Whether you are just now starting out as a songwriter or have been writing for years, there is always more to learn. These songwriting workshops are designed to help you fulfill all your songwriting potential.
5 Workshops for Songwriters
Written By: Taylor M.
September 16, 2020
Rainbow Quest! Songwriting Workshops
If you are looking for a songwriting workshop for your school or organization, then Rainbow Quest! is the place for you. Rainbow Quest! offers songwriting workshops led by nationally recognized and awarded musician and diversity advocate, Martin Swinger. Swinger has over thirty years experience in leading songwriting workshops in schools, at arts festivals, and at Civil Rights and Diversity trainings. His aim is to aid students in processing historical and current issues related to any aspect of diversity through music. Swinger’s tried-and-true songwriting workshops make the songwriting process as inspiring and informative as it is fun.
The ASCAP Foundation Harry Chapin Songwriters Workshop
ASCAP is a membership association of more than 775,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. Their goal is to help these songwriters thrive alongside the businesses that use their music every day. The Harry Chapin Songwriters Workshop is a bit different in that you must apply to attend—it focuses on the discovery, development, and education of a select, advanced group of both songwriters and producers. The submission deadline is September 30, so apply soon!
Songwriting Simplified: Music Theory, Melody, and Creativity
Geared towards guitarists and pianists, this songwriting class covers almost everything, from the basics of lyric writing, chord progressions, song structure, and more. This class is geared towards musicians at all expertise levels, so even if you are a beginner guitarist or pianist, you can still benefit from this class!
Sing Diversity
Sing Diversity is a highly interactive workshop at many different colleges and universities all around the U.S.A. It uses the songwriting process to create constructive conversation around diversity and inclusion and has been recognized for being the future of outreach programming. They want to encourage dialogue through musical outreach. Not only do you learn about diversity — but you also leave the songwriting workshop with a fully-produced song!
Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics
Hosted by Berklee College of Music, this online songwriting course is perfect for beginners. In this course, author and professor Pat Pattison explores what makes great lyrics stand out, and how you can write those great lyrics. This class is particularly detail-oriented but it is an effective process for writing lyrics that accurately depict your story and emotions.
Although these songwriting workshops have many resources for you to us, your first resource must be a determination to persevere and work hard. The workshops don’t help if you don’t commit yourself to practicing every day, for the recommended amount of time. You must have a self-starter spirit so that when you pay for the workshops, you dedicate all your efforts to each one.
Especially if you are a beginner, it is important to not get discouraged as you begin your songwriting journey. You probably won’t write like Adele at first, but here’s an industry secret — Adele probably didn’t write like Adele at first! Every famous singer has had others help with their songwriting. So remember to be patient with yourself and your hard work will pay off.
Now that you’re fired up, get inspired by reading Ester Dean!
