As a Songwriter and Singer, I've always been curios about the mechanisms that create a great a Song, and yet I never felt the need to study the subject. What makes a song catchy? What are the elements that make you addicted to that? As i saw this  "The Addiction Formula: A Holistic Approach to Writing Captivating, Memorable Hit Songs", I got curios and asked the author to send me a copy of it in order to review it. And here we are!

I did Media Studies and I am not new to Songwriting, so a few of the concepts contained in this book were not really  new to me. I already knew, somehow, the concepts of anticipation/gratification, covered in this book. I already knew, somehow, about the concepts of tension and relief.

And yet, it is that "somehow" that makes a big difference...The author describes very well how  different energy levels work during the song and, most important, gives you the tools and a structure to master those energy level in order to create a catchy song.

A good thing about this book are the examples. The author describes energy levels and then gives you a few song's titles to immediately realize what he's talking about. I had a few a-ha moments while listening to a couple of hits, analyzing them through the tools that the book gives to you, and realizing why the song was so catchy or so boring.


The Author recommends you listen to those examples and I recommend you do the same. It will make the reading much clearer and you will internalize the concepts much better.

As a guitar player and songwriter, I already knew that it was key to change the dynamics of my playing and change strumming patterns during the song, otherwise the song would have sounded flat. It is something that I already covered in one of my previous articles on this Blog; when you are performing on your own (guitar + voice) it is key to change the dynamics in order to make the performance more interesting.

In other words, it is not enough to have a good voice and a good guitar technique in order to make a good performance, unless your voice is really epic and your guitar playing really outstanding (which implies an understanding of energy levels, whether the understanding is conscious or not).

If we look at it more carefully, an outstanding guitar technique will be one that mixes precision (absence of strumming/picking mistakes) to a wise use of dynamics (energy levels). As a consequence, dynamics and energy levels are always key in every kind of performance, no matter what kind of instrument you are using.

"The Addiction Formula: A Holistic Approach to Writing Captivating, Memorable Hit Songs"  explains the energy levels that you need to use at the beginning of a song, in the middle of it and in the end of it, in order to create the best impact. It also explains why arrangment is such an important factor in creating hype and different energy levels.  That's why I consider this book as a valuable resource for both instrumentalists and producers.


In a few words, the goal of this book is very simple: to give you the tools that you need in order to arrange your riffs, melodies, arrangements, ideas, in a way that makes sense. Never again will you be wondering how to structure a catchy song from beginning to the end. I think that people who have producing skills and like to play with softwares will get the most out of this book.


In fact, I would recommend this book to:

- People who really like/want to write hits

- Producers

I would NOT recommend this book to:

- People who just want to have a good read. The book is theoretical but also practical and you really need to be writing songs in order to fully understand it/enjoy it.

If you don't know how to play the guitar, or piano, or any kind of instrument, I suggest you learn how to play something before even thinking about writing a song. You musical skills are your content and you need to have great content and great quality in order to write a song. But then you have to organize that content,

Assuming you already have the content (your practical musical skills, your guitar skills or your amazing melodies), if you are determined to write catchy songs from zero to the end, this book is for you. It will give you a structure. Go and grab your copy now!


NOTE:

The author of the book is Friedemann Findeisen, make sure to check out his website at http://holistic-songwriting.com/