Welcome to the DIY Guide for Writing, Recording, & Sharing Your Music course forum! This is the place to ask questions, share your progress, and seek advice from both myself and your fellow course participants. I look forward to sharing in your songwriting and recording journeys and providing additional help when needed.
Please leave your questions and feedback in the comment box below, and I will respond as soon as possible. Feel free to respond to others, too, if you have tips or suggestions!
I loved the songwriting assessment:) I am an “Earth Songwriter” which made perfect sense to me, but “Air Songwriter” was a close second. I guess the left side of my brain does most of the work when I write songs:)
I am looking forward to the rest of this CMTE. I have written a few songs before, however I always seem to put too much thought into them. Or, I WANT to write a song, but I get too nervous and think its too hard. Hopefully after this CMTE I will do better:)
Hi Melissa! So glad that you are taking the course and enjoyed the assessment. I really liked taking it too — it made me realize just how much we can differ from each other as songwriters (and that there is no one “right” way).
I have found that the less I have to think and force a song to work, the easier it comes out and the more effective it is in sessions. I look forward to hearing about your progress, and please let me know if you have questions as you go through the course!
I am so excited to be taking this course! I write spontaneous songs with/for my clients several times a week, but I want to make a habit of writing songs, recording them, and sharing them with others. I have very little experience recording music and am eager to learn more about the recording process and how to share my music online.
The song writing style I scored the most point on was Fire. I write songs with my clients all the time! I love creating new music with my clients and allowing them the opportunity to have a product they are proud of. We improvise and come up with lyrics in the moment. Air was a close second.
I have now made it through all of the material for Chapter 1. I have the song I am writing written out, chords assigned, and a rough recording done. Even if I don’t have this song recorded in time for my next session with my client, I am incredibly excited to share it with them.
Hi Katey! I am thrilled you are taking the course! I still do lots of spontaneous songwriting with my clients, and sometimes those end up being my favorites :) It’s fun to take what you start during a session and flesh it out afterwards.
I’m excited to hear some of the songs you’re writing, and I’m sure your clients are too. Keep me posted on your progress and let me know if there is anything I can do to help!
Hi Rachel,
Very excited to be starting this course. I came out as Fire on the assessment, but the other 3 were all tied and close behind. I consider myself the “queen” of piggybacking songs and do it all the time. When I have composed, it has been on the spur of the moment and half the time I then can’t fully remember later what I did. That makes reusing the song a challenge. Sometimes I’m lucky and my client remembers for me. :) I’m also famous for using someone else’s song in a session and not fully remembering it. I start making changes as I’m singing, improvising on the spot and end up with a song that isn’t really the original, but not entirely different either. Again, I need a system to get these songs on paper for future reference.
But I am ready to try some completely original songwriting. Your steps for doing so are great and I look forward to using them!
Hi Cindy! Thanks for taking the course! Interesting to see another “Fire” songwriter — something to consider when you come up with a song during a session is to record it using a handheld recorder or the voice recorder app on your iPhone/iPod. I finally learned this after way too many great songs were forgotten afterwards ;) Can’t wait to hear about your progress as you dive into original songwriting.
Hi, Rachel! I’m excited to take your MusicTherapyEd.com course :) Have you heard of Music Memos? It’s a newish app for Apple devices that is designed as a “voice memos for musicians” kind of thing! You can sing or play an idea into the app, which records it and then analyzes it for chords, a bass line, and a percussion track. It’s been a really cool resource for me since we’re recording a CD of kids’ music at my practice and I have bee constantly coming up with song fragments and ideas as I write for it. Hearing my ideas play out with a percussion track has also given me ideas about how I want to tweak or deliver the song in the finished product :) It’s an awesome resource, as well as totally free and totally compatible with GarageBand, iTunes, and other Apple apps!
Hi Dani! Thanks so much for taking the course. I loooove the new Music Memos app! It’s such a fun alternative to Voice Memos, and my kiddos love hearing their recordings with instant bass and drums. Happy to hear that you are getting great use out of it, too!
How embarrassing! My website address is actually cindysmtservices.com. I’m in the process of adding another domain name which has “music therapy” written out and so I’m just a little confused. Sorry!
No worries! If it makes you feel any better, I just spelled my email address incorrectly on a new product I’m creating. Luckily I caught it before exporting the final draft!
Just finished chapter 1 section, and I’m loving the course! Thanks for putting this together.
I took the assessment and I was equal parts fire and water, but close on all of them! I agree with Cindy’s post, that my songwriting is usually in the moment and it’s a bit hard to remember what I did from week to week. I’ve gotten in to using the voice recorder to tape sessions, but now it might be good to go back and rewrite the spur of the moment songs into songs that are usable in future sessions.
