Songwriting 101
Instructor
Van Leucia
Van is a versatile, highly experienced and trained musician, having accomplished an exceptional number of feats at an early age.
Graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2015 with a degree in Piano Performance (specialising in accompaniment and ensemble studies).
Besides Van's crazy knowledge and eager to teach he also composes music for radio/television and record/post-produce for Australian and international artists.
Course Overview
This course is designed to help students of any background grasp the fundamentals of songwriting, from scale/chord theory and distinguishing rhythmic patterns to lyric writing and suitable song structure.
Songwriting 101 is a must for anybody who has ideas, melodies, lyrics or chord progressions swimming around their head but need something concrete to help them form the base elements into a finished work.
This course is delivered weekly, over the course of 6 weeks, in the form of intensive lectures with opportunities for students to query the instructor directly. By the end of the course, students should feel equipped to develop songs in their personal style using any source material or prompt.
Prerequisites
Prior knowledge of music theory is not required as it will be covered within relevance (to a lesser degree compared to other courses, see the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Music theory courses for a more in-depth approach!) in the early lessons. The ability to play an instrument is a bonus but not required.
Course Materials
A writing implement of any kind, whether that be pencil/paper, tablet, laptop etc.
Pricing
$360+GST
* Payment Plan available, contact us for details.
Course Schedule
WEEK
SUBJECT
PRACTICE PROBLEMS
WEEK 1
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6
Scale/Chord Theory, Rhythm Basics
Circle of 5ths, Typical Beats
Lyrical Extrapolation, Song Structure
Melodic Contours, Speed-Sketching
Assembly, Personal Templates
Putting it all into practice!
Tonality & Takadimi
Old vs new writing
Connotation and Progression
Memory and Blocks
Condensing Information
Motivation and Self-Critique