If You Can Teach, Teach!
Find Allee Willis, My Muse.
Last year I was asked to teach a Pop/Rock Songwriting college class (adjunctly and virtually). I was flattered…but I hesitated. No one ever taught me to teach. But I was assured it was more like a conversation and it could go any way I chose.
Before I knew it I was scrolling a list of unfamiliar names — registered students for Fall 2021. I wondered who they were, what kinds of songs they’d write. As for the other way around, I hoped I wouldn’t disappoint.
First class I was feeling a bit of imposter syndrome. But that didn’t last long. I told my students that my feedback would be my opinion — in fact another instructor might have a totally different point of view. But I’ve had enough experience in the songwriting space to be taken seriously. Furthermore, it’s not about how right or wrong I am. My suggestions may not resonate for another few weeks. Months. Years. If ever. That they consider them is what matters.
One thing I knew for sure is I wanted everyone to ‘write by the rules’ before flying their alternative flags — Context in verse 1, repetition, a bridge that departs from the main event, limited vagueness. (I’m all for venturing outside traditional lines but for a song to be effective a writer must be adept at substituting an equally satisfying ingredient for a norm they choose not to follow.)
Most important — I wanted to impress upon them that despite the age of the algorithm ones unique way of saying things will prove to be more universal than one would imagine.
Surprisingly everyone had pretty good attitudes about collaborating via Zoom — something I personally have not developed a taste for. Yes, we can write with anyone in the world. But nothing takes the place of the “telepathy” between 2 breathing humans in the same zone, the ability to sing harmonies with no latency, the hugging when we stumble on a pay-off we both know is money. I admired the kids for getting it done but I assured them that when they can be face to face it’s gonna feel like sex without a condom.
Every week a VIP guest shared wisdom. Darrell Brown (Keith Urban, John Mayer, LeAnn Rimes) posited his view of what he calls “soft titles vs hard titles” — title alone doesn’t determine the strength of a song but a writer should be aware that a soft title (one with commonly used words or concepts (“The Way You Love Me”) has more work to do in the body of the song in setting itself apart from others than a hard title (“Drivers License”) which establishes a more original approach from the get go. I actually never thought about that. Thank you, Darrell. #StillLearning!
Other golden nuggets:
More from Darrell: if you wanna write good lyrics, read books.
Andrae Alexander: Start putting your music out there ASAP!
Judy Stakee: Wait until your music is ready before you put it out there!
Susan Koc — A good barometer of whether your song will hold up is to imagine it being performed by someone whose voice isn’t as amazing as yours. 😆
Jeff Cohen — (who left BMI to pursue a songwriting career) “Say yes to everything!”
Beth (“This Kiss”) Nielsen Chapman — if a song turns into something other than what you intended it to be, let it go. It means it wasn’t meant to be that song.
Stacey — (whose album is currently getting tons of play) spoke of the importance of an EPK (electronic press kit) when one is putting themself out there as an artist.
SONA — Non-published writers must sign up for the MLC (Music Licensing Collective) if they want to be paid!
After 13 weeks of constructive critiquigng, which wasn’t always easy to give (or receive) our last class was a virtual party. Bring a snack/wear a hat. Our guest was my father-in-law Al Gorgoni, who accompanied Dylan, played guitar on a fair share of not-too-shabby #1 songs in his day (“Sound of Silence,””Brown Eyes Girl”) and penned a few songs of his own — Linda Ronstadt’s “I Can’t Let Go”). He shared the idea that…
…there’s a vibration we feel in our hearts when we know we’ve written something remarkable — something that will resonate with the masses...
I could tell by the widening of my students’ eyes, even though they’re 19-ish and Al is 81, they knew exactly what he was talking about. That is the stuff that never changes. Young people are extremely open to the knowledge of veterans.
They say if you can’t do, teach. I couldn’t disagree more. In fact why not do both? There is a season turn turn turn. If you’ve been successful in your field at some point it’s time to pay it forward. Plus, it’s good for us to keep doing things we’re not sure we can do.
When I pressed “leave meeting” on the last day of class a wave of sadness ran through me. Once my kids were 13 faceless names. But over the semester I came to know them quite intimately. How do teachers do it? That bittersweet parting year after year?
I’m pretty sure they were feeling feels of their own cuz that night I received more than a few emails saying ‘it was their favorite class ever.’ That made me kinda want to do it again.
And so I sit here today looking at the names on my Spring ’22 class list. Unfamiliar, but not for long.
As for my Fall 2021 kids, I can only hope they go forth and hear my voice in their head from time to time. If they do I’ve done my job.
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