I’m so glad you are enjoying the course, Kate! And I fully agree that you should take those spontaneous songs and get them down on paper for the future — it’s amazing how many ways I’ve been able to adapt a single song that was born during a session. Keep on rocking the course!
Super excited about having completed the action steps for Chapter 2. I thought recording in garage band would be so much harder than it actually was. It took me a couple hours because I’ve never fiddled in Garage Band before and I had to take some time to learn a few things. BUT, I love it! I love my song and I cannot wait to share it with my client next week! Perhaps, I can even record a few of our songs to put on a CD with it by next week… I am having a lot of fun with this course. This was something I had no idea I could actually do. Now, I want to go out an buy a lot of equipment to make it sound even better and function more easily. Can’t wait for chapter 3. Thanks again for putting this together!
That is such great news! I have learned so much about GB just by playing around in it and trying out the features until they make sense. It’s a little addictive, isn’t it?! :) I’ve been recording on a regular basis for a few years now and still get excited every time I tackle a new song. Congrats on finishing up Chapter 2 and good luck with Chapter 3!
I am now finished with chapter 3! My song may not be absolutely perfect, but I’m incredibly excited and looking forward to recording and learning more as I go. I started a bandcamp account and have my first song published. I also have it in a blog post on my website and on my business facebook page. All of your information has been so helpful!! THANK YOU!
Wow, you are speedy! Congrats on finishing your song — and isn’t Bandcamp wonderful? There is something so satisfying about having your original work out there, displayed so nicely for the world to see. I’m going to check out your song now! So glad the course has been helpful thus far…keep up the awesome work :)
Just finished Chapter 2. The action steps are going to take me awhile. I’ve used gargeband, but only the VERY basics and have done next to nothing with different tracks. So that’s going to take some time and exploration, but it’s exciting to think what I might be able to accomplish at this lower level and then who knows what will happen, if I invest in equipment and move to the next level! Thank you, Rachel!
You’re welcome! Take your time with the action steps…the learning curve seems really steep at first, but once you get the hang of it, I promise it becomes second nature. You will eventually be able to take it much further than you can even imagine right now!
Hey Rachel,
Great course! Just finished chapter 1 and am enjoying every minute. I ranked as a fire writer, which makes perfect sense. Looking forward to chapters 2 and 3! Thanks for putting this together.
Hi Stephanie! I am so glad you are enjoying the course! “Fire” seems to be the most popular style around here so far. Thanks for taking the course, and I look forward to hearing about your progress!
Hey again Rachel,
Well I’m now beginning Chapter 3 and still loving every minute, except I wanted to bring to your attention a glitch in the first video of Chapter 3. From about 1:32-2:45 it freezes up, and I don’t think it’s my computer because the video on my end continues to mark time, but the actual video and audio of you just freezes in place. Has anyone else had trouble with this?
Thanks so much for letting me know…it must have happened in the uploading process, which I don’t actually handle. I will let Kat know, though! So sorry for the inconvenience.
No problem, not an inconvenience at all! Didn’t hinder the course one bit. Thanks again for putting this together, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot, and I look forward to infusing all this stuff into my MT practice.
Hey Stephanie and Rachel – Glitch is FIXED! Thanks for bringing this to my attention =) Kat
AWESOME – Thank you, Kat!!!
Just finished Chapter 3 and feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m just not very comfortable with technology and tend to “shut down” rather than get out there and try it. However, I have to say, your vidoes and presentations were wonderfully simple and did give me the inkling that I may be able to actually do all this. Thanks, Rachel, for all the great information. It really doesn’t look too hard, but it’ll take some time for me to push myself past my technology phobia. :)
I can definitely empathize with you, Cindy, because I felt the same way when I started out. Not necessarily with technology in general, but recording – I thought I had no business doing it myself since I knew nothing and there were tons of people out there doing it so well. The key is to take it at your own pace, one step at a time, and not to let yourself get bogged down by the big picture. You CAN do it, I promise!
I just finished the first chapter’s videos and am excited to continue. I went to the chant writing session at WRAMTA conference last month and have been composing a lot of chants since– for personal and professional use. I seem to be a Water Songwriter but I’m looking forward to this course to give me a little more organization and discipline (bring me down to “Earth”) to write these down and expand on some of them. Thank you for the information in the first chapter. It already has given some direction.
Hi John – I have found that they key for me as a songwriter is having an organized flow that I follow each time I sit down and write. You’ll find that for yourself, no doubt. Thanks for taking the course and let me know how I can help along the way!
I just completed Chapter 1 and am loving the course so far! According to the assessment, I am tied between Fire and Air songwriting styles with Water close behind. As I was reading the traits of both of them I kept nodding to myself, especially on the qualities of an Air songwriter. I can’t wait to finish the course and improve my songwriting skills! Thanks for putting this together!
