MASTERCLASS

SONG STRUCTURE I

• Three Steps Toward Mastery
• Organic & Mechanic Method
• Song Form Ladder

SONG STRUCTURE II

• Organic Form 
• Walking Light
• Frost's Ice-Cube
• Title Placement Creates Form
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE III

• Rhetorical Scheme: Anaphora, Epistrophe, Epanalepsis
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE IV

• AABA Form
• History
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE V

• Verse/Chorus Form
• History
• Form Follows Function
• Opening Verses
• Begin With The Chorus
• Pre-Chorus
• 1/2 Second Verse
• Post-Chorus
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE VI

• Verse/Chorus Form Cont.
• Formal & Informal Approach
• Same Choruses-Same Message
• Re-Visioning The Chorus & The Refrain
• Different Choruses
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE VII

• Writing The Big Chorus
• Delayed Gratification & The Power Of One
• Diatonic Chord (Triad) Function
• "Didn't We Dance" Song Example

SONG STRUCTURE VIII

• Writing The Big Chorus Cont.
• 57-1 Cadence
• 57sus4
• Root-Position 1 Chord Resolution
• "I'll Be Coming Home" Inversions
• Arranging & Production Elements
• Modulation

SONG STRUCTURE IX

• Writing The Big Chorus Cont.
• Weakening The 1 Chord
• Incomplete 1 Chords
• Added Chords
• 1 Chord Inversion
• Weakening The 57
• Recommended Assignment

SONG STRUCTURE X

• Writing The Big Chorus Cont.
• Disclosure Of Meaning
• Big Chorus Melody
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE XI

• The Big Chorus Cont.
• "Breathe" Analysis
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE XII

• The Bridge
• Where To Begin? Where To End?
• As Major Sections 
• The Bacharach Bridge-"Make It Easy On Yourself"
• Expectation, Surprise & Inevitability
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE XIII

• The Tag
• Curls Above The Crown
•  Necessary and Urgent? 
• Restating The Title
• Adding New Information
• As Extended Section
• Recommended Exercises

SONG STRUCTURE XIV

• Unconventional Strucures I
• Self-Similarity
• State Re-Instate
• Country Bridge

SONG STRUCTURE XV

• Unconventional Structures II
• Examples
• Complexity Leads To Simplicity
• Nonce Form
• Recommended Exercises 

SONG STRUCTURE XVI

• Emotional-Narrative Line
• Form As Extension Of Content
• Frost's Ice-cube Analogy
• Form Supports Emotion
• I Miss That Man
• Soundtrack To The Scene

SONG STRUCTURE XVII

• Intro, Turnaround, Instrumental, Solo, Outro
• Recommended Exercises 

SONG CHARTS

SONG IDEAS & TITLES I

• Objective & Subjective POV  
• Two basic types of ideas & titles  
• Where do they come from?  
• Song Outline  
• Hook Book 

SONG IDEAS & TITLES II

• Titles of Ambiguity  
• Figurative & Literal Meaning  
• Titles of Alliteration  
• Titles that place us somewhere specific 

SONG IDEAS & TITLES III 

• Title Tumbling
• Replacing Pronouns
• Using the Opposite
• Emphasizing Each Word in the Title
• The Triggering Town
• Regionalism
• Recommended Exercises

PROCESS I

• Adam's Curse
• Limitations are liberating
• Limitation leads to economy
• What rhymes with Stuff?
• Rhyming other words in the title
• Perfect Framing Rhyme
• Exposition Method
• Recommended Exercises

PROCESS II

• Strongest Points of Contact
• Write with an eye on the next section
•  Be an actor

PROCESS III

• Conjunctions 
• Expectation, Surprise & Inevitability 
• Filling in the Empty Space 
• One-Corner Style Painting

PROCESS IV

• Helpful Tips
• Thoughts on Rewriting
• For the Lyricist Only

THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING I

• Expectation, Surprise, & Inevitability
• Prosody defined
• 3 Foundational Principles
• Rhyme
• Similarity of Sound
• 15 Degrees of Vowel Sounds
• Single & Multi-Syllable Words
• Ellipses
• Getting Lost on Purpose
• The Moment You Surprise Yourself

THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING II

• Limitation & Economy
• Review
• Begin With the End in Mind
• Intentional Perfect Rhyme
• No Rhyme
• Suggest the Passage of Time
• Dovetailing
• Synecdoche
•  Recommended Exercises 

THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING III

• Verisimilitude I (Like the Truth)
• Details You Can Trust
• Particulars Reveal Universals
• Intensifiers
• Details-weaker to stronger
• Details-smaller to larger
• Description-Show Not Tell
• Adding a Vivid Detail
• Too Much Imagery
• Too Many Characters
• Recommended Exercises

THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING IV

• Verisimilitude II
• Literal-vs-Figurative Language
• Functional-vs-Decorative Similes & Metaphors
• Recommended Exercises
• Implied Metaphors
• Objective Correlatives
• Recommended Exercises
• Understatement
• Hyperbole

THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING V

• Verisimilitude III
• Tone
• Rhyme Type
• Missetting
• Recommended Exercises
• Dive Deeper

 THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING VI

• Verisimilitude IV
• Sound & Sense
• Onomatopoeia

 THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING VII

•  Final Tips
• Write the Title
•  Opening Lines
• Contrasting a Great line with a Mediocre Line
•  Say it Again, Only Different
•  Unintended Ambiguities
•  (POV) Pull It Personal
•  Happy Accidents

