Learn how to polish your songwriting skills with the latest Hal Leonard Books release, The Songwriting Sourcebook ($24.99) by Rikki Rooksby.

This guide to writing great songs was originally published in 2003, and is now back again in its revised and updated version. As part of the How to Write Songs series, The Songwriting Sourcebook is designed to help musicians write better songs by explaining the art of writing effective chord sequences.

There are 10 sections in The Songwriting Sourcebook and through them Rooksby explains how three and four chords can lay the foundation for a simple song, as well as how to move on to progressions using five and six chords. Throughout the book, the author shows how to give chord sequences additional color by adding chords that are not strictly in key, as well as taking progressions into new territories by changing key. You will learn how to write in major and minor keys and how to fine-tune the color of chords by understanding the emotional potential of sevenths, sixths, and ninths.

The 240-page The Songwriting Sourcebook can be read sequentially for musicians new to the craft of songwriting, it can be used as a reference book for experienced musicians and songwriters, or it can be used to to inspire new ideas for those already writing their own songs. According to Hal Leonard, Rooksby presents songwriting concepts in a relaxed, easy to understand writing style, and concepts are further enhanced by the use of many chord progression graphics and accompanying guitar chord fingering charts, which allow you, the reader, to play the given examples and experiment with presented concept. An accompanying 20-track audio CD features original recordings that illustrate some of the points made in the book.

Rikky Rooksby is a guitar teacher, songwriter / composer, and writer on popular music. He has written a multi-volume series on songwriting for Backbeat Books and has published over 200 interviews, reviews, articles, and transcriptions in music magazines.

For more information on the book, visit halleonardbooks.com.