Harriet Schock is a songwriter from Dallas who is best known for her song, "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady", made a hit by Helen Reddy in the 70s. She moved to LA after college and got a job as a staff song writer for Colgems-EMI. She has five solo albums and is a gold and platinum songwriter. She has written songs for TV and movies. For the past twelve years she has taught the art of songwriting for group classes, seminars, correspondence courses and one-to-one. Her book on songwriting is, "Becoming Remarkable, for songwriters and those who love songs" published by Blue Dolphin Publishing. Her latest CD, Rosebud her fifth album is out on Evening Star Music Group. Her website is www.harrietschock.com.

She hasn't done very much touring since the seventies but she does some limited traveling doing seminars and performances. You can find her itinerary on her website.

In her book, Harriet uses a method to bring out the emotional component. She calls it "writing from the inside". She says that she has observed again and again that the songs that really move people, the songs that they identify with, are written from the experience of the songwriter. She compares "outside - in" songwriting, writing songs about an idea or from the imagination, to be like a paint-by-numbers painting as opposed to an original work by a master. Only the real art touches our humanity. She says, "Melody and lyric with truth will touch that humanity forever."

I called her at her home in LA and we talked. The first thing I asked was about her website. I wanted to know what had changes had happened from having it. She told me that it had made her life much easier. Instead of printing reams of material and mailing it out all the time, she now directs people to her site where all the material is. Because she is linked to many other music sites, she also gets a lot of new traffic. She has a mailing list of three to four thousand people and she has started working on a newsletter which is also on her website. She has a lot more interaction with her students using e-mail too. A song can go back and forth a dozen times in the time it would take one letter to get to her. She says her students who don't have a computer are at a disadvantage. Of course, this goes without saying, because if you didn't have a computer you wouldn't be reading this right now. Most of her students still use the mail to send cassettes of their songs. It will be awhile before everyone is using wave files or MP3.

She has 12 to 15 students who come to her in person. She is also starting a large class with the songwriters guild for ten weeks. For individual students she charges $50 for each lesson. Harriet has a ten-step method and the students go through a step a week. At the end of the class they have a complete technology for writing songs from beginning to end that bypasses most of the weaknesses in technique most songwriters experience. Some also come to Harriet for critiquing and they pay the same rate and can usually get her input on two songs during the half hour. She also will critique individual songs. The first one is fifty dollars and twenty five for any others. This is a valuable service.

I asked her what she thought the direction of songwriting would become because of the internet. She told me that although the internet promises a lot of changes, most of them aren't here yet. People should not get the idea they can break all the rules and bypass the industry and still find an audience. She said that it is possible to bypass the industry now and put your songs right on the net, but the songs have to be better than ever in order to make it. If a song doesn't have the raw emotional impact to make an immediate impression, nobody will buy it. It has to be good enough to make it from word-of-mouth alone. Bypassing the industry just means that your songs have to be good enough to sell to each individual. She quoted her mentor, Nik Venet, who said, "How are records sold? One at a time!" And that is a really good point to remember. You have to move each listener, each time. Otherwise having the internet only means you can bomb before more people faster than ever before.

That brought up the subject of mentors and I asked her if she thought it was important for writers to have a mentor. She said it is important for no other reason than to know there is another person listening who wants you to be who you are and do the best you can.

She told me that just over half of her students are performing musicians and many of them are only lyricists or only want to write songs for other people. She said her method works for both lyricists and composers.

In talking about writing for an assignment, or a subject that is not intimately known by the writer, she said you can still do it and make it yourself, make it a song from the inside, by telling enough so that anyone else can feel the same thing and relate it to their own experience. She used Harry Chapin's song "Taxi" as an example. This is the song where two old high school friends/lovers meet again in a cab. Harry is the cab driver and his fare is the old flame, now famous. Anyone who has been to a high school reunion or who has had unfulfilled dreams can relate to this song.

She cautioned writers to be careful of the universal themes, however, lest they become too generic. The real universal themes are found in the individual, unique stories, she said, so it is still best to look at your own experience for your inspiration.

I asked her what she did about ego problems when there is a collaboration. She said that it is important to know which hat you are wearing. If it really bothers the other person you really have to honor their opinion, although she gave me two examples of her own songs when the collaborator didn't understand what she was doing until he had heard the song performed half a dozen times. When there is an impasse, a third party can often resolve it, and said she has played that role on many occasions. The third party decides the direction the song will take. Remember Harriet the next time you have a fight with your collaborator.

Becoming married to your words is a problem for many writers, especially newer ones. Harriet says she was like this herself when she started. She was in love with it because it was hers and because it was new. But eventually she moved beyond this point. She pointed out another very interesting aspect when she pointed out that it is relatively easy to dazzle people with a clever line, when the song has little substance. She said when cleverness is lauded over depth and wisdom, her feelings get hurt. She has a new song that fits this paradigm perfectly. The first line is, "Starbucks burning bright, first Starbucks I see tonight."

The song is clever and popular, she told me, but it gives her less satisfaction than her other songs that speak more to our emotions. Harriet Schock is a fine writer with a proven method. She is a good person to know. You might consider taking one of her classes.

Visit Harriet's site:

http://www.harrietschock.com/