Taking "Wrong" Turns: Songwriting with Eric D. Johnson (July '22)

All access to lecture recordings, songwriting prompts and all course materials for Eric D. Johnson's (Fruit Bats) songwriting workshop taught in May/June 2022. By purchasing this past course, you're able to watch Eric's lectures and go about the course at your own pace!

Eric's lectures cover the following topics and themes:

1. Tascams and Emotional Detachment
   
2. Content and Process
   
3. Speculative Structure
4. And more...

This course also includes songwriting prompts from Eric such as "Eavesdropping", "Song about nothing", "Write what you feeeeeeel", and "Form and Structure".

  ———————————-

Here's a quote from Eric on the class...

There are about a million ways to write a song. Sometimes they fall out of the sky, carried on a breeze into your hands. Other times you gotta wake up early and make them in a factory with sweat and elbow grease. Oh, and there are *many* permutations in between. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. The thing to remember is that with all the combinations of chords and notes and words and feelings out there, they’re all out there waiting for you, you just gotta find them.

In this class I’m gonna share a bit of my songwriting journey, and show you what I’ve learned over the years about what works to make a song. Whether it’s a small-scale ditty written only for yourself to enjoy, or a maximalist anthem engineered to entertain as many ears as possible, or some combination thereof, I wanna talk to you about it. Because with all those different ways to go, I believe we’ve all got a song or ten in us.

Also, you’re likely to hear me ramble about how to use mistakes or “wrong turns” to your utmost advantage, my theories on verse-chorus-verse structure, the “music” of lyric writing, and how to set writing goals without driving yourself crazy. If it all goes as planned it’ll be like a group therapy session meets a music history class meets a dance party. Oh, and you’ll get to hear me nerd out on all the songs I love, plus get the inside scoop on how I write my own. Hope to see you on my computer screen soon!” - Eric D. Johnson

———————————

-- Testimonials from July 2022 students --

" Really grateful that you took the time to do this with everything you probably have going on. It helped me get over inhibitions I has about things needing to be perfect and just moving through making demos. Once I got in there, time flew by and I was in the groove. It was also awesome to hear you talk about your experiences first hand. It brought the whole process down to earth. Thank you, thank you!"

" Thanks for the work you do Eric D! My 13 yo daughter and I took this class together and it was so cool. As she gets older and more angst teeny, I think this class gave us some good tools to connect through music and songwriting."

———————————

This "Past Course" includes:

1. Class Video Recordings – Watch all 5 of Eric D. Johnson's lectures + Q&A's on his songwriting process.
2. All course materials, including songwriting prompts crafted by Eric.
3. Access to the "community jukebox" – upload your new songs to the jukebox and share the tunes with fellow classmates!

 ———————————

Q: What musical experience is required to understand the material in this course?

A: People across all musical levels will be able to gain something from the course. However, it will be helpful to be comfortable playing a few basic chords on any instrument of your choice in order to complete the songwriting prompts.

Q: What if I’ve never written a song before? Can I still participate in this workshop?

A: Yes! As with any new skill, just starting is usually the hardest part. This workshop will provide the structure and accountability we all need to get started and follow through, for beginners and old guard writers alike.

Q: What is different about watching this past course versus participating while the workshop is run live?

A: By purchasing this course, you'll have access to the same resources as the students who took the course while it was running other than the live songshares. 

 ——————

Questions? Email us at hi@schoolofsong.org.