Chord Progressions For Songwriters

thanks

This is the chord progression book I've wanted since I was a teenager tinkering around with compositions some 45 years ago. It was apparent to me even back then that nearly all popular songs fell into categories based on basic chord progressions with variations/substitutions. But I didn't have a source that explained what these were. I understood the circle of fifths from the smidgen of music theory I got with my piano lessons, and I picked out some of the more obvious common progressions such as the I-IV-V and I-VIm-IV-V, but nowhere could I find a comprehensive description of chord progressions. When I began listening to groups like Chicago and Steely Dan that used rock/jazz chords, I figured there would never be a book that covered it all.In the late 70s Making Changes: A Practical Guide to Vernacular Harmony by Eric Salzman and Michael Sahl came approached what I was looking for. But a lot of the space in that book was devoted to scores containing examples of what they wrote about, and the book did not feel complete. Finally, I discovered the Richard Scott book one day when I was writing a song and wondering how I might classify a progression I just wrote and compare it to similar songs. A search of the Internet turned up a description of Scott's book, and upon buying the book I found it to be everything I wanted plus more. Scott's taxonomy of chord progressions represents the universe of progressions admirably in my judgment. Most of the examples he provides are immediately familiar to me, and I can "hear" the progression he writes about easily. The book also contains a nice appendix that reviews how to represent chords (Oh, so that chord is C7#5#9!), chord substitution, modulation, and transposing. I finally have the only reference book I have ever needed on chord progressions.

What I definitely appreciate about this book is it builds on what a lot of the theory books in college lacked by giving a plethora of contemporary songs utilizing the chord progression examples. I know I’ve seen complaints about the size of the book and the binding being inconvenient but I’m more than happy with the surplus of examples in this book. It’s more of a pick a page, bookmark, listen to the song and apply it yourself kind of book. Definitely getting plenty of usage.

I wish I would have had this book ten years ago! After spending hundreds (yikes probably more) on music lessons, books, and dvd's for about ten years now- I bought this two weeks ago and the improvement in my understanding is immense. Suddenly the hours and hours of scales and chord inversions make sense! Hurray! I don't read written music (well, very poorly) and having a book that explains how songs (of all sorts) are put together means never having to buy a fake book again. So, he gives you the progression in roman numerals and then in C, then he lists quite a few songs (from diverse genre's) that use that progression- (yeah! Immediate application!) so while you practice the progression in various keys you are learning a quantity of songs at a time- AND becoming so familiar with that progression that you can HEAR it elsewhere. It makes "practicing" fun because you are playing songs instead of exercises, and developing an understand of how song patterns are repeated, which is the key to playing with other folks. If you have your basic theory down (know your major & minor chords, scales, basic transposing, and maybe some chord inversions) you can't go wrong with this book (and even if you don't, he has handy charts in the back). I wish I would have had this years sooner, but am so so glad to have it now. Quite possibly the most useful music book I've ever come across.

Harmonic progression is (often) the first thing that comes in the songwriting process. If it's not the first thing and if your song is not based on a riff, you'll have to put chords somewhere in the process anyway.To me, this book has a big advantage on all others "chords progression" books : it puts each chord progression in one of the 21 kinds that are referenced. So you know all kinds of progressions, all the variations you can make and on what hits it has been used.A great thing too : the book distingues the different inversions or pedal that are used on the progressions.I am an arranger and building a interesting bass line over a progression can really refresh that classic progression that people already heard one million times.You won't "discover THE music secret" thanks to this book or write hit songs just by using one of the chords progression (and if you think that a book like this exists, I have some very bad news for you :) ) but you will have all the basic material for harmony in songwriting, at the same place. There is nothing more to look at, it's all there.I also bought this book just to give me new ideas and change my habits. Check yourself, you might always use the same progressions ... I did and this book teaches me new ones (no big discovery but even if I know these chords, I don't really use them in that order), and gives me a new approach on the harmonic analysis of the progressions I frequently use.to finish with, sorry for my poor english ...

I love the method and information he is sharing, this is a fantastic resource for songwriters and people who want to wrap their head around simple chord progressions that create magic (you will need a different resource for more advanced harmony, but there is still merit in studying and learning simplicity) -- I wish the book was bigger with less pages and better binding, it is very thick. I also take issue with the way the sections are organized alphabetically!!! It would be much more logical to start with the chord foundations and then expand upon them. Basic Progressions is expanded upon by Ascending Progressions and Folk Progressions etc. Rather than opening the book with Ascending Progressions, or even including in the introduction an explanation of the author's chosen structure.

I think this is an essential book for every aspiring guitarist. I'm someone who spends more time on looking at the resources and not playing guitar at all. From my years of experience of checking out resources, I can tell, you should build a solid foundation before jumping into all the fancy stuff like developing techniques or playing fast or trying to play crazy solos etc. At the end of the day chords are the basic building blocks of any song/music. Solos, riffs etc are actually built on top of it. So having a solid foundation of chord progressions, which chords work best with which other chords, how to switch between keys, what chord sequences work and what don't will make you a better musician. In this book each chord progression is supported by plenty of example songs. Although, I will probably end up just reading the book and not practice guitar at all, I still can't recommend this book enough.

although this book was most informative,it was however impractical to use when practicing piano.

I've learnt more from this book than many others on chords and songwriting. I actually understand how to put together a good chord progression now and how to vary them. This is worth its weight in gold. Highly recommended.

Plenty of examples of songs given in each category and a pretty comprehensive list. I'm particularly interested in the blues and chord substitutions and variations given.

Diese echte Schatzgrube bedient Musiker unterschiedlicher Instrumente und ist extrem praxisnah!Um es optimal einzusetzen sollte etwas musiktheoretisches Wissen vorhanden sein, besonders Quintenzirkel und sogenannte Akkordstufentheorie. Das Buch hilft dem Musiker die Gründe des Erfolges mancher Kompositionen zu verstehen und umgehend nachzuspielen bzw. einzusetzen:Nennen der eingesetzten Akkorde bzw. Akkordfolgen in einem Lied (anhand vieler Beispiele)Vergabe der römische Ziffern I-VII ( Akkordstufen)Die Lieder werden in Regel in der Tonart C-Dur / Moll notiert und können mit Hilfe des Quintenzirkels optimal transponiert werden, wenn ein Lied in einer anderen Tonart gespielt werden soll.Ebenfalls hilft das Werk eigene Kompositionen mit Akkordfolgen abzugleichen und zu analysieren.Ich setze das Werk seit einigen Wochen ein und lerne weniger Lieder „auswendig“ sondern leite mit anhand der mir nun bekannten Akkordfolgen Kompositionen „ab“ und verstehe diese ungleich besser.Ein erweiterter englischer Grundwortschatz reicht zum Verständnis des Werkes aus.Volle Wertung für dieses Buch!