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

Richard Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000

Money Chords is a comprehensive reference book of popular chord progressions. It identifies the eighty most popular chord progressions that have been used time and again to write hit songs and twelve tools to create them. The book is the result of the compilation and analysis of a representative sampling of over two thousand popular chord progressions that took several years to compile. Chord progressions are categorized both chronologically and by progression type. Chronological listings identify progression types common to a specific time period and the evolution of various progression types. Progression type listings compare how the best songwriters and performers have utilized similar chord progressions. Money Chords is intended to be a songwriters tool box to help stimulate the creation of many more great songs in the new millenium.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard J. Scott has been a guitarist/songwriter for thirty-five years, an analyst for twenty-five years, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Education. Prior writing work includes the Residential Construction chapter of Credit Considerations published by Robert Morris Associates.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595010393
• ISBN-13: 978-0595010394
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Logic-Defying Presentation of Progressions. Disappointing., June 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Money Chords: A Songwriter's Sourcebook of Popular Chord Progressions (Paperback)

Just got my copy. Wish I had taken a look at the book before I bought it. Sure, it's a hefty 450 pages but once you scan through the book you come away with the same thought you do as a guitarist thumbing through a book promising 20000 guitar chords (realizing that there are, at most, 20 different chord forms that are mechanically and unnecessarily incarnated in every key): What's the point?

Here, the author does a similar thing by presenting all of the progressions with respect to specific keys (E for _half_ of the book and then a retelling of a subset of those progressions in the other keys). What's the point? It would have been MUCH more useful -- and, frankly, obvious -- to present each chord progression in the key-independent numeric form (e.g., "I-ii-V-I"). The publisher would have killed 50% less trees going that route and would have produced a book with immediate and lasting value.

And if not purely that approach, the author could have at least accompanied each progression with the key-independent equivalent. That's a no-brainer. And given that each page is 80% white-space it's not like the publisher was scrambling for content space!

Had I known that I could have charged [for] a book for reading off and reprinting the exact verse and chorus chord progressions from a bunch of different songs (granted, hundreds) I would have gone to the library and done so myself.

I had very high hopes for this book but it falls way short of what a songwriter/composer REALLY needs--of what I need. I wanted a book that facilitates spontenaity and fuels the creative spark. That's what the book promised, but not what I received.

Despite the sheer volume, it's a lazy effort. The book lacks the level of exposition, analysis, and insights that 450 pages would seem to indicate. And, content aside, the book's design, presentation, typography, and organization are EXTREMELY poor (I'll go so far as to say stark, ugly, sophomoric, and unusable as well considering the powerful desktop publishing tools available to anybody with a computer; one would think by this book that Writers Club Press only has a single manual typerwriter at its disposal). Bottomline is these deficits successfully short-circuit the promised usefulness of this book. The book is a disappointing effort and I cannot recommend it to anyone.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, A Comprehensive Chord Progression Dictionary, September 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Money Chords: A Songwriter's Sourcebook of Popular Chord Progressions (Paperback)

Money Chords is the book to turn to when the other Songwriting Books tell you to study the chord structures of the best songs. Money Chords is the first comprehensive popular chord progression dictionary that I have come across and it is sure to become an essential companion to a Rhyming Dictionary and Lyric Book in every songwriter's library.

Money Chords introduces the 80 most popular chord progressions (plus all common variations) and the 12 tools used to create them without resorting to confusing and complicated discussions of music theory.

The book includes thousands of examples which are arranged in a manner that allows you to identify progressions common to a specific time period and the evolution of various progression types. It also allows the reader to study and compare how the best songwriters and performers have used the same or similar progressions to create different hit songs.

Money Chords is the real deal and gets my Five Star rating.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Create More Interesting Chord Progressions, October 22, 2001

By 

Dave (Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Money Chords: A Songwriter's Sourcebook of Popular Chord Progressions (Paperback)

Say you're working on a new song or arranging an old one that uses a Basic I-IV (E-A) progression and you want to see how the best songwriters have used and dressed up this progression, the "Money Chords" book is your place to find out. There are at least forty examples of chord embellishments including E-A6; E-Amaj7; E-A11; Emaj7-Amaj7; Emaj7-A13; etc. The book shows you variations on the most popular progressions including the Folk (I-V7); Rock (I-IV-V7); Rock Ballad (I-VIm-IV-V7); Standard (I-VIm-IIm-V7); Ragtime (I-VI7-II7-V7); Classic Rock (I-bVII-IV); Blues progressions as well as Ascending, Descending and Static (Pedal Point) progressions. This book should help you create more interesting chord progressions for your new songs but also breath new life into other songs as well. I rate "Money Chords" a solid Four Stars.