The Purple Guide to Learning Songwriting in 10 Days

I bought this on a whim because I've always hummed little tunes but never knew what to do with them. Day one actually made me sit down and write a verse about a childhood memory — it took twenty minutes and I was shocked at how it turned out. The phrasing technique on day four was the real eye-opener; I finally understood why some lyrics flow and others sound clunky. It's not going to make you a pro in a week, but it's the straightest path I've found to getting started.

As someone who owns zero instruments and can't read music, I was skeptical. But the first chapter literally just asks you to write down a memory and count the syllables as you say it out loud — something anyone can do. I appreciated that the book told me up front that I wouldn't be writing a hit in ten days. It kept my expectations grounded while still giving me a finished song by day ten. The voice memo recording on day eight felt awkward but actually worked.

The self-assessment checklist on day two was worth the price alone. I have a full-time job and two kids; it honestly helped me see that I could carve out 30 minutes three evenings a week. The comparison table on day three kept me from buying a fancy keyboard — turns out, I can do this with a $5 notebook and my phone. The book is honest that this isn't overnight magic, but the step-by-step phrasing lesson gave me a real skill in an hour.

What I liked most is that there's no fake hype. Day one had me writing four lines about a breakup that happened years ago — it felt a little silly at first, but by the time I hit day five and had a rhythm and a rhyme scheme down, it felt legitimately like a song fragment. The troubleshooting in chapter nine got me unstuck when I couldn't think of anything to write. I wish the chapters were longer, but for a starter plan, it's exactly what it promises.

I'm a total beginner who always thought songwriting was something 'gifted people' did. The first day sets expectations perfectly — you just write a short memory down and count the beats as you read it aloud. It sounds too simple, but it actually teaches you the underlying rhythm of lyrics without any theory. By day ten I had a full song recorded on my phone, and I'm not embarrassed to play it for my girlfriend. That's more than I ever got from scrolling YouTube tutorials.

It's a decent structure, and the day-by-day is really helpful for someone like me with zero experience. I'll say the techniques are genuinely useful — I understood rhyming and rhythm way better after day five. But the first few days felt slower than I expected, and I wished there were more examples of what a 'good' vs 'bad' lyric sounds like. The milestone table on day seven helped me see I was on track, though. It's a solid start, just not as exciting as the title suggests.

For fifteen dollars and ten days, this is the most direct path from 'I think I might want to write songs' to 'I wrote a song.' The voice memo exercise on day eight was terrifying until I realized no one else would ever hear it unless I chose to share it. The comparison table of gear saved me from buying anything — I used a spiral notebook and my phone's free voice recorder. It's honest about the limits: you won't be on Spotify, but you'll know if you actually enjoy the craft. That was exactly what I needed.