"Is The Future Of Songwriting Lost?"
|
Music Publishers |
Some people believe that songwriting is becoming a lost art, or at the very least, an endangered art form. With the proliferation in popular music of material produced by "non-songwriters", one wonders where it all may end.
But there are those who are fighting against any such ending. How are they battling against the tide? They're teaching kids to write songs. Here are the stories of just two of these songwriting warriors.
Josephine Cameron is a singer/songwriter from Maine. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, and since 1997, she's concentrated her efforts on teaching kids in the creative arts. This has included limited private lessons in writing fiction and poetry, as well as beginning guitar and piano lessons. Her artistic style, best described as folk and traditional, has been compared to such greats as Emmylou Harris. Her music has been popular on the Internet downloads site, iTunes, and in 2005, she released her third album of children's lullabies.
Ms. Cameron has a website, www.songwritingforkids.com, where she promotes several children's songwriting workshops, including summer camps. In her workshops, kids are taught music history in relation to songwriting, how the impact of songs have a timeless quality, being relevant long after they're written, as well as the basic concepts of songwriting. The site also includes an "activity room" and a "listening room" where among other things, kids are given assignments designed to help them to begin with the fundamentals of creative writing and songwriting.
Another songwriter and composer, Paul Reisler, is also fighting for the future of songwriting. In schools across the US, Paul is teaching kids to be "creators, not consumers". During a residency project in rural Virginia, Paul discovered the power of co-writing songs with children.
Since then, through his program, Kid Pan Alley (www.kidpanalley.org), Paul is teaching kids to be songwriters, collaborators, idea generators, and valued members of diverse working teams in the creation of new music. He tours the country co-writing songs with school children, and afterwards, some of those songs are recorded by professional artists and released. The kids he teaches, ultimately develop confidence, excitement and a love for songwriting.
Is songwriting becoming a lost art? Not hardly, as long as there are artists like Josephine and Paul teaching and advocating and spreading their creative messages. And as long as we remember to teach those that come after us, and share a love and respect for the power and importance of songwriting.
**********************************************************************
Brian Cook is a freelance writer whose articles on music and songwriting have appeared on many websites.
You can find more of these at SongwritersGuide.com.
**********************************************************************