After years of teaching songwriting classes, I believe more and more that songwriting is one of the most complex and challenging disciplines in music. Songwriting integrates common elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, space, etc.) with concepts also found in poetry and prose (form, content, tension & release). Songwriting can be very personal and emotionally complicated. My approach is not to create answers but to pose questions and present possibilities for burgeoning songwriters to follow.

Click below for a list of what I perceive to be the essential elements of songwriting.

Essential elements of Songwriting