Hi Leila! I am so glad you’re enjoying the course so far. I think it helps so much to know yourself as a songwriter, which is why I like the assessment so much. Please keep us posted as you progress!
I just finished the course, and loved it- thank you!
I have one question about Dropbox: If you post a link to the public folder, will that link will include everything in the public folder? So if you put a song in there for a client and give that client the link, they’ll have access to anything you put in there in the future?
Thanks!
Hi Kate! Congrats on finishing the course – I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it! To answer your question, each item that you place in the public folder has its own unique link. So if you just want to share a single song with a client, you can copy the link for that song only. That way the client will have access to it, but not any of the other contents in the folder. Please let me know if you have additional questions!
Hi, I just finished the course. I had to do it in bits and pieces, and felt like it was well-paced for beginners all the way through expertise. :) I cannot wait to explore (slowly) the options and the new ideas you provided. I loved how you were able to show us exactly what the programs looked like, and how to step-by-step, add onto what we may have already had in our heads but never completed via recording or even writing down the scores. I do so much ‘rough’ drafting, but to share you do need to take that next step. Thank you, Rachel for taking such time in creating your presentation. It was really great!
Hi Cari! Congratulations on finishing the course, and thank you so much for the fantastic feedback! I’m really glad you found it to be well-paced and helpful. I wish you the best of luck in all of your songwriting and recording endeavors, and please let me know what I can do to help along the way!
I already have Sony sound forge installed on my PC and have made a number of amateur recordings for my students. However, I’ve been watching youtube instruction videos on editing and I’m in way over my head. I made a recording of my song but it can use some polishing to clean up air conditioning sounds, etc. But do you know if there is a PC application for Garage Band? You sure made it look easy. I will also look at J4T Multitrack recorder which I know you mentioned. I also see an Ipad in my future. Thank you for all the info so far (I finished Chapters 1 and 2).
Hi John! Thanks so much for taking the course and letting me know where you are at right now. Unfortunately, GarageBand is solely made for Mac products, though I know Audacity is similar. I wish I had other PC software recommendations for you! The iPad version of GarageBand is fantastic and extremely dynamic, so that would be a great way to go as well. Please keep me posted on your progress!
Hi Rachel,
Wow! This has been such a great course! I have been a music therapist for a very long time and you are one of the most inspirational music therapists I know. I have not used Garageband much so I’m on a learning curve with editing. I’m in the process of editing my vocals on garageband. I know you covered a little bit of this in the course, but I’m finding that as I edit breathy sounds within the vocal track that I’m cutting out other parts. Do you or anyone else in this forum have quick suggestions to refine this part of editing? I have done some google searches on this too. I do not have all the equipment so my vocals were recorded through the internal speakers of my macbook with no extra microphone. Maybe you could do a full course on Garageband since you are so savvy :-)
Thank you,
Cami
Hi Cami! Thank you SO much for the awesome feedback…what a huge compliment! I am thrilled that you enjoyed the course so much. To answer your question about cutting out breath sounds: do you mean you are cutting out too much of the vocal track (beyond the breath sound), or that you’re cutting out other instrument parts, too? The latter shouldn’t happen if you are recording vocals in a separate track. To get more precise about the parts you are cutting, use the precision viewer by clicking the little “scissors” icon at the bottom left of the GarageBand screen. This will give you more fine control over your cuts.
I would love to do a full course on GB eventually, since there is so much to cover just in this one program. Maybe that will be my next big goal for after my baby is born in a few weeks :) Thanks again for taking the course, and let me know if you have any additional questions!
I am somewhere between a fire and a water (there is a 1 point difference) with fire in the lead with 20. Probably stems from my UnConservatory type approach to practicing in my childhood. When my piano teacher gave me assignments to practice, admittedly I spent 75% of my time exploring how I could make the piano sound like the emotions I was feeling at the time. This frustrated my childhood teachers, but served me well when I found the path to Music Therapy. I love fake books, and improvising on the melodies found in them. Trying my best to integrate music theory into practice on the piano, I became adept easily recognizing and playing in all keys and different qualities of chords, later in my life (less fluently) playing the same way on the guitar.
Time to write down some of my improvs which turned into songs that became staples in my classroom lessons.
Hi Daniel! Thanks for sharing the results of your assessment and giving us a little background. It’s always interesting to hear where other songwriters are coming from and how it impacts their work. Looking forward to hearing some of those songs…keep us posted!
I have used “Songs for Teaching” many times to find songs for various themes, interventions, etc. I was just wondering if, when you present a song for the sight, do you choose the search subjects that the song will be referenced under (for example, songs for students with autism, motor development, etc.)? Thanks again for all the wonderful and useful info.
