Review: The Young Musician’s Guide to Songwriting

Written by Lisa Donovan Lukas, The Young Musician’s Guide to Songwriting is a down to earth, easy to understand and very helpful book that helps guide musicians of any age through their songwriting venture. Lisa began piano lessons at the age of 6 years old. She started her own songwriting venture when she was just 11 years old. You can read more about Lisa Donovan Lukas and listen to some of her original songwriting compositions by visiting her website. In addition, some of her original piano solo compositions are available to purchase at Sheet Music Plus here.

From the outside cover to the inside of this book, it’s no wonder that it has made one of Amazon’s top seller’s shortly after it was published.

Inside the reader will find practical tips and tricks on coming up with song ideas, building melody, harmony, rhythm and words. Lisa will talk about the principles involved in the creative process of song writing. Common composition templates that have been used successfully in the industry will be addressed. Many examples will be shared and creative exercises and questions presented will get the reader thinking of how to apply it all.

Lisa’s writing style is very easy to read and very friendly. Though we have never met in person, I felt that we have. A few of my favorite tips from the book include:

“We want to keep our ears interested.”

“Creativity is the ability to manifest something out of nothing with the use of your own imagination and skill.”

“Songs with only feelings and thoughts can sometimes be a little uninteresting. But if we can build vivid images, emotions come alive and songs can be more engaging.”

10% of all author royalties are donated to music educational non-for-profits, including The Music Teachers’ Association of California Foundation and Westside Music Foundation.

Whether or not you are new to songwriting, you will leave reading The Young Musician’s Guide to Songwriting, feeling very positive and excited about creating your own songs. You can purchase this book as a paperback or kindle edition here. Be sure like The Young Musician’s Guide to Songwriting on Facebook too!