John Lennon’s Science of Songwriting
What compels creativity at the level of John Lennon’s songwriting is difficult to pin down, but sifting through various pearls of wisdom illuminates the mystery.
David Wilson-Okamura
David Wilson-Okamura is an award-winning teacher and author. Before he
started writing about music, he published two books on classics in the
Renaissance. He has degrees from the University of Chicago and Stanford
University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1992. He is now a
professor of English at East Carolina University. He has been playing
guitar since he was a teenager. His most recent piece, on the avant-garde
composer John Cage, was featured on the back page of Stanford
magazine.
James Brown and Prince Were Uptight As Funk
James Brown and Prince’s music was loose, wild, and emotional. Yet they knew that you’ve got to be uptight if you want to do funk right.