Songwriting is different from music, although I don’t deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory.
Meaning of the quote
Songwriting and music are not exactly the same thing. Neil Diamond, a famous American musician, says that while songwriting is its own skill, it would still be helpful for him to know more about music theory. This means the technical rules and structure of music, which can be useful for a songwriter to understand, even if songwriting has its own unique process.
About Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond is an American singer-songwriter who has sold over 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, and has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
More quotes from Neil Diamond
No, I majored in biology, in a pre-med program.
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I think probably Australians have just a little more taste than most people.
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Songwriting is different from music, although I don’t deny now that it would be nice to have a little more background in music theory.
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Brooklyn is not the easiest place to grow up in, although I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.
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It’s very difficult for me to say ‘I love you’ but to sing ‘I love you’ for me is easier.
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I don’t like all of the music to be serious and deadly.
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I’m lucky. Hard work is the key, but luck plays a part.
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Because my musical training has been limited, I’ve never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
Chelsea Morning is a great Joni Mitchell song and I guess I’m partial to her lyrics because they show me a slightly different perspective on life.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
The main objective in any song, the songs that I write, has always been that it reflect the way I feel, that it touch me when I’m finished with it, that it moves me, that it can take me along with it and involve me in what its saying.
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When you’re on a merry-go-round, you miss a lot of the scenery.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
Performing is the easiest part of what I do, and songwriting is the hardest.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
I still need practice in enjoying the fruits of success.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
I’ve looked at photographs of myself during concerts and it sometimes looks as if I’m in a fencing move, with a guitar in my hands instead of a sword.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
Song Sung Blue took a lot of compressing and refining, and it has one of my favorite lyrics.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
I’ve always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I’ll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that I want to write and the lyric will come first.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
Songwritng is what I do.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
Songs are life in 80 words or less.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
There’s a mystery to writing, and you don’t really know where most of it comes from.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
I came back to performing with a different attitude about performing and myself. I wasn’t expecting perfection any more, just hoping for an occasional inspiration.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter
If it can affect me, if it has meaning to me, if I feel I can do it well, I will do it and record it and thats why I recorded these songs.
American recording artist; singer-songwriter