Getting started with songwriting

I believe that songwriting should be an essential part of classroom music. Dr Steven Berryman, composer and former president of the Chartered College of Teaching, wrote that ‘fostering confidence in behaving like a composer should take priority in the classroom’. This not only means knowing the methods or building blocks of a song but carving the time to hone and develop the musical ideas that spring forth.

I started songwriting when I was 15 years old and knew immediately that it was my calling. Being able to stand in front of an audience and communicate a story or idea (while hopefully getting a positive response) became an obvious career path and an incredible journey. It started because a youth worker gifted me a guitar; it continued because a music teacher, despite being classically trained, created opportunities within the school day that encouraged songwriting and band performance. The teacher arranged lunchtime concerts, set aside practice rooms, and entered our band for the Rockschool competition (and drove the minibus!). We came second in the northern heats and made the local paper (which was quite an achievement at the time) – all of this from a very traditional music teacher who admitted to not liking or understanding the pop music of the time.

These kinds of stories display a commitment to the musical lives of our students, not just to the academic success that our education system desires. I am a passionate advocate for creativity in the classroom and believe that songwriting is a key skill worth exploring.

Having a process

Over the past 30 years of running songwriting workshops in schools around the world, it has become essential to develop a system for songwriting that works in any scenario and with any age or ability.

I always start by asking students: ‘What makes a good song?’. This leads to a multitude of answers, and sifting through these is enlightening – it helps us to understand the listening and attention habits of current students. Answers can range from the songs having ‘a great beat’ or ‘catchy tune’ to ‘a great video’ or just ‘something special’.

This can be a lesson on its own: exploring a range of musical ideas that capture the imagination. Don't rush this part unless you are very short of time, and consider introducing examples such as The Beatles' ‘Yellow Submarine’, Mutemath's ‘Typical’ or Loreen's ‘Euphoria’, the Eurovision winner.

On the back of these observations, I normally explain how there are five intrinsic elements to a song: lyrics, melody, rhythm, structure and harmony. You can explore these separately, but I always like to ask the students which element they believe they struggle with most when writing (at this stage).

From mind-map to central theme

The overriding answer to this question is always ‘the lyrics’. The reason for this is that we, as humans, struggle to explain our thoughts and emotions in a way that captures the attention of others. A great song does this. So, it's important that students articulate their thoughts and find different ways of developing these and their emotions as they move through the different Key Stages.

Because lyrics always seem to be the hardest challenge, it's great to tackle this element first. Younger students, in KS2, will want to write from a factual basis, in which case they can focus on their last holiday, or what happened at the weekend, or explore characters that they have learnt about in history. The last of these is great for tying subjects together.

Students in KS3 process emotions a little differently and will have been exposed to a broader variety of music. They will have started making choices about the types of genres that they listen to and, therefore, assimilated ways of expressing themselves. But they mustn't get lost in writing a genre-specific song at this stage. It's always better to stick with (a) here is an idea and (b) what can we say about it?

Another easy way to engage students with lyrics is to choose a generic everyday object to focus on. I regularly use a torch, candle or set of keys as a stimulus.

The best way to start this process is by mind-mapping the lyrics. It's the first stage in a process that I have developed for classrooms. In the centre of a large sheet of paper (or a whiteboard), write the subject or object that you want to focus on. Then, set yourself a time limit (10 minutes is good) and brainstorm that central idea in whatever way you can. The only criteria is to fill the sheet; quality is irrelevant, quantity is king. Write as many ideas, phrases, quotes and doodles as possible to make sure the sheet is full within the time limit.

Once you have a full page of ideas, ask your students to choose the strongest ones. These will form the ‘centre’ of the song and therefore the chorus. You may need to add another phrase alongside this to make this a two- or four-line section; but deciding on the centre of the song, at this stage, helps to focus the rest of the lyric-writing process.

The rest of the words, phrases and ideas on the sheet now help you to reach that central theme. These form the verses. A good rule of thumb is to say that Verse 1 introduces us to the theme of the song, and Verse 2 develops the ideas of the theme further. Everything you need is already written on the sheet; it just needs to be placed in order.

These three steps will give you the lyrics of a song in a single lesson.

Attaching an emotion

More advanced students can now start tying in an emotion – making sure that the lyric is not only descriptive but emotionally powerful is key to a great song.

If, for example, the central idea is a holiday, ask, ‘How did this experience make you feel?’ Setting a scene and then providing an emotional response is key to capturing the listener and making a song relatable.

One of the most important things to acknowledge is the potential of the first line. Collectively, go back to some of your favourite songs and look at this. What does it say? In many instances the first line is incredibly powerful. Taking our earlier references as an example, The Beatles' ‘Yellow Submarine’ invokes the memories of childhood, ‘In the town where I was born’, which is essential to the song's theme. Loreen's ‘Euphoria’, meanwhile, begins with ‘Why can't this moment last forever more?’. This powerful phrase, again, highlights the theme of the song: how can I get more out of life and find deeper meaning?

Ask your students if the first line that they have chosen has ‘impact’. Does it grab the listener at the beginning and make them curious to keep listening? As songwriters, our aim is always to entice listeners to keep listening to the end of the song.

I wouldn't ask them this ‘impact’ question at an earlier stage. When mind-mapping, it is best to allow lyrics and ideas to flow freely without the measure of quality. Checking the detail and editing for impact should be considered towards the end of the process.

Final thoughts

Songwriting has the power to communicate both the joy of a summer holiday and the deeper meaning of life, and it is a powerful tool in the classroom. It can start organically and develop into a more advanced composition or music technology module.

It brings numerous transferable skills of communication, editing, presentation and clarity of thought, as well as the numerous skills involved in performing finished works. Why not place songwriting firmly in your curriculum for next year?