KVR Audio

hao nao · Post by **hao nao** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:30 pm

re: "How to Write Songs on Guitar" by Rikky Rooksby

if you're not a guitarist but are looking for a good book on songwriting and chord progressions, don't pass this one up just because of "guitar" in the title

I'm only 50 pages into this book and I'm excited ... this is turning out to be a really informative book

might never be much of a guitarist, but I'll be going back over that first part and trying out chord sequences ... on the keyboard

lots of useful general info on chord types, their subjective qualities and how each type is typically used

as well as dozens of chord sequences, with some more discussion and reference to songs that use them

Sepheritoh · Post by **Sepheritoh** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:06 pm

Sounds interesting.

Want to give us some details of what he covers in the book?

hao nao · Post by **hao nao** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:59 pm

in addition to the above there are chapters on:
turnarounds
rhythm
melody
song structures
how to write lyrics
keys and key changes
how to record a demo
a chapter where he analyzes about 20 songs, half a page apiece
a few pages of paragraph-length quotes from songwriters

it's the level of writing and the sense of condensed knowledge that impresses me -- there's another book of his I'll probably get just based on what I have read so far

of course there is some guitar-centric material, about 20-25% of the book, with a chord dictionary, altered tunings, how to get a fuller sound and other playing tips

what excited me so far was the catalog of chord sequences that have been successfully used, getting beyond the usual I IV V and I II V I to more exotic substitutions and rule-breaking, with discussion along the way and references to songs that use them

I like the conversational tone and the condensation of practical knowledge into a short space

I'm only 1/4 of the way through and am sure it will fill in a lot of my weak areas -- but I'm pretty close to being a beginner

does that help, Seph?

the point I meant to make is that advanced beginners who already know how to form chords could find a lot of useful info in this book, even if they are not guitarists

Sepheritoh · Post by **Sepheritoh** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:12 am

Thanks.

Sounds very interesting. I'll be off to Amazon to check it out now

Sepheritoh · Post by **Sepheritoh** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:40 am

Order placed. Thanks for the recommendation.

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:05 am

Pretty decent book I do agree, I've had it for some time now. I like how he runs through rpogressions and relates particuilar songs as examples. In fact he took that idea and came out with a chord/progression book; as I saw at the book store the other day but it was a little pricer. Cool though,

WoJ · Post by **WoJ** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:36 am

Heh, forgot i had that book. Thanks for reminding me again. Got it a while back as a christmass prezzy or sumithin, never realy looked at it. I'll just dust it down...

WoJ

Mental Audio Deviations · Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:20 am

Have it too. Very useful stuff indeed.

garret · Post by **garret** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:56 am

havran wrote: what excited me so far was the catalog of chord sequences that have been successfully used, getting beyond the usual I IV V and I II V I to more exotic substitutions and rule-breaking, with discussion along the way and references to songs that use them

Sounds like an interesting book.. I'll have to check it out sometime.

Another great resource for this kind of songwriting analysis is Alan Pollack's Notes on the Beatles... Simply amazing and free yes free! Meet fabulous friends like the V-of-V chord and the flatted-III....

-Garret

Shane Sanders · Post by **Shane Sanders** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 7:11 am

Thanks for the tip on the book. I've been on the hunt for something that will help me get more grounded in songwriting. I've been taking a deep look at how I ended up where I am now - with all my musical confusion and idiosyncratic mayhem that guides me. I realized that due to some weird circumstances in my life, I jumped right into prog rock when I first started playing but I didn't take the time to get grounded in fundamentals. Now that I'm older, I'm wanting to stop and smell the roses a little more, to groove out on standard progressions with a twist here and there. The past few months have been about this and only this. I think I have 5 new songs nearly mapped out because of the determination to keep things simple. It's really refreshing.

For the guitar players: definitely check out the Vox Tonelab. I nabbed one and it's an instant rush to play through a tube/valve again. I'd forgotten what it was like to have a guitar sing back at the amp at high volumes. Feedback is cool.

Shane Sanders · Post by **Shane Sanders** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:32 am

This guy has another book called, "The Song Writing Sourcebook: How to Turn Chords into Great Songs". It is blowing me away with good advice and little observations, not to mention the vast number of progressions laid out in the book. If the other one is anything like this one, this dude is my new favorite music-related author. Pound for pound, this is not the usual fluff found in instructional books.

edit: forgot to mention it comes with a CD

meeks · Post by **meeks** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:52 am

Also just found a MELODY book by him just realeased in stores. But I'm not so keen on that one.

M'Snah · Post by **M'Snah** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 7:41 am

hao nao · Post by **hao nao** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:07 pm

Shane Sanders wrote:This guy has another book called, "The Song Writing Sourcebook: How to Turn Chords into Great Songs". It is blowing me away with good advice and little observations, not to mention the vast number of progressions laid out in the book. If the other one is anything like this one, this dude is my new favorite music-related author. Pound for pound, this is not the usual fluff found in instructional books.

edit: forgot to mention it comes with a CD

hey Shane, that's good to hear ... I was thinking of getting that book as well

[edit re: melody book]

meeks, I also appreciate the comment about his melody book ... although I would probably not be tempted anyway, since melody is what I can do natively and I don't want to over-study it ... the rules seem to be "keep it in a singable range and don't include too many difficult intervals"

As soon as I get my commerce system set up, I'll make those rules available in a handsomely formatted and printable PDF e-book for US $14.95

hao nao · Post by **hao nao** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:23 pm

garret wrote:Another great resource for this kind of songwriting analysis is Alan Pollack's Notes on the Beatles... Simply amazing and free yes free! Meet fabulous friends like the V-of-V chord and the flatted-III....

-Garret

excellent! thanks for the link

"How to Write Songs on Guitar" not just for guitar