Chord Progressions For Songwriters

As a long time intermediate guitarist and pianist I’m very impressed with the book. I like to know why things work, not just what works, and this books delivers on that front. Having the chord progressions associated with common pop songs over the last six decades (back to the Beatles, and earlier) really helps bring meaning to these chord progressions, even when they are simple. The discussion of the chord substitution and embellishments of even simple I-IV-V progressions is extremely helpful and well written, with relevant examples. I noticed that people’s main complaint was at the book was thick and short (500 pages) and therefore not easily spread out, for example, on a piano or music stand. To get around this, I took a suggestion from my wife and went to FedEx Office and had the book spiral bound, in which they removed the cover and binding, and spiral bound the rest of the pages. I had them add a plastic cover over the front and back of the book’s covers. Here’s an example of what I did. It cost me $12 before tax. Well worth it so that I can use it and flip between pages easily while playing piano or guitar.

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.

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.

This book is an amazing resource. I love how the author goes into detail about various styles of music. The book is extremely well researched and thought out. I also like how the author provides numerous examples as well as variations that have been used. A budding songwriter this book has really showed me the thought processes of chord progressions that have been used and their qualities as a progression. It is a book that I will continue to come back to. Every time I pick it up I learn something new or have a new process to explore.

So, I read so many positive reviews about this book before purchasing it, but quickly learned, if you don't have your guitar theory down SOLID, it's not very helpful or useful. Yes, most guitarists can figure out what the author is talking about, some are drawn to the old school examples he cites. However, I'm 33, don't know my theory very well, and personally haven't gotten much out of this book, yet. I still come up with unique chord progressions for my songs without looking at it. And yes, it would be much more helpful if it were spiral bound. Some people will absolutely love this book and want to add it to their collection. It is a VERY helpful resource, for some. For me, I didn't know most the songs, couldn't relate, and wanted to regurgitate when I noticed the slashes being used as time measurement markers in-between chords. (If you've ever studied a book on songwriting, and noticed slashes being used to sort of visually illustrate time, you'll understand...). If you know your theory well, this book will likely serve you well. If you're like me, and know how to play, play chords and write songs, but don't grasp theory very well, look elsewhere. You're not ready for this yet!

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.

A fairly useful text but really needs an index. At least one instance of a chord ( a G(alt)) is not shown In the chord list in the appendix. The major problem is sparcity of extended chord progression examples: actual notation examples would have been helpful vice lists of song titles. I was expecting a book I could use as a refference manual. This book isn't. However, as a self-teaching text (the "now-you-try-it" exercizes are a nice touch) it is well worth the cost.

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 ...