Improve Your Songwriting Skills

Overview

You've written a few songs, but have now reached a plateau. This learning path can help you take your songwriting skills to the next level by exploring the fundamentals of good songwriting, and then expanding your mastery of harmony, rhythm, and chords. You can then learn how to take your songwriting to a professional level and build a career around your creative muse.

Improve your foundational songwriting skills.
Explore rhythm, harmony, and chords as they apply to songwriting.
Build a fulfilling and profitable songwriting career.

Syllabus

Course 1: Music Theory for Songwriters: The Fundamentals

Professional musician Julian Velard covers the basics of music theory through the lens of songwriting. Explore intervals, chord progressions, voice leading, song forms, and more.

Course 2: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

Learn music theory through the lens of songwriting. These tutorials cover the basics of harmony: minor scales, modes, 7th chords, modulations, and more.

Course 3: Music Theory for Songwriters: Rhythm

Improve your songwriting process by factoring for rhythm and building rhythm. Explore note values, time signatures, feel, timing, dynamics, syncopation, and more.

Course 4: Songwriting Techniques with Chords

Learn about writing songs with chords, and how altering chords can add depth to your music. Discover many ways to use chords from harmonizing a melody to forming an entire song.

Course 5: Write Think and Act Like a Professional Songwriter

Want to know how to become a songwriter? Cliff Goldmacher shows what it takes to make it in the music business as a professional songwriter.

Course 6: The Business of Songwriting: First Steps

Get started in the business of songwriting. Learn about all of the major organizations, rights, and procedures that songwriters have to deal with in the music business.

Course 7: 20 Unofficial Rules of Songwriting

Professional songwriter Cliff Goldmacher reveals 20 unofficial songwriting rules that can make your songs more engaging and memorable.

Course 8: Learning Music Licensing

Learn how to monetize songwriting by licensing your music. Learn what writing and recording you own, how income is generated, and how to strategically pitch your compositions.

Course 9: An Insider's Guide to Today's Music Biz: 8 Music Publishing

Get started in music publishing. Learn how to sell your music and turn your songs into money.

Course 10: Learning Songwriting: Pro Tools

Learn how to use Pro Tools, a program professional musicians turn to to record their song ideas quickly and to polish them into demos for partners, producers, and record labels.

Course 11: Learning Songwriting: Logic Pro

Learn how to write your songs in Logic Pro. Get your demo ideas down quickly and polish them into songs worth presenting to your band mates, producer, publisher, or label.

Course 12: Learning Songwriting: Ableton Live

Learn how to capture your musical ideas quickly and turn them into great songs with Ableton Live.

Course 13: Learning Songwriting: Reason

Learn how to write, record, and mix songs—before the inspiration fades—with Reason.

Taught by

Julian Velard, Julian Velard, David Franz, Julian Velard, Cliff Goldmacher, Garrick Chow, Cliff Goldmacher, Jake Versluis, Steve Rennie, David Franz, Todd Howard, Yeuda Ben Atar (Side Brain) and Matt Piper