Songwriting Basics
Our songwriting program will give you the basic tools to express yourself and get your creative juices flowing! If you're a complete beginner, take Songwriting 1. If you've written a couple of songs, try Songwriting 2.
Beyond the Basics
Related Classes
Songwriter's Exchange at Open House Friday
with Terry MacNamara
Bring in your latest masterpiece for input from the round robin!
7:00 PM

Open House Friday
Lance Brown
Songwriting is: Songwriting exists on a road that runs between music on the one hand and the story of life on the other. Being on that road requires both a deep understanding of your own process and a means to keep unlocking the doors to your imagination.

I teach songwriting because: When I was younger I wrote songs that had an eye toward my audience. I created entertainments. But as I got older I turned inward and more toward creating songs as art — trusting that they would tap something inside the listener as well. Mentoring becomes more the focus as one ages. There is no greater satisfaction than helping a student to find their own unique artistic voice and deepen their commitment to the songwriting process.

I'm currently listening to: Tom Waits Bad as Me, Leonard Cohen London Concert, David Byrne Stop Making Sense, Bruce Cockburn The Charity of Night
Steve Dawson
Songwriting is: Like nothing else.

I teach songwriting because: I find it rewarding in a lot of ways. I like to see people who've always wanted to write songs find out that they can. I love to hear what people come up with, and I'm often amazed at the high quality of the songs. I love to analyze songs and figure out why certain chords and melody notes combine for such profound results, why certain combinations of words can make you cry or laugh or sing along. Songwriting is always interesting and always revealing new paths and posing new questions. I think it is the highest form of art on the planet and I feel like I am very lucky to be in a position to explore it with others.

I'm currently listening to: Spoon, ELO, Fleet Foxes, The Band... (the list changes daily)


Sue Demel
Songwriting is: Like art, therapy, and hotdoggin' all in one. It is a legacy unfolding, a story left behind, a poem with a beat, a conversation with a melody.

I teach songwriting because: I am thrilled to be a kind of facilitator to someone unlocking the answers to the questions that they have known all along but just needed a friendly push in the direction toward their own key. I look forward to each day that I get to walk into the front door of Old Town. I am consistently amazed by the work each student stands up to and accomplishes each session. It is an honor.

I'm currently listening to: Wilco, Andrew Bird, Michael Smith, Nina Simone, Jackie Allen, David Gray and Bill Evans

Charles Kim
Songwriting is: the best to find out things about yourself that you bever knew before.

I teach songwriting because: Everyone has a song in them that's important and needs to come out. Everyone has an innate need to create and express, and the biggest joy for me is enabling that person to do it by themself.

I'm currently listening to: Radiohead In Rainbows, Tom Waits Alice, The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico, Gillian Welch Time The Revelator, The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Miles Davis Nefertiti, Talking Heads Remain In Light, The Kinks The Kinks Are The Village Preservation Society, XTC Skylarking, Brian Eno Before And After Science


Shelley Miller
Songwriting is: Songwriting is like opening a present. Sometimes the present is more obstinately wrapped than others.

I teach songwriting because: I love to help people discover how to be themselves. And because I always learn way more about songwriting from my students than they learn from me!

I'm currently listening to: Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch... and a lot of local bands: JT and the Clouds, The Record Low, Micah Walk, The Nashville Wreckers, Horse in the Sea.

SPECIAL EVENTS

SESSION DATES 2012

8-WEEK CLASSES

January 9th - March 4th
March 5th - April 29th
April 30th - June 24th
June 25th - August 19th
September 3rd - October 28th
October 29th - December 23rd

For more class dates, including registration deadlines, check the School calendar.

PRICES

Most 8-Week Classes for adults are $170. Differences will be noted in the class description.

Financial aid is available. Click for info.

Click for registration and class policies.

INSTRUMENT RENTALS

The Old Town School Music Store rents instruments for most group classes. Check for availability.