A true eye opener for the beginning songwriter.

Until reading this book, I wrote songs using only intuition and experimentation. This method worked fairly well, but I often found myself at the end of a dead-end street, with no clue of how to get to where I wanted to go. I still rely principally on what "sounds right" when writing songs, but this book has given me a GREAT resource for extricating myself from those dead-end situations. The author brings a wealth of knowledge to the subject and presents his lessons in an extremely readable and understandable format. Got a great verse and chorus, but can't seem to find the right chords to link the two together? Consult the book, and within minutes you'll have a number of ideas to start playing with. You'll never write a great song using this book as your only guide, but add a little intuition and creativity, and you'll be very pleased with the results. This book is HIGHLY recommended for the guitarist (novice to pro) who has only limited theoretical knowledge. It honestly changed my approach to songwriting.

The best songwriting book for guitar!

In order to benefit from this book, several things should be true:

1) you should be a guitar player (duh) although the progressions apply to all instruments

2) you should already have some knowledge of chords and basic theory.

3) you should be somewhat caught up with and interested in current popular music from the 1950's through the early 2000's, since the author cites songs as examples of certain types of chord progressions. If you haven't heard the songs, the examples will be pretty meaningless. A companion CD would be great addition.

The book is logically organized and is printed on high quality color stock. I sat down and played through ALL the material once so I could associate certain patterns with the way they sound. I also refer to the book a lot when writing, since it has all kinds of useful charts and tools. If my studio burned down, this would be one of the first books I'd replace.

If you are a guitar player and are interested in expanding your knowledge of songwriting, this book is GOLD. Other books that I would put in the "indispensable" category with this one would be "Fretboard Logic" by Bill Edwards (learning the fretboard inside out) and "The Advancing Guitarist" by Mick Goodrick (playing philiosophy, motivation, advanced concepts). The later book is primarily geared towards the accomplished guitarist and tends towards jazz and fusion playing so may not be suitable for everyone.

The cream of songwriting books

I looked at a lot of books on songwriting before I bought this one. I felt that if I read one more book that told me I had to write songs just like the ones I heard on the radio, I'd vomit. I'm not interested in writing crap - or taking advice from people who are. Then I found this book. Rooksby clearly believes that a great song transcends whatever is "popular" at the moment. He breaks down some of the great songs of the past 50 years and shines a light on what makes them so timeless and evocative. While this is basically a theory book (covering chord types, chord progressions, key changes, etc.), don't let that scare you off. He keeps it as uncomplicated as possible and in all honesty, these are things you really should know if you aspire to write top quality songs. All the greats have this knowledge, despite the myth of the "self-taught" musician. The author uses hundreds of examples from classic songs of every era and every style (the diversity is amazing - just about anyone will find something that clicks) to illustrate the way these things work in a real song. There are also sections on lyric writing and recording demos but the real strength, in my opinion, lies in the musical ideas Rooksby so efficiently imparts and the respect he shows for great songs and the artistry behind them, not just of-the-moment "hit" songwriting. What a refreshing change from the vast majority of songwriting books on the market! No book can really make you a songwriter but if your goal is to write quality songs that you can be proud of, whether or not they make you an instant millionaire, this book will teach and inspire you. It would be a bargain at twice the price! Even if you don't play guitar!