Are you interested in songwriting? If you’ve never written a song before, or only written one or two, this lab-style course co-taught by Brian Junker & Deborah Brooks is for you. We will talk about unlocking the lyric writing process, finding chords & melodies, and starting and finishing a song. Bring a notepad, tablet or laptop. Portable instruments (guitar, ukulele, etc.) are welcome but optional; if you don’t play an instrument but want to write lyrics, you are also welcome! By the end of the course you should have a finished draft of a song.
Brian Junker (https://brianjunkermusic.com) and Deborah Brooks (https://deborahbrooksmusic.com/) are performing songwriters in the greater Pittsburgh area. Deborah is an organizer of the Pittsburgh Songwriters’ Circle (https://calliopehouse.org/event/pittsburgh-songwriters-circle/), and Brian is an organizer of the SongSpace at Unitarian folk and world music concert series (https://uusongspace.com). Brian is a retired professor of Statistics, and Deborah is a retired nutritionist.
By the end of the course we hope you will (a) know basic tools for writing lyrics; (b) have a basic acquaintance with a couple of popular song structures and the rudimentary music theory behind folk and popular songs; (c) have strategies for overcoming writer’s block, the “file drawer problem” (songs never get finished and eventually just get tucked away in a desk drawer somewhere), and the fact that beginners’ tastes often exceeds their skills; and (d) either individually or in collaboration have a finished early draft of a new song.
Here are some resources for the course:
- A full course outline
- Some books and online links related to songwriting
- A place where we will toss pdf’s and other documents relevant to the course
We’re looking foward to our songwriting journey with you!
– BJ & Deborah