Hi John – the lovely folks at SFT actually choose the search terms and categories for the songs I submit. You’re very welcome, and thank YOU for taking the course!
Question about CBMT credit – do I send you the written sheet music and recordings in each action step to get credit?
Nope, you actually don’t send me anything…Kat @ Music Therapy Ed handles the CBMT credits.
Hi Dan! Fill out the Final Evaluation in order to get credits for the course. Occasionally we do audits of our participants, and we’ll ask you for your handouts. But if you’re not getting audited by us, then simply send in the Final Evaluation, and keep the handouts for your reference and professional growth.
Thanks, Kat! :)
Just downloading all the forms and getting ready to take the course. This is one area I am hesitant in as I just don’t do it enough. Looking forward to getting the motivation to write something.
Lots of good info in Chapter 1. I need to dig my Betsey Brunk book out and check it out again. Haven’t look at that for a LONG time. Got a few inspirations for a song brewing.
Hi Tom – glad to have you here. Looking forward to hearing some of your song ideas…let me know how I can help along the way!
Finally got around to writing a song with/for a hospice patient. I actually figured out the melody first, then the words. I’ve already adapted the words for other patients. Best part, pentatonic scale, so I can use it countless instruments.
Onto Chapter 2.
Congrats on the song! The fact that it is easily adaptable (both lyric- and instrument-wise) will come in so handy. Good luck with Chapter 2!
I just finished all the videos in chapter one and I’m looking forward to getting songs down on paper! My writing style is fire, and I love to improv but can (and have!) lost some songs because I didn’t get them into voice recorder quickly enough. Thanks for the demonstration of the organized way to document my songs – I’m inspired. And congrats on the birth of your baby son!
Hi Karen! Thanks so much for the well wishes :) So glad you are inspired and moving through the course. I know how frustrating it can be to come up with a great song on the spot and then forget it later! Looking forward to hearing more about your progress.
Rachel-
I wanted to thank you for a great course! I love song writing and your course taught me to respect the songs I’ve written already by getting them written out and recorded. I’m also inspired to keep moving forward with more songs and to offer them on bandcamp very soon. Thanks again!
Karen, thank you so much for the awesome feedback and for taking the course! I am so glad that you got a lot out of it, and hope you’ll continue to write and share your songs!
Hello! I just wanted to stop by the forum to say that I am enjoying the course very much!
Right now it seems like I am a Fire songwriter, which to me indicates to me that I could use a little more structure and focus when it comes to writing and recording songs. I would like to eventually post songs on my website, and this course has motivated me take steps necessary to make that happen!
Although I have previously done some explorations with using GarageBand on my MacBook Pro, I now feel like I’m more motivated to get organized with writing and recording some quality songs to share and utilize within my music therapy practice. Thank you for simplifying the process and for the useful “Preparing to Record Checklist”!
Hello Melinda! I love to hear that this course is motivating you to do those things :) For me, structure in my songwriting is key, even though a lot of my songs emerge on the spot during sessions. Keep me posted as you go, and good luck!
Exciting stuff….. I got a song down on paper in lead sheet form, and also entered it into Finale so the melody line/chords are saved as well :) It didn’t take as long as I thought it would, and I’m hoping I’ll only get faster at the process. I’m feeling so very organized with a total of ONE song archived & recorded! haha Thanks again for the inspiration – on to chapter 2.
Woohoo! Way to go, Karen – one song leads to another! The process definitely speeds up as you get your own system in place.
I am so excited to take this course!! I found out that I am a water songwriter with air right behind. Although all four are very close. However, after listening to some of your explanations I understand that is common. :-)
Thank you so much for sharing all of your experience. I can’t wait to get to chapter 2 and recording!!
Hi Amber – thanks so much for taking the course! I’m excited to hear about your progress :)
I just finished my actions steps for chapter 1. I came up with a lot of my own songs during my internship but never wrote them down. Now I am really kicking myself for that.
I used a simple word document to create the first part of my lead sheet and actually found a cool program called Finale NotePad that was completely free to create my sheet music. I am really excited about the next chapters!!
I made that same frustrating mistake during internship as well. Finale Notepad is great – glad it’s working well for you. Enjoy chapter 2!
Hi Rachel!
Thanks so much for making this course. I work in a school district and was looking for ideas on doing more consult work and I think having an option of sharing the songs I use with the kiddos on a blog or website will really help the teachers feel more confident in a consult option. Thanks so much for the great ideas!
Hi Melissa! Thank YOU for taking the course! When I worked at a school, I found that providing my songs to the teachers to use on a daily basis made music therapy SO much more effective…I bet you will find the same to be true once you start doing so. Let me know how I can help!
Just finished chapter 2 and am excited to record my song for real! It’s not a great song by any means, but I wrote it! Thanks so much for this course!!
