~ 10:00 AM ~ Arrive, wait for all participants over some bagels and coffee, tea, and other goodies and introduce yourselves to each other.

 

~ 10:30AM to 12:00PM ~ Basic song structures and forms, nuts and bolts of songwriting. And questions about that and about  how to put your ideas forth without fear and believe in your own vision. And we'll talk a little about the importance of phrasing in a song,  and conciseness and unclutteredness.

 

~ 12:00PM to 2:00PM ~ Song Critiquing

For the critiquing, bring a couple songs you are working on that you'd like some feedback on and  I will try and steer you in the right direction.  They can be on a cd or you can play them live for us.  I have a rather special 1926 Mason & Hamlin parlor grand piano or you can bring your guitar.  If you'd like to record or video any of our discussions, you may, for reference.  Just don't post them.

 

I will have guest speaker, guitar guru, performer David Isaacs attending from about noon to 2pm during the workshop.  Dave maintains a busy private music studio on Nashville's Music Row. With his combined experience as a working artist/musician, two degrees in guitar performance, and nearly 30 years teaching private lessons, college courses, workshops and clinics, Dave has a rare and exceptionally wide perspective as an educator. Nashville is full of musicians who can teach a student how to play, but Dave's method teaches the student how to learn. Here are some links to his websites.

www.NashvilleGuitarGuru.com

www.youtube.com/nashvilleguitarguru.com

www.youtube.com/daveisaacsmusic

​

.

~ 2:00 PM to 3:00 ~ Lunch

 

~ 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM ~ Bridges: Where, when and how. And what makes a great one.  I'll give you many examples here to show you what I mean. What is the purpose of the bridge and exactly what should it do? Both lyrically and musically. It's really quite simple but it trips up alot of people. We'll get into it deep so you'll never be confused on this again.

 

~ 4:30PM to 5:30 PM ~ Stories you'd like to hear about how I got my songs covered or my history working with many artists over time. Some of the tales can be  illuminating and might give you some perspective. (Or not.)

 

~ 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM ~ Dinner

 

~7:30 PM to whenever

Participants concert. And I will play also, if you like.

Bring a couple of songs that you feel are done and you'd be proud to play for the others. We can enjoy ourselves and bask in what we've learned.  :-)