Songwriting Workshop with Jenn Wasner (September '25)
Songwriting Workshop with Jenn Wasner (September '25)
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All access to lecture recordings, songwriting prompts and all course materials for Jenn Wasner's songwriting workshop taught in September 2025: by purchasing this past course, you're able to watch Jenn's lectures and go about the course at your own pace!
In September 2025, Jenn Wasner (Flock of Dimes, Wye Oak) led a four-week songwriting workshop built around the idea that songwriting moves in seasons. Rather than forcing inspiration to behave on a deadline, the class uses the natural world as a framework: Spring for sprouting and invention, Summer for follow-through, Fall for sharing and connection, and Winter for rest, processing, and perspective. From the start, Jenn situates songwriting as something anybody can do, and treats the cycle not as a race to a “great” finished product, but as a practice that teaches you about yourself and brings you back into relationship with your own creative instincts.
In this course, you’ll work with permission as a real technique — permission to call yourself an artist, permission to make “bad” work, permission to follow what feels true instead of what feels impressive. You’ll build small, sustainable practices that make it easier to return to writing even when you don’t feel ready. A major thread is writing through persona: experimenting with different voices (including “parts” of yourself that you might usually hide), so you can loosen the grip of self-critique and access material with more honesty, humor, and range. Along the way, Jenn shares candid context from her own creative life — how she keeps going through discomfort, how she relates to doubt, and how she’s learned to treat the creative process as something human rather than heroic.
The musical side of the workshop offers concrete ways to generate momentum at the instrument and in the arrangement. Jenn introduces a simple set of building blocks (rhythm and groove, atmosphere and texture, and chord “shapes”) and shows how starting from different elements can unlock entirely different songs. We explore approachable options whether you’re working with a full recording setup or just voice memos, and you’re invited into alternate tunings as a way to break familiar habits and create “happy accidents” that your ear can guide. Lyrics are treated as part of the same emotional world as sound: the class makes space for specificity and poetic license, for writing that’s literal or universal, and for letting melody and feel lead you into language you couldn’t have planned.
By the end, you leave with repeatable prompts, a clearer sense of how to start (and keep going), and a sturdier relationship to sharing your work—whether that means performing, collaborating, or simply making something finished enough to let it exist.
Testimonials from September 2025 Students:
“I came away feeling less alone, and less focused on my songs needing to achieve a ‘great’ finished product that connects with everybody. For that, I’m grateful. You helped me reconnect with the innocence and play of writing a song, instead of fretting over it being ‘successful’. Thank you for your vulnerability. I loved the last thing you read to us/said to us…how teachers can only do so much, and we need to listen to our own hearts (or something like that). It was empowering. And these days especially, we need examples of humility like that."
Thank you so much, Jenn! This was such a gift. I emphatically agree with the person who said, ‘best $160 I've ever fucking spent,’ during the last Q&A. I would have gladly spent double. It was incredibly valuable, wholesome, and rewarding. You're a natural professor, and the course content and structure felt collegiate."
‘Thanks so much for offering your wisdom. It was very inspirational. You are a natural speaker and your kindness, enthusiasm, and knowledge came through. The lectures were great and provided tools to cultivate inspiration moving forward with creative projects. Loved the course would recommend to any creative minded individuals. Thank you.’
This archived course includes:
- Class Video Recordings – Watch all 4 of Jenn's lectures and Q&As on her songwriting process.
- All course materials, including songwriting prompts crafted by Jenn.
- Access to the "community jukebox" – upload your new songs to the jukebox and share the tunes with fellow classmates!
FAQ:
- Q: What musical experience should I have?
- A: People across all musical levels will be able to gain something from the course.
- 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. The songs are optional and this workshop will provide the structure and accountability we all need to get started and follow through, for beginners and old guard writers alike. However, it'll be helpful to have an instrument you can play a few chords on and a way to record yourself.
- Q: Are there refunds on archive purchases?
- A: No, we aren't able to offer refunds on archive orders. If you have any questions about what's included before you purchase, feel free to email us at hi@schoolofsong.org and we'll be happy to help!
Questions? Email us at hi@schoolofsong.org.
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