(Berklee Methods). The Berklee in the Pocket Essential Songwriter is an accessible reference guide that will quickly lead songwriters to ideas that are at the heart of countless hit songs. The tips and strategies jam-packed into this concise guide will help you tackle writer's block and gain fresh insight into the songwriting process. Includes: the 17 chord progressions that are at the heart of the most popular hit songs, guitar charts and keyboard chords showing how to play progressions in all 12 keys, tips to customize essential chord progressions to suit your own songs, contact info for businesses and organizations most important to the working songwriter, and more

Learn the fundamental techniques behind today's hit songs, with easy-to-follow exercises so you can immediately apply these tools to your own songs. Quit wrestling with writer's block, and learn to make the songwriting process easy, fun, and intuitive. Kachulis covers a variety of topics, including: colors of chords and keys * chord embellishments and progressions to enrich your palette of colors * dozens of ways to modify your harmonies and progressions * the most common chord progressions used in hit songs * and more. Practice your songs with an accompaniment on the play-along CD!