Songwriting

Instructors: Karin Paparelli

• Starting a song - Learn the importance of the opening line, title and how to avoid the pitfall of losing your focus.
• The Hook - What is a hook? Why is it important to the commercial viability of your song? How to find great hooks.
• Song Structures - The nuts and bolts of songwriting. Learning to recognize and utilize the most popular commercial song structures.
• Prosody: The marriage of music & lyrics.
• Co-Writing and the Art of Collaborating - Discover the keys to successfully writing with others. Learn how to avoid common co-writing mistakes.
• Writing for the Market Versus Writing for Yourself - What’s the difference?
• Unblocking Writer’s Block - Setting you free to write, write, write!
• Imagery - Learn how to say it without saying it.
• Say it Another Way - Learn how to use metaphors, similes, and other forms of speech to creatively express your ideas.
• The Nashville Process - Playing with the big dogs. An insiders guide to Music City.
• Songwriting Exercises - Have fun while learning to apply various songwriting techniques and skills.

Vocal Performance

Instructor: Renee Grant-Williams

• Passive breathing and active support techniques
• Where to anchor the voice for maximum resonance
• How to sing killer high notes and louder low notes
• Rhythm and syncopation for singing in the pocket
• How to reach into a lyric and find the emotion
• Discover the Amazing Power of the consonants
• Silence is also a sound, just a very, very quiet one
• Learn how to construct a subtext for every song
• The special care and feeding of the singer’s voice

 

Guitar and Music Theory

Instructor: Gary Talley

• The Nashville Number System - the essentials of music theory condensed in an easy-to-use formula. Not just for guitar. An invaluable tool for songwriters.
• Total Music Theory for Songwriters - How scales, chords work together. NOT just for guitar players.
• Analyzing The Hits - My most popular class at NSAI Songposium every year. We analyze several recent hit songs pointing out common elements in chord progressions, tempos, song structure, vocal range, time until the "hook", rhyme scheme, other variables. For anybody regardless of instrument. Even works for lyricists.
• How Chord Progressions Work - Tension, resolution, etc. Essential framework of chord progressions.
• Color Chords - How to add color or texture to your chord progressions.
• Connector Chords - How to add movement to your chord progressions.
• Be Your Own Band - How to accompany yourself on guitar in a live setting.
• Rhythm Workshop - Strumming, fingerpicking, using a metronome, 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 time.
• Beginner Guitar - This workshop saves the beginner hundreds of hours of possible wasted time with antiquated teaching methods.
• Walkups & Walkdowns - Connecting your chords with walkups and walkdowns based on diatonic and chromatic scales.
• Capo Clinic - How to choose and use a capo, multiple capos, altered capos, capo chart for all keys.
• Alternate Tunings - Five of the most useful altered tunings including open G, DADGAD, and dropped D. With accompanying workbook.