There should be more guitar chord songbooks in this format: lyrics, chord diagrams, easy-to-read layouts, etc. The best-ever example of the guitar chord songbook format is "The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook" also published by Hal Leonard.
There are a few things a buyer should know before purchasing this Sting guitar chord songbook:
1. The chords presented are accurate but relatively difficult and/or complicated. This is a testament to Sting's creativity as a songwriter. However, beginning and intermediate skilled players should be aware -- you need to be a fairly skilled guitar player to navigate many of these songs successfully. Many "standard" chords are shown played with unusual fingerings.
2. The printed chord changes often do not match the timing of the lyrics in many of the songs. It seems like the publisher could have done a much better job of this.
3. This paperback is relatively small in dimension. The disadvantage of its size is that many songs do not fit in a two-page view, that is, you are required to flip a page to play the complete song. The better songbooks (again - "Beatles..") do not require this.
4. The binding on the book I purchased was pretty much broken when I received the book. This allows the book to lay flat but the cover will be falling off soon, I'm sure.
So, while I'm glad that Hal Leonard continues to publish this format of songbook, I am somewhat disappointed in this particular book. It could have been done better.
