Song Writing Camp with Josh Keys

Week 1:

Week 1 will be a predominantly theory-based lesson, trying to simplify the theory and get students comfortable. Concepts explored:

- Exploring different keys, and transposing chords to other keys.

- Major/minor keys, highlight the differences in theory and feel of minor keys.

- Brief look at common chord progressions and the Nashville numbering system, serving as an introduction to week 2 class.

Goals:

- Simplifying the theory, but providing enough information to begin creating custom chord progressions.

- Good grasp on major/minor keys.

Homework:

- Begin with one chord, and identify the individual notes within the chord. From here, students will attempt to write a melody over a single chord of their choice, encouraged to write lyrics with constructed melody.

- In this task, students are encouraged to identify the notes within their chosen chord, and write the melody with just those 3 / 4 notes.

Week 2:

The goal for week 2 is to solidify the students’ understanding of chord progressions, and an understanding of why progressions feel a certain way.

- Listening to music, and trying to identify sections, instrumentation, melodies/counter melodies, bass line etc.

- Explore the concept of tension and resolution and home chords, such as the tonal (I).

- Focusing on 2-3 common chord progressions. Students will label the chords used across different keys.

à I – V – vi – IV

à vi – IV – I – V

à I – IV – V

- As a group, I will demonstrate how to create a melody over a chord progression, with one of the students picking the progression and key. Once demonstrated, if I feel the group is ready to attempt this, then I will divide the class into pairs and allocate roughly 20-30 mins on this task. If I feel the class needs more support, I’ll provide some more theory information and any specific challenges.

Homework:

- Same exercise as done in class.

- Individual research into their favourite songs and the chord progressions used (this goes a long way into demystifying music and making the student feel that writing music isn’t as difficult as they thought).

Week 3:

Week 3 is all about melody and hooks, delving into the feel of different melodies, what makes a melody catchy/memorable?

- As a group, I will play a different chord progression for each student, with some light assistance, the student will attempt to create a basic melody over the chord progression. This can be hummed/sung/whistled/guitar. Once the student has created a melody, as a group we will look at what notes where played, the rhythm and any other insights.

- Depending on how the students are tracking, I will create small breakout groups and assign a task of creating a melody with various restrictions, such as a limit of 3 different notes, only descending etc. If students aren’t quite ready for this exercise, I will provide further teaching on any theoretical concept that students are having difficulty with.

Homework:

- Continue exercises done in class, and repeat previous class exercises and homework tasks.

Week 4:

Week 4 lesson will centre around groove, rhythm and phrasing. Looking at lyrical flow, and how different grooves can completely change the feeling of the song.

- Demonstrated by finding songs with the same chord progressions, but different groove/flow and listening as a class.

- Begin to introduce theory on note duration, accents, time signatures etc.

- Also begin looking at writing styles, common conventions and songwriting “hacks”.

Week 4 will serve as the final week of predominant theory classes. With the introduction of writing styles, the lessons will begin to focus more on creating songs, rather than trying to understand them.

Homework:

Study the theory resources provided and highlight any challenge areas that can be revisited in the following lesson.

Week 5:

I hope by week 5 that students have begun writing some songs at home, or feel more confident to do so. This lesson will focus on further developing any ideas they feel comfortable sharing. I’ll also begin to show my own written songs, explain the theory behind it and any other useful information. Week 5 lesson will be a lot more individual, with students being able to come to me for one-on-one advice. This lesson will also be the introduction of lyric writing.

Homework:

It is important that students begin to try write verses/hooks in different progressions and keys. Using the teachings in this lesson, students should attempt to add lyrics to the chord progressions/melodies they have begun developing.

Week 6:

This lesson will primarily focus on chord theory, and how the students can further their songs with these new chords. The second half of the lesson will focus on rewriting, editing, exploring their creative process of writing, and discussing with the group what they have been finding challenging.

- Week 6 lesson will begin to look into stacked chords (7,9,11) and dominant 7 chords.

- As students have begun writing lyrics for their songs, phrasing will be discussed with examples.

Homework:

Students need to have lyrics for a draft verse and chorus, the student doesn’t need to have a complete song yet, but a semblance of an idea and some lyrics.

Week 7:

This lesson will be looking at trying to finalise ideas into songs.

- With my assistance, each student will showcase to the group their current ideas. As a class, we will discuss the chords used, progression, analyse the melody and discuss the dynamics of the song.

- After students have presented some ideas and heard some feedback, the student will then confirm with me the final outline for their song.

Homework:

As week 8 class is the final class before recording, students need to begin concentrating their focus on one specific song/idea that they have been developing over the past weeks.

Week 8:

This lesson is completely focused on ensuring each student has a final developed idea that is ready to begin recording the following week. Students will have ½ of the lesson for feedback, individual practice and the opportunity to ask me for assistance. We will then do a group presentation of the songs and briefly discuss the recording process.

Homework:

It is vital for students to have a finalised idea of the song they want to record.

Week 9/10:

Recording will take place in these 2 lessons.

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