As one of the most popular options on our list of the best books about songwriting to read, Songwriters on Songwriting is considered a bible for songwriters all over the world. It has been around for almost two decades already, and yet, its relevance is indisputable! Skipping it on this list would be a huge crime.

The book is penned by Paul Zollo, an established writer that has published many articles about songwriting in major publications such as American Songwriter, Rolling Stone, and Oxford Press. It shares many success tips from famous celebs like Wilson Brian (Hello Beach Boys!), Lenny Kravitz, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tom Petty, and practically anyone that you think is extremely great at songwriting.

In Songwriters on Songwriting, 62 best songwriters of all time discuss directly the magic behind their songwriting, accompanied by their feelings, thoughts, and opinions about their own works. These figures represent literally all genres of pop music, from rock to blues to pop, shaping the global music industry as we always know today.

Of course, being the successful artists they are, these songwriters definitely have a lot of great stuff to share. Hence, reading this book is totally worth your precious time!

Author: Paul Zollo

Year of Release: 2003

Ratings: 4.7 stars (from 261 reviews)

Ranking second on our list is "Melody in SongWriting" written by Jack Perricone, considered by many as a crucial and helpful guide to melodies in songwriting. Similar to a lot of other books on our list, this one is rightfully legit since it was published by Berklee and even used frequently in most of their classes!

According to Melody in Songwriting, the melody is among the most important elements in songwriting, yet, for some reason, many people neglect its role. That's why the book was written to give it all the attention that it deserves, proving that writing melody is a talent that could be learned. With its proven techniques and tools, readers can learn to craft catchy and interesting melodies, as well as why melodic rhythms influence rhymes, how harmony progresses, and the dynamic connections between harmony and melody.

So cool, right? Still, be aware that the book's content is a bit "heady" - meaning it's much less intuitive than regular lessons in songwriting. Instead, we can view it as a technical tutorial. In other terms, if you want a book with colorful words and a hilarious tone, you will not find them here in this book, since it's pretty dry. Skimming doesn't work if you truly wish to learn any important thing from it, so make sure to read every page carefully! Sometimes, reading a sentence twice is necessary, too.

Author: Jack Perricone

Year of Release: 2000

Ratings: 4.5 stars (from 186 reviews)

The Songwriter's Workshop is definitely among the best books about songwriting to read. It's another massive hit produced by Berklee Press, serving as the primary material for this school's most common songwriting courses. Not to mention, its content was compiled and revised by Jimmy Kachulis, one of the most respected professors at Berklee! (Don't mistake this praise for our bias toward Berklee; it's simply that this school has always published many great materials).

Most people find Kachulis' viewpoints quite interesting. He expressed that the reason he wrote this course and book is to offer readers a similar type of everyday training picked by most expert instrumentalists. In fact, most instrumentalists practice almost every day, barely feeling the differences between the two days. Hence, Kachulis compiles all those little exercises into one package so that even novices can practice them at home on their own!

The Songwriter's Workshop is supposed to be somewhat participatory, meaning it includes many assignments and prompts for each discussed practicing technique. Some book versions even come with CDs, featuring complementary audio for better practice. (In certain places, they are even available online instead of just via CDs).

Overall, people are a fan of this book due to its hands-on technique. To get better, you simply need to write more songs, and this book demonstrates exactly that.

Author: Jimmy Kachulis

Year of Release: 2003

Ratings: 4.3 stars (from 110 reviews)

The Craft of Writing Lyrics is another book that you should get your hands on if you want to be a good lyricist whose words touch the heart of the listeners. For many people who have struggled with crafting the right thing to say (or sing!) - or found it difficult to communicate their ideas on paper - The Craft of Writing Lyrics proves to be a terrific assistant that will help you overcome even the biggest writer's block.

Indeed, the book is still popular despite its old age for many good reasons. Sheila Davis was among pop song lyrics' original experts, which means The Craft of Writing Lyrics is actually the very first popular book on this subject. Many of its lessons and tips are still relevant in today's industry, making it a worthwhile read!

In essence, The Craft of Writing Lyrics teaches you how to fuse your songwriting skills with other equally important techniques to establish lyrics that have the potential to become a commercial hit. The book also includes 100 musical and literary terms, supplying quotes and advice for your creative processes from 60 music industry experts. (Warning: some of these quotes are very entertaining, which will make you die of laughter!)

Author: Sheila Davis

Year of Release: 2015

Ratings: 4.7 stars (from 100 reviews)

Finally, we have come across a book not published by Berklee! From the book's opening, we can guess that Berklee and Wayne Chase actually do not get along with each other that well, since Wayne Chase starts his book with an image of a music sheet with a big, red X sign spread all over it. Don't know what that means? Well, basically Wayne Chase crossed off the entire notion that a good musician must know how to write and read music. Any Berklee traditionalist will get mad at that! But if your viewpoints are more open-minded and modern, then we are certain you will become a huge fan of Wayne Chase.

How Music Really Works is among the first general books about songwriting included in this list, which is quite high-level for music comprehension. In essence, How Music Really Works focuses on methods to seize listeners' attention and move these people with emotional words and melodies. It offers visually-oriented and in-depth (yet easy to read) graphics and text that cover literally all critical aspects of music-crafting and lyric making. Yes, you heard it right - all critical aspects!

One minor drawback of How Music Really Works is that it seems a bit too broad and overwhelming. But in return, it is fully packed with practical and helpful advice that will gain you a better understanding of music, including theoretical approaches that do not require you to read any music in order to understand them.

Author: Wayne Chase

Year of Release: 2006

Ratings: 3.9 stars (from 44 reviews)

This is among the first books about lyric writing that receive critical acclaim from the critics, lauded as among the best books about songwriting to read. Aside from basic songwriting skills, it also includes lots of wonderful tips on music marketing - an equally vital element if you want to survive long in the industry. Many people have written what they believe are great melodies, what they hope are strong lyrics, and cut what seems like killer tracks. But it's not easy to know whether it will be a hit - and even when it is, not many know what they should do next!

That's why How to Become Hit Songwriters is here, ready to help you with such a dilemma. It's advertised as being tailored for expert songwriters, but in fact, we can assure you that its levels are much lower than some other handbooks out there, and hence, suited to even beginners.

The author clearly knows what she's writing, which is not a surprise. After all, Molly-Ann Leikin is a professional coach with many credits. 12 clients of hers have already won Grammy awards, while 17 are nominated. So far, thanks to her help, more than 7000 other artists and writers like you have had the chance to work on video games, CDs, commercials, video games, and TV shows, whose tracks are downloadable from all corners of the Internet. Hence, you certainly don't want to miss How to Become Hit Songwriters!

Author: Molly-Ann Leikin

Year of Release: 2003

Ratings: 4 stars ( from 21 reviews)