Creativity, self-expression, making an impact on the world with your artistry. Being a songwriter or a singer-songwriter is a dream career. But how do you get there? What do you need to get started? How is a song put together? How do you record your music? How do you promote and make money from music?
This course is your introduction to songwriting – guiding you through the skills and concepts you need to understand to get the songs out of your head, onto paper and into everyone’s ears and souls.
The course begins by laying out the basics. We’ll explore the role of a songwriter, the components that make a song, and what you’ll need to get started.
You’ll take a look at the various genres of music, consider which is the best fit for you, how to construct music, and how to harness the power of technology to create your own demos with a recording setup that’s within your budget.
The course dedicates a module for each component of a song – melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyrics. You’ll learn techniques for creating a catchy and memorable vocal melody, choosing chords that sound great together, working with loops and creating your own drum rhythms, and generating lyrical ideas that reflect your artistic identity.
While copyright may not seem the most exciting topic for a creative, it is essential to understand the basics, both to protect your work and to comply with copyright laws yourself. The course explains the laws that are relevant to you, in an easy-to-understand format.
To maintain a job in music, you need to make money. We’ll look at the various ways of doing so – live performance, online sales, licensing, selling beats and loops and applying for funding from national and regional arts organisations, along with submissions to music publishers and record companies. We’ll also look at the potential benefits and drawbacks of collaborating with others – covering agreements, money and how to communicate effectively.
Going hand-in-hand with any service provided or product sold is promotion. We’ll explore various online and offline methods for promoting your music. Building a website, utilising social media, and email marketing. Creating gig posters and flyers, getting featured in local newspapers and on radio, and entering songwriting competitions.
The course concludes with methods to continue your development as a songwriter once you’ve completed the course.
By studying this course, you will:
- Gain an understanding of what a songwriter does
- Understand the components of a song and how to bring them together
- Learn about song structure
- Have the knowledge to be able to create your own songs
- Be familiar with the equipment required to record music
- Learn how to promote and make money from your music