Congrats, Amber! Progress is progress, right? I wrote lots of not so great songs in the beginning but they will get better and better as you go! :)
So excited to finally take this course! I just finished the songwriting assessment. Although I’m tied between Earth, Water, and Air, I really connected with the explanation for Air, especially the part about reviewing and refining (just ask my husband!). Looking forward to learning more about your songwriting process!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for taking the course! I’m a reviewer and refiner as well, but I think that works to my advantage as a songwriter. The more I write, the less editing I have to do, though. Hopefully the same will happen for you :)
Phew! I started back to work 3 weeks ago (shortly after starting this course) and it has been a whirlwind ever since. Finally finished getting my song down on paper and can’t wait to start the next chapter. Interesting, this process of thinking about the songwriting process has suddenly got me on creative overload! I’ve got all kinds of great song ideas and ways to implement them running through my head. My session plans and goal forms have post-it notes of seed ideas all over them! Thanks for getting my creative juices flowing again. :)
Aren’t those creative bursts the best!? I find that my songwriting often comes in waves…I’ll write 4 songs in a day (like I did last Friday) and then go a week or so without writing any. Keep up the awesome work :)
Hi! I am excited to begin your course on songwriting!
Hi Sarah! So happy to have you joining us. Looking forward to hearing about your progress as you make your way through the course. Enjoy!
Thank you, Rachel! I have made it through Chapter 1! My dominant songwriting style was water, with air and earth not too far behind. I am choosing to write a song for an adult client who becomes easily frustrated and angry which causes him to lash out at his housemates. One of his goal areas is to better manage his frustrations through learning to use coping strategies. The method I chose when writing the lyrics and melody line to my song was the main one focused on in the first chapter. I chose a topic/client/goal area and started with the lyrics. As I was writing the lyrics a melody line started to formulate in my head. I still have not perfected the melody, but I am happy with the lyrics!
Isn’t it awesome how the melody just seems to appear as you write your lyrics? It takes me time to tweak mine, too, but having the lyrics down is a huge step! Congrats! I will be interested to hear more about how the song turns out.
Well… I am a Water/Fire songwriter (it was a tie!)… with the other styles close behind. I have my song written with a rouh recording and I am heading to Chapter Two! :)
Sounds like you’re off to a great start! Keep it up! :)
I did it! I recorded my song :) I have used Garage Band before but only scratched the surface really, so I tried a few new things that I picked up from Chapters 1 & 2… off to Chapter 3!
There is SO much that GarageBand can do…even I’m still turning little tricks here and there ;) So happy for you on completing your recording!
I have shared CD’s with Clients & Families, usually the songs are co-written with clients and therefore are not appropriate to share or sell. Working on hospice, the songs are left as legacy and private. Knowing these resources is a tremendous help and I am certain the right time will present itself when I can try to share & sell a song in the future. This was a EXCELLENT course! Thanks Rachel!
Yes, we definitely need to be careful about which songs we make public and even moreso about which we make available for sale. I’m so glad you enjoyed the course…thank YOU for taking it!
I made a rough recording of my song with PureAudio Live on the iPad. I then chose to try to record the song using GarageBand for the iPad. If I had a Mac, I would be trying it out on that! I feel like I still have a lot to learn about GarageBand and also through this process I couldn’t help but wonder if GarageBand is easier to use on a Mac. I realize it’s a steep learning curve and I kept figuring out little things along the way that made it easier, but I still am not completely happy with the finished product on GarageBand (probably because I was trying to be creative and add little extras)! I went back to PureAudio Live to make one final recording of the song. Throughout the recording process I kept wishing I had the blue snowball mic and the M-Audio Preamp…I am just really curious to know how the song would sound with some decent equipment!
I have decided that for now, I will just share my song with my client who it was intended for. I made him a CD of the recording …and I included two of his favorite songs, one before and one after the song that I wrote so that he will be motivated to listen to it! I also made a CD jacket cover using PicMonkey, which I found to be really easy to use! Thank you Rachel for a great course! This course really helped to get me back into the songwriting groove and has inspired me to take the time to write more original songs for music therapy sessions! Rachel, if you send me your email address I can email you a recording of my song! By the way, you are SO CRAZY TALENTED!!
Woohoo! I would LOVE to hear the song if you’re willing to share. My email address is rachel@listenlearnmusic.com. Thanks!
I do find GB easier to use on the Mac than iPad, but it’s fun learning as I go just like you are. And I have to say, having nice equipment makes SUCH a big difference! I can hardly stand to listen to songs I recorded before upgrading to the mic and preamp.
Good for you going the extra step and using PicMonkey to create a jacket! Isn’t that such a fun program? I love it. And thank you so much for the kind words about me and the course…that really made my night :) I love reading about all the progress you’ve made — keep it up!
