A songbook is a printed collection of songs, with their lyrics and usually their musical notation, bound together in book form. Think of it like an anthology of poems, except instead of just poems to read, you get songs to sing and play.

Musicians use songbooks constantly. A choir might work from a songbook of holiday carols, while a piano student practices from a songbook of folk melodies. Many families keep songbooks around the campfire or piano, gathering to sing old favorites together.

The word songbook can also mean something more personal and metaphorical. When someone talks about a musician's “songbook,” they mean the complete collection of songs that person performs or has written. Frank Sinatra's songbook included hundreds of classic songs he made famous. Your school music teacher has her own songbook of pieces she loves to teach.

In the days before recordings, songbooks were how music spread from place to place. A new song published in a songbook could travel across the country, sung by thousands of people who'd never heard the original performer. Today, even though we can instantly stream any song, songbooks remain valuable for anyone who wants to learn to perform music.