by Randy Klein
Do you have to go to college to learn to be a songwriter?
The answer is ‘No’, but I suggest you read on to see why attending college for songwriting might be beneficial.
Songwriting is an artform. Well-written songs tell stories with emotional journeys which are heard and felt by an audience. When a song is not well-written, the audience tends to zone out and stop paying attention to the song. Unfortunately, most songs fall into this latter category.
So how can you learn to write a well-written song? Or, can songwriting be taught?
To answer this question, it’s important to understand how songwriting is learned.
Many say that songwriting is learned by writing songs. The more you write, the better you get.
I agree with this. But, if a songwriter doesn’t know some basic fundamental rules of songwriting, they could write a thousand bad songs.
Which gets us to the bigger question – do you need to study songwriting in college to be able to write songs? The answer is ‘No’, and the answer is ‘Yes’.
This answer is determined by yet another question – what type of songwriter do you want to be?
There are songwriters who have limited formal songwriting education, but they have an innate knack for penning an emotion into music and lyrics. Their knowledge of how they write songs comes from imitating songs they have heard, and through experimentation using the instruments they play to write songs with.
These songwriters are commonplace, have existed since the beginning of time, and a good many have developed a unique voice for their songs in this way. I have found that these songwriters write because they are driven by their passion to do so. Some are singer/songwriters performing their own songs, and others are non-performing songwriters who utilize and rely on instrumentalists and vocalists to help interpret their songs. Many hit songs have come from writers with this background.
There are also songwriters with more advanced skill sets, who can write a song about almost anything. They may have developed their writing skills by listening and imitating songs in the same way as a songwriter who hasn’t had formal training, but they have also learned the craft based on a coordinated approach to the study of songwriting, which is offered in many of the better college and university music departments.
These formal songwriting programs focus on the music, lyrics, and the business of music. Subjects typically included are:
Songwriters armed with this body of knowledge often have the ability to write about most any subject and in most genres. Their learned craft allows them to write about anything from an object, animate or inanimate, or for a background that fits to a dramatic action in a TV or film plot.
They have the ability to create songs on assignment that can be used in any type of situation that requires a song. These songwriters also have the ability to write for the trends, writing the next big hit with the hope that their song be picked up by a current pop star.
Regardless of whether a songwriter has taken formal songwriting training or is self-taught, placing a song into any of these professional situations is difficult. The success rate in song placement is slim, very much like playing the lottery. The success rate is low because opportunities are few and the business of music – and the politics of it – are involved.
Lastly, there are songwriters who write for musical theatre. These songwriters have a special skill set to write for an emotional moment in a scene, move the dramatic action forward, and paint the nuances of the character singing. Musical theatre songs have so many masters to answer to that most songs don’t work. It is an advanced form of songwriting offered in only a few college and university songwriting programs.
With all you can learn about songwriting in a formal songwriting program, you would assume that it is key to becoming a great songwriter. These programs do provide the foundation needed to write songs. They also provide an environment where a songwriter can play a song for their peers and get objective feedback, helping them become a better songwriter.
The ability to play one’s song in a nurturing environment is invaluable and is found in the better formal songwriting programs. The unparalleled experience of song feedback, song analysis, and song critique is most essential to a songwriter.
But please remember, these formal learning experiences do not provide the songwriter with the main ingredient that all songs need to possess – passion and truth. These qualities must come from the individual songwriter.
Songs that translate best to the listener are usually well-written and come from a songwriter who is being true to his or her heart.
When I went to college, there were no formal songwriting programs. I learned by writing, listening and being overly passionate about writing songs, and I also started writing songs in my late twenties. Prior to that I was a keyboard player and musician. I became obsessed with songwriting.
I also wrote many bad songs along the way. I’m not sure if I would want to have learned any other way, but it would have saved me a lot of time if there was a course I could have taken.
Steve Lipman, founder of Inside Music Schools, here!
It appears the question of whether you should study songwriting in college is a question of personal preference, along with some mining of what you want to get out of music school.
I’ve put together a list of several schools that offer all ranges of songwriting study, from full-fledged songwriting programs to schools with courses to supplement your education.
If you’re ready to talk about how to get into the best music school for you, contact me today!
Randy Klein is an award-winning composer, pianist, author, and educator, with four Emmys and two Gold Records to his credit. He is also the author of Quickstart Guide To Songwriting. He is a recipient of the Simons Fellowship of the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, and the BMI Foundation Jerry Harrington Award. Klein has composed for such artists and projects as Millie Jackson (R&B Hall of Fame), Candi Staton, Lil Kim, Black Sheep, IRT, Savion Glover, and Sesame Street. He has also written theatrical scores for Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas, Flambé Dreams, Ever Happily After, Twinkle Tames A Dragon, and Move! Choral Works include For My People, Facing It and Dear John, Dear Coltrane. He is president of the Jazzheads Music Group – an independent music label based in NYC. He is also a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, The Dramatists Guild, NARAS, and APME. Randy is an Exclusive Steinway Artist. www.randyklein.com
Head of admissions and faculty member at Berklee College of Music for 40 years, Steve Lipman and our team at Inside Music Schools speak music as their primary language. We approach each client contact with open eyes, ears, and minds. As the country’s premiere music school consultant, he advised students from the United States, Canada, China, Australia, Turkey, U.K., Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Israel, and Italy.