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Songwriting Course

Overview

The Songwriting Course is designed for the songwriter who wants to learn how to write great songs guided by an expert practitioner with half a million record sales. The course will take you through the simplest building blocks of contemporary hits, through to the creative essentials that the many successful writers rely on every day. To be able to participate fully in the Songwriting Course, you will need to have the ability to play an instrument such as a guitar or keyboard and the facility to record the instrument and some vocal parts (yourself or a singer you work with) to submit to Point Blank as part of your course work. If you feel you have hit a plateau with your songwriting or are simply looking for fresh inspiration, book your place now.

Includes exclusive video tutorials / DVR™ (1-2-1 video feedback)/ 12 hours live masterclasses /1 year access / over 300 pages of course notes / 24/7 access to forum / exclusive audio resources to download. Optional: sign your track to Point Blank Music distributed by iTunes, beatport, Juno Download and Amazon.

Content

Week 1: Songs and the Music Industry

The value of a song within the music industry
Publishing
Attributes of a successful song

Week 2: The Basics of Song Structure

The components of a successful song
The principle of light and shade
Choruses, verses and prechoruses

Week 3: Hooks

What is a hook?
How to write a hook
The ‘energy' of a successful song

Week 4: Music Theory for Songwriters Part 1

Keys
Modes & scales
Time signatures

Week 5: Music Theory for Songwriters Part 2

Extended chords
Bass parts
Using music theory basics to write songs

Week 6: Music Theory for Songwriters Part 3

Chord sequences
Key changes (modulation)
Extended chords

Week 7: Melodies

Melody construction
Melodies and harmony
The relationship of melodies and chord sequences

Week 8: Lyrics

Song styles
Rhyming structure
Writing lyrics that work with existing melodies

Week 9: Lyrics Part 2

The essentials of a successful lyric
Writing from a title
Writing a lyric without an existing melody

Week 10: Creative: Ideas for Great Songs

Where to find inspiration
How to cope with ‘writer's block'
Exciting and innovative ideas for songs

Week 11: Production for Songwriters - Part 1

What ideas work best with a large audience?
Refreshing cliché and making it work for your song
Commercial songwriting techniques

Week 12: Production for Songwriters - Part 2

How to present your song for other musicians
Basic skills required for demo recordings
Effective arrangements for songwriters

Click for free course sample

Reviews

Patrick Staniforth

Course rating: 9/10

The course was good. I enjoyed it. It covers all the stuff one needs for writing songs. Working on the assignments helped to understand content of the course and gives practical time on a certain theme. Very good! Steve has been a great help. I thought his positive attitude was really encouraging. Especially in the chats he revealed some great tips that were not part of the written material. His feedback on the assignment sometimes was very usefull. I have been thinking about what could have been better over the last week, but I dont think there is nothing you could improve on.

Edgar Guerra

Course rating: 10/10

I thought it would be a very basic course but it wasn't. I learnt a lot from the lessons posted from online platform and from my tutor Steve. He has a very professional and contemporaneous vision of what is the songwriting career. I improved myself like a songwriter and also in music production because the course gave me all the tools I was looking for. Thanks so much Point Blank Online School!

Jennifer Lynch

Course rating: 8/10

The course was very enjoyable and I had a very helpful tutor who definitely knew his stuff. It was a lot more work than I imagined as I had previously taken the cubase course which focused on much smaller tasks each week (in my opinion) so I found it a bit of a strain to complete the assignments on time(!). The only part of the course I didn't enjoy were the tasks based on written analysis and essays as I didn't really expect them in a songwriting course but I suppose you can never escape essays! Other than that it was brilliant and I have learnt a lot. The course notes have great examples and are very easy to understand, with loads of interesting and helpful information.