I’m so excited about the finished recording I made!! Your short and sweet tutorial really cleared some things up for me about using GB. This is definitely the best recording I’ve made. It was fun adding in the bass line and using my own percussion instead of trying to make one of the prerecord loops fit. On to chapter 3!!
That’s awesome, Sarah! Congrats on finishing your recording. Adding the bass line is always my favorite part ;)
Finished Chapter 3, uploaded my song to Bandcamp, and shared on my Facebook page. I also tried to upload to TeachersPayTeachers since I’ve just recently joined the site and think it makes the most sense for my current situation. However, when I tried to upload my free resource, it never appeared on my product page. I’m going to give it some more time and then contact the site to see if they can help me out. Thanks so much for an informative course. This final step is huge for me because I’ve never attempted to share my music to the world at large before. I’m excited to see what kind of response my music gets!
Sarah, congrats on taking the leap! I know it is definitely a little scary putting your songs out there at first. I had some trouble uploading to TpT in the beginning, too, and sometimes it still takes a few attempts. Can’t wait to hear about how your music is received! Enjoy the fruits of your labor! :)
Thanks Rachel! Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who had trouble. :) I made another attempt last night and was succesful. So far, I’ve had a surprising number of people view the song and a few have downloaded the lead sheet. Never would have happened without encouragment from you and this course!
Yay, glad it worked that time! How exciting to know that people are listening and downloading!
When assessing my writing style, I thought I would end up with the result, “fire.” However, the results showed that I have an “air” writing style. I’d be interested to see how I do with this assessment in a year or so.
After the videos about a song writing process and getting my song down, I found myself creating songs in the shower. So it’s safe to say, I’m pretty excited about this course!
It is so interesting to see how styles and approaches evolve over time and with experience. Oh, and I write many of my best songs in the shower ;) Good luck and keep me posted on your progress!
When I took the assessment I came out Air, but Earth was only 1 point behind. Fire and water were both a few points below that….. I have finished all the other steps for Chapter 1 and will be going on to Chapter 2. I love writing songs and am always trying to improve and enjoy seeing/hearing other people’s process in songwriting. I have a similar process to the one that you outlined, but I am anxious to experiment with some of the other methods that you suggested. When I started writing songs, digital was not simple and accessible like it is now. I am used to writing everything out, but I like the idea of using the rough recording as my rough draft of my song…….
Hi Liz, glad to have you in the course! I will be interested to hear your feedback after trying some of the songwriting methods. Digital definitely makes things easier! Keep us posted on your progress.
Ok. Here are my action steps for chapter 2…. I have done recording of my songs in the most simple way in the past. I have never used multiple tracks, so I decided to try and see what I could come up with. I decided to use the method of mobile device app and I chose Garageband. I have a PC, so I can’t do Garageband on my computer, but it seems like asimple way to do multiple track recordings. So, I took your advice on having the list of things to have ready for the recording and I was able to make a really simple multi track recording. I did guitar and voice on separate tracks using a microphone and then I did the drums from the app. I can see how you could easily get lost in all the choices for instruments there are!! Even just in drums there were a lot of choices. I ended up using the “smart drums” option and just added bass drum, snare, and high hat. It turned out pretty cool! I’m pretty happy with the results! Now I just need to keep doing it so that I will keep getting better at using it! Thanks for providing the inspiration and motivation to try something new and getmy recordingsto the “next level”!
Awesome, Liz! I have been really impressed with the Garageband app, and have been utilizing it more and more now that it’s harder to find time to sit down at my computer (thanks to my baby boy constantly demanding my attention!). I’m happy to hear you have had a good experience with it so far. The more you do it, the easier and more intuitive it becomes!
Just finished up chapter 2. I had fun exploring some recording options. I decided for portability and ease of use, I will record onto my ipad. Garage band is great and familiar. I have an iRig guitar interface and I’m working on purchasing an iRigMic. Those two, paired with Garage Band sound pretty decent! For my needs, as I’m just returned to music therapy, this works well. Some other apps I’ve found and am trying out are Smart Recorder and Sound Cloud.
That’s great, Judy! I have thought about purchasing an iRig for guitar, so it’s great to hear that you’ve had success with it. Thanks for the updates! I will also look into Smart Recorder — am not familiar with that one.
I have now completed the entire course. Thank you so much for your insights and information. For right now, I am going to stick with sharing my music with clients, their families and colleagues. I like the idea of the using the flash drive for sharing songs. My husband teaches percussion, and I gave him the flash drive idea too (he loved it!). I used power point to make a song cover. I like the idea of each song having its own unique picture. I have started to share some digital files (mostly visuals for songs) on teachers pay teachers and have had some success with that. I think I will share some of my songs on that website once I am ready.to sell them. I already know how to use it and it is pretty simple. I also think that I will try using bandcamp too–once I get a website……
Congrats on completing the course! I’m so glad you were able to come away with some applicable ideas (and your husband too!). I will be anxious to hear about your progress as you continue to write and share songs. Oh, also – you don’t necessarily have to have a website to use Bandcamp (just something to keep in mind if you’re ready to dive in sooner). Best of luck, and thanks so much again for taking the course!