 THE CRAFT OF MELODY WRITING

•  Lyric as Limitation
•  Principles of Effective Melody Writing
•  Intentional Melody Writing
•  Harmony-Driven Melody Writing
•  Rhythm is Revolution
•  Unnatural Phrase Length
•  (Rule) of Two's
•  Melodic Rhythmic Prosody
•  Changing Meter
•  Melodic Rhythmic Rhyme
•  Bookended Melody

GUITAR METHOD & MUSIC THEORY
 

• Intro
   
• 5 Keys & Capo
• AGD Diatonic Root-Position Triads
• Wheels
• 5 Keys & Capo Quiz
• AGD Diatonic Root-Position Triads Quiz
• AGD Diatonic Triads 1st Inversion
• Wheels
   
• AGD Diatonic Triads 2nd Inversion
• Wheels
• AGD Diatonic Triads 1st Inversion Quiz
   
• AGD Diatonic Triads 2nd Inversion Quiz
• Wheels-Diatonic Triads Root-Position, 1st & 2nd Inversion
   
• Diatonic Chord (Triads) Function
• Resolution Tendencies to 1 Chord
• Baseball Diamond Analogy
   
• Principles Of Deep Practice
• Left Hand Technique
   
• AGD b7 Chords (145)
   
• Diatonic Chord (Triads) Function Quiz
• Wheels-AGD b7 Chords 145​​​
  ​​
• AGD​​ b7 Chords (145) 1st & 2nd Inversion
• Wheels
• Deep Practice-Right Hand Technique
   
• AGD Diatonic M7 & m7 Chords
• Wheels
• Wheels-NNS: Diatonic Triads, Inversions, 17, 47, 57, Inversions, 1M7, 4M7, 2-7, 3-7, 6-7
• Wheels-(AGD-above)
   
• add9, sus4
• Wheels
• 16, 46, 2-6
• Wheels
   
• Diminished Triads
• Diminished Seventh Chords
• Wheels
   
• Chord Substitution by Function
   
• 5 Keys & Capo (EC)
• Wheels
   
• Diatonic Triads 1st & 2nd Inversion (E)
• Diatonic Triads 1st & 2nd Inversion (C) 
• Wheels-Diatonic Triads Root Position, 1st & 2nd Inversion (E)
• Wheels-Diatonic Triads Root Position, 1st & 2nd Inversion (C)
   
• (EC) New Diatonic b7 chords
• (EC) Root Position, 1st & 2nd Inversion Quiz 

• (EC) Diatonic b7 Chord Wheels
• Diatonic b7 Chords 1st & 2nd Inversion
• Diatonic b7 Chords 1st & 2nd Inversion Wheels
   
• (E) (New) Diatonic M7, m7 chords
• (C) (New) Diatonic M7, m7 chords
• Wheels (EC) (New) Diatonic M7, m7 chords
• (EC) (New) 1add9, 4add9
   
• (C) (New) 1sus4, 17sus4
• (E) (New) 5sus4, 57sus4  
   
• Wheels (EC) (NEW) 1add9, 4add9, 1sus4, 17sus4, 5sus4, 57sus4
• (EC) (New) 16, 46, 2-6
• Wheels (New) (EC) 16, 46, 2-6
   
• (EC) 07 Chords Ascending & Descending
• Wheels (EC) 07 Chords Ascending & Descending
   
• Non-Diatonic 7th Chords
• Non-Diatonic 7th Chords (AGDEC) 1
• Non-Diatonic 7th Chords (AGDEC) 2
• Wheels-Non-Diatonic 7th Chords (AGDEC)
   
• "Split Chords" (AGD)
• Wheels
• "Split Chords" (EC)
   
•  Modulation I
• 57-1 Cadence
• Pivot Chord
• Non-Diatonic Modulation (27, 37, 67, 77)
• Chord Progression Examples
   
• Modulation II
• Modulation Map
• Song Examples
   
• Modulation III
• Song Examples
   
• Modulation IV
• Song Examples

 SONG BREAKDOWN

• Same Old New Year
• Opposites As A Rhetorical Scheme
   
• Second Wind
• Sound & Sense
• Rhythmic Prosody
• Functional-vs-Decorative Metaphor
• Harmonic Prosody
   
• In My Town 
• Description Is Revelation
   
• Closer To Home
• Figurative & Literal Meanings
• Objective Correlatives
• Particulars Reveal Universals
   
• The Last Best Place
• Refrain
• Bernie Taupin
   
• Too Many Pockets
• The Pareto Principle
• Always Everywhere Lyric
   
• Let It Rain
• The Story
• Video Link
• Eadd9 Chord
   
• I Remember Loving You
• Modified AABA Form
• Originality Within Convention
• Where Do You Start?
   
• She Must Be Beautiful
   
• Mary, Christmas
• The Art of the Comma
• The Art of the Pause
• Crazy Girl
• Understatement

                                                                                                   STEVE'S PEEVE'S

•  Writing in the Classic American Songbook Style
•  Career Advice from a Samurai
•  Writing Fast
• Chord Inversions Make for Interesting Bass Lines
•  Creating an Empty Space
•  Expectation, Surprise & Inevitability
•  The Emotional-Narrative Line
•  BMI? ASCAP? SESAC?
•  Paying to Cowrite
• That Mysterious Second Wind Chord
•  Deep Practice & Right Hand Technique
•  Chords as Adjectives
• Don't Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Song
•  Learning Other People's Songs
•  If It's Not Hell Yeah! It's No!
•  Teaching Songwriting