starting with a step
• Starting with an ascending shape

Rhythm:

• Starting with a groove
• Starting with a rhythmic cell

Harmony:

• Starting from a scale
• Starting from a chord progression

What do you reckon?

1, 2 or 3 which would you prefer to read?