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University of California, Santa Cruz

Songwriting Craft and Practice: Form, Lyrics & Production

University of California, Santa Cruz via Coursera

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Overview

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In this course, you'll begin by exploring traditional and contemporary forms, including 12-bar blues, 32-bar AABA, pop, narrative, and strophic forms, while learning approaches to lyric writing. The course also introduces rhythm, meter, and home music production. We'll cover production in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), mixing, and effects like reverb and delay. You'll also learn to bring energy to your rhythm through syncopation, backbeats, changing tempos, and odd meters. By the end, you'll have the tools to write, record, and produce songs.

Syllabus

  • Form // Lyrics
    • Some songs are buildings with clearly walled rooms, and others move like rolling landscapes, one section subtly becoming another. We'll listen to both in Muddy Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, Robyn, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Schumann. Then lyrics: rhyme (or not), prosody (how music and lyrics relate), narrative, the unreliable narrator, and the balance between transcendent and grounded language. By the end, you'll be able to shape a song’s form with intention and write lyrics that connect meaningfully to the music.
  • Production // Rhythm and Meter
    • In this module, we'll explore music production and the foundations of rhythm and meter. We'll jump into music production basics using Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), walk you through mixing with EQ, panning, and compression, and explore the musical reasons for adding effects like reverb and delay. We'll get into the groove by breaking down backbeats and syncopation, and by exploring odd time signatures and tempo changes. By the end, you'll be able to record multitracked demos and use rhythm and meter to get us bobbing our heads.

Taught by

Alexander Wand

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