I’ve done the Songwriting Assessment. It seems I’m an Earth songwriter, although that’s only two points above Water. Since I’m not a very experienced songwriter, perhaps it makes sense that I haven’t developed a dominant style; but perhaps I won’t. I’ve got a few minutes not to start working on the song assignment for Ch. 1. Here goes.
Hi Steve – it’s common to score closely in two or more categories, even once you’ve become more experienced. Your own dominant style that emerges will most likely have some overlap. Good luck with the chapter 1 assignment, and keep us posted!
Just finished the course! Thank you for all of the resources and suggestions on way to share and sell music. As I prepare to start a couple of new music therapy groups that will be 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off, I think it’d be nice to offer our songs to the parents for the off weeks. I’m already using Dropbox for file sharing and it works great! I love that Dropbox is so accessible and easy to use.
I’m not ready to sell any of my music, but when I do, I’m looking into using a card reader with my ipad. To sell music online, I like the idea of using “teachers pay teachers”or “songs for teaching” because like you said its a more targeted audience.
I finished Ch. 1and the action steps. I think it came out pretty well – got some positive feedback from a colleague.
I also watched the first video on Ch 2, re recording methods. I would have liked more explanation about some of the specs available on the various methods. For instance, it’s hard to evaluate the advantages of multiple tracks if you don’t know what “multiple tracks” means (maybe I’m the only one). Perhaps it will become clear as we proceed.
Hi Steve – thanks for the feedback. When I say multiple tracks, I am referring to separate tracks for each individual instrument (voice, guitar, piano, etc.) rather than recording your playing and singing at the same time on one track. Let me know if you have additional questions as you go; I am happy to elaborate.
What fun this course is! I just finished chapter 1. I scored so closely between categories on the assessment, but “water songwriter” pulled out in front. So true- I jumped right into garage band and went for recording (thanks to the techie course here!). It was much easier to improvise my way into a song. Now I have to go back with my music theory mind and make sure it makes sense! I’m so excited to go through this process step by step. I’ve always improvised songs for clients and my children but never wrote any of them down (shame on me!). So I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I love how you’ve broken everything down, Rachel!
Hey Erin! Thanks for checking in and sharing your progress. Awesome to hear that you are off to such a great start and enjoying the process! Keep me posted as you make your way through the rest of the course :)
Hi Rachel,
Pardon if this is a repeat post (I tried once and didn’t get through). I have been enjoying the course so far. As far as the songwriting assessment goes, I am predominantly a Fire songwriter, with Water and Air coming in as second and third. When looking at the descriptions, I would absolutely see myself as Fire and Water, so it was interesting to see the test be so accurate (although I would think they would have tied each other, but in the test Fire came out VERY high).
I have been writing songs for years, so this course is more of a refresher course for me, to get some new ideas. I’ve also done a good deal of recording, both at home and in the studio. I have only done a little of songwriting for therapy situations (specific client needs, etc.). Most of my writing has been done as a singer/songwriter, and I sell CD’s and music online, etc.
I look forward to seeing some new ideas, and seeing how your approach differs from my own (as well as how it is similar).
Looking forward to continuing on.
Thanks so much for checking in, Lisa! I love reading how everyone scores in the songwriting assessment. I hope you’re able to glean some new ideas from the course, though it sounds like I could learn a lot from you as well!
Rachel, I just watched the Tools and Resources for Recording video. Great job. I particularly appreciate that you showed your work space, so I could see how it looks when it’s set up. Thanks.
My pleasure, Steve. Glad you enjoyed the video and found it helpful! I’m always so interested to see how others set up their space and equipment.
Hi again Rachel. I have really enjoyed your course, even though a lot was in way of review.Yet, I did gain a lot of useful ideas and info. Some of my favorites: 1. Learning about rhymezone (I used to have a rhyming dictionary and found it VERY useful in songwriting, but have since misplaced it, so this is a great resource!) 2. Dropbox–have heard about this, but never explored using it. Will almost certainly explore this one further! 3. Bandcamp–have heard of this too, but never went that way. I will likely explore it too, especially if I think it can offer me more than what I already have.
I have a couple of questions for you. 1. Do you sell the SAME songs on Bandcamp AND Songs for Teaching or any other sites? (That would give you two income streams for the same song, which is great… I’m wondering if you do that or are able to do so?)
