Course overview
This course enables students to build on the creative, technical and professional skills from Song Writing and Performance 1A, with a focus on the creation and presentation of new original music. An important aspect of this course is the development of skills in producing song charts and scores using Avid's Sibelius software. Seminars introduce composition and song writing techniques, including creative impetus, the musical materials of rhythm, pitch, melody, chords progressions and song structures, and approaches to writing lyrics. Stylistic idioms used in contemporary popular music styles are contextualized in relation to established song-writing forms. Through Workshops, students will learn practical skills in scoring, and work in small groups to prepare their original work for live performance. Rehearsal, performance and studio techniques will be introduced, culminating in on and off-campus student performances.
Course learning outcomes
- Develop an understanding of basic composition and music production principles used by professional songwriters;
- Develop an understanding of their own compositional voice at a basic level
- Develop a cogent and quality portfolio of songs in a recorded and notated format;
- skills in the interpretation and performance of the compositions of others;
- an understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and activities involved in live Contemporary Music performance; and
- basic abilities in the evaluation of performances and the communication of instructions and technical requirements to others.