Money Chords: A Songwriter's Sourcebook of Popular Chord Progressions

At around twenty pounds, you receive an exhaustive list of what the author claims are the 'eighty most popular chord progressions that have been time and time again to write hit songs.' However, despite well over four hundred pages of listings, the author pays no attention to the harmonic rhythm, time signatures, or melody lines. For example, songs as disparate as 1952's When I Fall in Love and 1968's Happiness Is a Warm Gun are grouped together. Such groupings do provide historical continuity. Nevertheless, the categories provided seem to be too general and lack the sufficient analysis to demystify the act of song writing. With the exception of the Introduction, each chapter commences with barely an A4 page of prose. This publication is not without it's merit, but to use a cliché it has placed quantity over quality, and does not warrant it cover price. Perhaps, the publishers should look at condensing the material and remarketing it as a pocket book.