Songwriters Playground: Innovative Exercises in Creative Songwriting
MUS9-5b-Thu3
Barbara Jordan
This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.
October 24 - November 21
Have you ever clapped your hands to a melody or hummed a tune? Then you’re on your way to having an enjoyable time writing a song in the company of other creative folks. No special talent, prior experience, or musical instruments necessary. We’ll generate “hooks” which grab one’s attention and melodic fragments using the time-tested “Songwriters Playground” method the SGL developed at the National Academy of Songwriters in Los Angeles 30 years ago, a method that became one of their most popular workshops and a best-selling songwriting book. Each week, we will sit with our notebooks and old-fashioned pencils and write freehand to prompts sometimes together, sometimes alone.
After 20 minutes of guided writing to icebreaker, wordplay, and music exercises, we will use Zoom breakout rooms and separate into small groups to “collaborate” on a quickly composed ditty. If working alone is your style, that’s ok also. Then, in the last half hour, each group will present its song. You will laugh frequently and most importantly, have fun with your fellow writers, excited to explore their creative side: an experience that Keyboard Magazine called “one of the best tools for unblocking your musical and lyrical creativity.” And don’t worry – you’ll be going up the mountain with an accomplished guide who used these same techniques to write songs for The Sopranos, NCIS and General Hospital!
Workshop. Facilitated discussion: SGL helps students write songs together.
Songwriters Playground - Innovative Exercises in Creative Songwriting by Barbara L. Jordan. Selected readings on creativity provided by the SGL via web sites or email attachments.
1-2 hours.
Barbara L. Jordan holds a BA from Clark University and an MBA in Arts Management from UCLA. She is the founder of Heavy Hitters Music, an Emmy Award-winning publishing company which provides independent songwriting talent to the film, television and advertising industries. Barbara is the author of a popular songwriting book Songwriters Playground, Innovative Exercises in Creative Songwriting and has taught Songwriting and Lyric Writing at the Berklee College of Music. Her songs have graced the soundtracks of hundreds of television shows and feature films, including such productions as The Sopranos, N.C.I.S., Analyze This and Being John Malkovich.