This is a rigorous book that reminded me of a college class, for the good and the bad. On the one hand, it's packed with really useful information and analytic exercises. OTOH, I didn't particularly enjoy doing the work of reading it. It's one of those books that's good for you, like salmon and flax seeds. It's still one that I plan to revisit and use, since it is ultimately extremely helpful.

I had no idea song writing was so involved. It just seemed that it was sort of poetry set to music and something only the young really wrote. I can't think of many song writers who are over 35 and still doing great (I could be wrong, but I can think of quite a few from the 60's and 70's, heyday of the type and mostly singing their old tunes with nothing new coming to mind... sure some can still sellout stadiums,but fans-old and new- are there for the old songs.) It's a fascinating look into the music industry from the songwriters pov. If you want to write songs, this may well be the place to start.

This book covers basically everything needed to know about songwriting, from song titles, to writing different song categories, to how to write great and memorable melodies, to how to collaborate with other writers and producers, to how to squeeze more and more out of your lyrics with each rewrite.

There are useful exercises in the book.

And handy reference guide in the back with checklists and charts to help guide you.

For anyone starting out, needing help, or simply to get an idea of how songwriting works - a MUST HAVE!