How to Write Songs on Guitar: A Guitar-Playing and Songwriting Course, 2nd Edition, Updated and Expanded: A Guitar-Playing and Songwriting Course (Expanded, Updated)

I would suggest that this is one of the best books ever on guitar chords in popular music. Together with 'Chord Master' and 'How to Write Songs with Altered Guitar Tunings' this gives pretty much all you need from the point of view of a creative guitarist looking for ideas and practical chords. Like all Rookby's books these are all quality works.I wouldn't agree that it is not for beginners; it might not have guitar tuition as it's main purpose but certainly provides plenty of chords and, particularly important, chord progressions for all levels of popular guitar playing. Motivated beginners can easily find a few at a time to play around with. More experienced players will find both chords and theory to fill in their knowledge.You can take or leave the theoretical coverage rather than the actual chords, perhaps come back to it as curiosity demands - what counts with guitar is what you can do, even if it is just a few chords played well, and the many diagrams and progressions are pretty much self-explanatory. Likewise, the song-writing content could be considered more or less important depending on your emphasis. It might make a guitarist out of a song-writer or vice versa.In any event, if you want to play popular songs on guitar, I would recommend any of the above three books as a good place to start and one to refer to well beyond that, wherever you go eventually.

One of the best beginners/intermediate book for chord theory etcBuy this one and not the latest edition which is physically smaller and without colour pics

If you want to write songs on guitar, you can't do better than buy this book. Mr Rooksby covers chord harmony in a very accessible way that anyone can understand. What are chords, how are they used, and how do they relate to each other? Mr Rooksby explains clearly. He gives many examples of chord sequences and how they've been used big hits over the last 50 years.And there are plenty of great chord ideas for acoustic guitar, as well as sound advice: "I always think that a good song should be able to stand with just a singer and an accompanist. A song should not need over-engineer studio production to work," says Mr Rooksby.And if you are a guitarist, why not get the piano version as I have done? Gives you a different approach to song writing. You don't need to read music or have established keyboard skills because Mr Rooskby shows you which keys to press on the keyboard play chord sequences for songs, and make up your own.Mr Rooksby is a quality teacher and author, and I've ordered his book on how to write melodies for songs. He has more books available and I'm happy to help make him a bit richer in return for being allowed to acquire some of his undoubted musical knowledge.

As a beginner songwriter and not-quite-beginner guitarist I've found this book extremely useful. Its key selling-points are its very practical focus and the level of detail the author goes into. His analyses of the mechanics of classic songs are fascinating - never seen it done with so much depth and insight. Other highlights include the chart on page 42 that sets out which chords belong to which keys (invaluable for a musical ignoramus like myself), the comprehensive chord charts and the discussion of different types of song structure.

This book could be great, if you're picking up guitarplaying from scratch. Having played more than 20 years, I was mostly looking for some "musical vitamins". I know my basic theory regarding scales and regarding chords. Much of the book is about basic theory.Recently I came up with 4 chords I thought sounded quite good. Here, the book was interesting, because it has a collection of examples as to how you can put 4 chords together. I turned out I had "invented" the same chordprogression Beatles used in "She loves you"I'll keep using the book, to see what songs already written, that may contain progressions I "invent" by myself on my guitar. I'll also use that section of the book for inspiration. But all in all, I find that not very much of the book will inspire me - therefore 3 stars out of 5.

Not just a book on song writing but a full course on guitar in the one book. Yes it is aimed at people who are probably more intermediate players but it is easy to pick many useful points out for the beginner as well. I think this book will help not only understand the song writing process but also make it easier to start out on the journey to composing many tracks. Thank you so much

Seems to be well set out. I'll be working through the book along with a songwriting course that I'm on so hopefully it will assist me in getting the artistic juices flowing!

This is a fantastically good book. I have a musical background of classical piano and guitar but I have never thought in terms of triads before, even though I had studied all the theory. Chord sequences etc just never registered with me but this book has opened so many creative doors. I am about to order the keyboard version and have no hesitation in recommending this book. Rikky Rooksby knows his subject very very welol.