Songwriting I is a 10-week workshop, which includes lectures, exercises, and the critiquing of student projects. It’s for beginners or anyone who wants to brush up on the fundamentals. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
It happens in a darkened club. On a spotlit stage. Or behind the soundproof walls of a studio. A song unleashes its power and who knows where it’ll go? Songs fuel desire, inspire hope, break hearts, rock worlds, unite people, shake booties, turn blahs into blues, and sometimes make us feel as good as James Brown. All in a mere few minutes.
If you dream of taking your music beyond the shower, you’ll want to do it right. Here you’ll learn the time-tested elements of songwriting craft and how to market your work.
Whether you dig pop, rock, hip-hop, R&B, or country, we’ll show you how to write songs that soar.
This course gives you a firm grounding in the basics of fiction craft and gets you writing a short story (or two) or a novel. Course components:
- Lectures
- Writing exercises
- Workshopping of student projects (each student presenting work two times)
This course concentrates on the study of lyrics and includes an introduction to melody, harmony, rhythm, and music production.
- Week 1
- Introduction to Songwriting Structure: Four basic song structures and templates. Creating “listing” lyrics. Titles and opening lines.
- Week 2
- The Classic Form: Standard AABA form. Types of rhyme. Literary devices. Stresses.
- Week 3
- Contemporary Songwriting Styles: Verse/Chorus form and variations. Crafting memorable verses, choruses, and bridges. Generating stronger themes and ideas. Set and setting.
- Week 4
- Blues and Ballad/AAA Forms: Classic types. In a contemporary setting.
- Week 5
- Sharpening Your Craft: Creating strong memorable, melodies. Exploring rhythm and harmony.
- Week 6
- Scaffolding Strategies: Combining lyrics and music effectively. Pre-choruses, choruses, and bridges.
- Week 7
- The Art of Collaboration: Team songwriting. Plot, character, and storytelling. Musical thinking.
- Week 8
- Beyond Radio: Writing for film, TV, theater, and advertising. Developing a unique personal style.
- Week 9
- Song Demo Tech: Overview of music production. Creating an effective song demo.
- Week 10
- The Business of Music: Royalty streams, performing rights organizations, Publishing—master and synch rights. Songwriters associations.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
About
- Zoom classes happen in real time.
- The Zoom classes unite students from all over the world at Gotham—New York City’s most well-established writing school.
- The Zoom classes happen on videoconference, in “real time.” Very much like an in-person class except everyone is on a computer or device in their own space. The Zoom software is free and simple to use.
- You can take a Zoom writing class from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The majority of our Zoom students are located in the U.S. but we also draw students from practically every country in the world.
- Tech support will be available. Out of respect for everyone’s privacy, the Zoom sessions are not recorded.
