Song and lyric construction – structures, transitions and development of ideas.
Collaborative practice, melody writing, arrangement and development.
Exploration of a variety of styles of music, and the attendant approaches to musical and lyrical construction.

Creative Composition – 6 minutes in total of original compositions in a popular music style (excluding lengthy lead in/outs popular in some styles) at least part of which should include original lyric writing. (LOs 1,2 and 3)

Reflective Presentation – detailing the compositional process, the areas of success and in need of improvement and strategies for generalising avoiding problems and capitalising on successes in future composition. (LOs1,2, and 4)

A mixture of lectures, seminars workshops and practical sessions to help develop songwriting skills.

1. Demonstrate an understanding of knowledge of contemporary music composition techniques relating to popular music styles.
Knowledge and Understanding

2. Demonstrate an understanding of knowledge of contemporary lyric writing techniques as they relate to popular music styles.
Knowledge and Understanding

3. Develop specialist skills relating to music composition, performance and lyric writing.
Application

4. Reflect on the success of compositional processes using relevant theoretical and technical language and concepts.
Reflection

Music labs, recording studios, equipment from stores.

Belkin, A. (2018) Musical Composition: Craft and Art. Yale University Press.

Moylan, W. (2020) Recording Analysis: How the Record Shapes the Song. 1st edn. Focal Press.

Pattison, P (2012) Songwriting Without Boundaries. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest

Pattison, P (2009) Writing Better Lyrics. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest

Webb, J (1998) Tunesmith: inside the art of songwriting New York: Hyperion

Zollo (1997). Songwriters on Songwriting. London: De Capo

Writing and creating music is a major part of any music course, and this module aims to give a practice focused overview of the different approaches taken to writing music. Across the course of the module you will hone your skills writing popular music. Your work in this module will focus on the practical skills you need to create interesting and innovative music, and put them to the test.