Songwriting Writing the Lyrics
There’s a songwriter lurking somewhere inside you, peeking around corners, wondering if it’s safe to come out. Now it is. This course is an invitation to let your inner songwriter step into the sunlight. All it takes is a simple “yes” and you’ll be climbing that windy hill, marveling at the view.If you haven’t written any or many songs, this course will show you an efficient, effective process for tailoring songs to express your ideas and emotions. If you have, you’ll look at your process differently, taking control of aspects of the process you may have not noticed.
The course will start by examining the tools available to you, all revolving around the essential concept of prosody. You’ll learn to use your tools to enhance your message—to work compositionally at the same time you’re developing your ideas.
You’ll be working both lyrically and musically, though musically it’s not necessary that you either read music or play an instrument. If you play, great, and you’ll be encouraged to play and record your musical responses to the assignments. If you don’t play, the course offers you a number of musical loops to work with. All you’ll have to do is sing your melodies over the loops.
Assignments will ask you to post something for peer review—sometimes lyric lines or sections, sometimes melodies, sometimes both. None of it has to be polished. The course is about writing, not performing.
Most important, you’ll have a lot of fun.
Define and identify the point of view, form, and the "who, what, where, when, and how" in a song
Identify whether a lyric is stable or unstable through the use of line lengths, number of lines, stressed and unstressed syllables, and melody
Utilize the various rhyming techniques to evoke specific emotions in a song and define the difference between Assonance and Consonance rhyme
Use phrasing to clarify your ideas
Syllabus
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Welcome to Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics
Week 2
The Journey of the Song
Week 3
Stopping and Going
Week 4
Sonic GPS—Mapping Your Song with Rhyme
Week 5
Making It Move
FAQ
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Reviews
Incredibly good, Pat Pattinson is really great, and I enjoyed so much the freedom given in order to create my songs, with some materials and directions.
It was a great course with a highly knowledgeable instructor. Just make sure quiz answers are updated regularly, as many answers were marked incorrectly when they were correct.
The best way for me to express my appreciation for this fabulous course would be to start sending stronger songs out into the world. Thank you so much, Pat!
This is a great course to help people get started in songwriting. It really introduces you to some great concepts to get you started and moving towards a finished product. Loved it.
