Customer Reviews
A good little book - By: D. C. Polwarth, 18 Nov 2008 
I've been playing guitar for a couple of years now, but I'm really a keyboardist, so I knew something about music before picking this book up. I found it a fantastic introduction to music writing. Be aware, if you are the sort of person who wants to imitate their favourite rock stars or just play famous tunes, this may not be the book for you. If you want to be a music writer, & want to learn your craft rather than playing other people's music like a drone, then this is for you.
It rewards creative thinking. If you are not a creative person & simply like to imitate rather than innovate, then pass it by. If you have a love of music & want to explore, then this is for you.
It tells you about chord progressions, some popular ones as well as how to get interesting nuances on popular chords. While the progressions may not be breaking new ground entirely, that may be a good thing: most chord progressions are often used again & againin pop or blues etc. & ultimately you can always use the building blocks to go on & experiment further.
The exercises are straightforward & allow you to see how many songs are put together, & get progressively more complex over the chapters. There are a few errorsin the text, but mostly its accurate.
This is only a small book, & as such only concentrates on the chording aspect of songwriting, but it is good as what it does. While there are no hard & fast rulesin music, certain progressions that crop up time & again & this is a great way to get a feel for the more popular ones.
Song writing takes a lifetime of work, & anything that adds to my knowledge along the way is precious. I found this book to be a little marvel, & while it does not have a massive scope, I consider it to be a fantastic purchase.
Remember, if you don't care about writing music & are just happy to copy other people like an automaton, this will do nothing for you. It explains how to be creative, so if you don't want that, then go back to 'Guitar Hero,' have fun, & leave the grown-ups alone. For the rest of you, this is recommended.
Doesn't hit the mark for me. - By: C. R. Downing, 04 Feb 2008 
It's one of those little handbooks that promises more than it seems to deliver - but maybe that's just me. Never really got on with these pocketbook formats.
It's a pretty straight forward approach & if you worked through this book you know quite a bit about chord patterns & how to apply them. Butin a market where there's so much good material this one didn't really do it for me. (I do actually own a copy though).
Try "Rhythm Guitar" by Bruce Buckinghamin the Musicians Institute series. It's very progressive, starting easy & getting up to quite a nice standard. When you've finished that, try Mickey Baker's, "Jazz Guitar" book from the 50's. All the exercises will get you playing all the more complex chordsin practical applications & the first half of the book on chordwork contains what Baker says is 6 months work at 2 hours a day. (I like someone who gives students a heads-up on the effort required.)
Well written and organized. Information of practical use. - By: , 14 Jan 1998 For a compact book, it contains more useful information than books three times as big. Most helpfulin understanding how to alter & embellish basic ii-V-I & I-IV-V progressions & understanding how to analyze chord function within a progession. A must for anyone serious about the guitar.
