Songwriting

This course will look at various great songwriters and their methods and explore some fundamentals of songwriting by covering the following areas:

Song analysis (listening to classic songs and analysing how they work and how the song is structured). Focusing on: chord structures, melodic ideas and touching lyrical content.

Setting lyrics to music and music to lyrics.

Writing music based on an existing drum beat.

Analysing characteristics of genres.

Discussing song structures: intros, hooks, verses, choruses, pre-choruses etc.

Basic chord theory and application of certain chords depending on song structure.

Entry: open to anyone 16 years or over who has a confident grasp of their instrument. The ability to recognise and play chords is essential.
WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THIS CLASS

Brian was great, obviously very skilled and talented and patient with the different abilities of the students

Brian catered to all levels in the class and I learned a lot about music (not just songwriting!). I liked having to write two songs between classes – and was given good direction on how to do this

https://openacademy.sydney.edu.au/course/SCSWR1