Book recommendations: easy reads on songwriting/composition to wind down with

personalnadir

I was just thinking I might quite enjoy a book going over interesting chords/progressions and their uses in songs in quite an informal and easy to read manner. That might be too specific, but I'm after an easy read covering songwriting/structure/ideas. Something to get the juices flowing and a source of a bit of inspiration, no need for chord charts and specifics - that stuff can be looked up later.

I guess another way of putting it would be: who's the Bill Bryson covering songwriting in the way he covered language and science? More writing anecdotes and curios than chord charts if you know what I mean.

CaseOfAce

Try This At Home : Adventures in Songwriting - Frank Turner.

Ddigger

Rikky Rooksby.  How to Write Songs on Guitar.  The Songwriting Source Book.

He has several books about music and songwriting and the like.

monquixote

YouTube rather than a book but David Bennett or 8 Bit Music Theory.

steven70

+ 1 for Rikky Rooksby - was recommended to me on here a while back and it's a good read. Theory but not too heavy.

Frank Turner book also looks cool.

blobb

Dave Stewart (not the Eurythmics one, the other one) books. He's got a great dry humour. The second one deals with getting creative.

personalnadir

Thanks, great tips all. Have grabbed the Dave Steward, Rikky Rooksby and a third called 'How Music Works: The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds, from Beethoven to the Beatles and Beyond' which has the usual pop-sci never ending title, but got good reviews. Now just to read them.

Also that 8 Bit Music Theory looks right up my street

TheBigDipper

One more for you that I enjoyed and has probably had more impact on me than any of the others. Jeff Tweedy - How To Write One Song.