2. Do any of the resources for sharing your music (besides CD Baby) allow you to sell hard copies of your music (ie. actual CD’s)?
Finally, I want to share a resource for online sharing that is similar to CD Baby, that I use, but was happier with their terms than CD Baby (or TuneCore, which I used to use). Nothing against those others, simply sharing another resource to check out for those who want to post things up to iTunes, etc.
It’s called Catapult and the URL is: http://www.catapultdistribution.com
They charge a one time fee to post a CD or song (may be a bit too expensive for a simple MT song, so this would be for songwriters who write substantial songs or CD’s), but you don’t pay a yearly fee, and they post it to most digital distribution websites for digital downloads. (They don’t, however, sell hard copy CD’s.) Of course, they do take part of the sale price, depending on where it sells, so the income isn’t always a lot, but once it’s posted there, that’s all you need to do.
Thanks for the great course!
Lisa
Hi Lisa!
I really appreciate the feedback on the course, and am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it. To answer your questions:
1. Yes, I do sell the same songs on both platforms! :)
2. Yes again! Bandcamp offers the ability to sell hard copies, and will even calculate shipping costs and provide a shipping page to include in your packages. However, you do have to actually ship the packages yourself. Songs for Teaching also allows this option. With them, you send a batch of CDs to their warehouse, they pay you up front, and then take care of the selling and shipping to customers.
I have not heard of Catapult, so thank you very much for letting me know about it! Can’t wait to take a closer look…sounds like another excellent option.
The song writing assessment was so interesting, I’ve never heard of anything like it! I have a Water songwriting style (with Fire in close second). I found this very interesting since both are right-brain styles. I’m looking forward to Chapters 2 and 3 and to writing more songs!
Hi Lysa! I always find it so interesting to hear how everyone scores on the assessment. Thanks for sharing! Keep me posted on your progress… :)
I actually scored as an Air which I thought was surprising at first because I never really thought I had a specific structure to songwriting I usually just did it. But as I go through it more when I do sit down and just do it I always do have a clear objective of what I want to write about and usually don’t stray from that :)
Hi Nikki! That sounds very similar to my approach. Having that clear objective in mind makes the process so much more streamlined.
It’s been great working through chapter 2 and learning about all the tools and resources for recording! I wish I had more than just the Mac and garageband, but that seems to be enough to get the ball rolling! I saw the Snowball on sale on Amazon for $50 over Christmas, and now I’m kicking myself for not just getting it! All the resources you list seem very practical to building a functional home studio. I’ve recorded my song, but feel I should do it again (it’s tough getting through it with little kids around all the time!). I’d also like to add instrumentation (it’s a four-part round) but need to download the instruments. It is frustrating working without the midi keyboard (I have a midi digital piano but no cables/connectors for the computer, plus I got it waaaaay back in ’97). Any suggestions for doing instrumentation without the keyboard? I’ve considered playing it in the same way I sang the parts in.
Hi Erin! I can 100% relate to the difficulty of recording with kids around! I have “recording time” scheduled during the weekends when my husband can be with the baby ;) Are you using Garageband? They have an onscreen keyboard and musical typing options. Also, it may be worth investing in a small midi keyboard like the M-Audio I have, because it makes playing in instrument parts as well as percussion loops a breeze. Plus the keyboard is so small that it sits right on my desk all the time and doesn’t get in the way. I don’t have to go through the hassle of setting it up and then storing in like a bigger keyboard.
Great suggestion, Rachel. I am in the market for a midi keyboard now. I need an interface to use my old digital piano and since I don’t use it anyway, it’s headed for Craigslist. I think I’ll spring for a 61-key, since I am likely to use it as a piano as well. I don’t have a desk anyway, so I can tuck it away when not in use. Then I can really get going with garageband!
Good plan! You won’t regret it…mine comes in so handy!
Woo hoo! I used garageband somewhat successfully! The editing process was a little rough, but I made it through. I decided to keep my song a capella since that is how I will be using it (even though a recording with some instruments would have been really cool). I learned all about dropbox and will likely be using that more in the future, especially as a way of posting things online. I could post in my blog, but I’m so slow with using it (technologically challenged) that I never get around to it. I created a song cover, which was fun and quite simple using keynote. This would be nice for when I can start posting things on my blog (which hasn’t seen any action since 2011). The only step I didn’t do was sell my song. I think the recording is too rough to actually put out there. I am happy to share it with my music class families (that I hold in my house), but I’m not actually working right now, so I’m not terribly worried about making it public. I’d actually be a little embarrassed because of my editing, so that’s something I can work on :) I did explore Bandcamp and Songs for Teaching and decided that indeed I need to work on editing! I’m so glad to have these tools now and hope that I can keep writing and recording. I know my 5-year-old would love to help me. It’s really very exciting! Thanks, Rachel, for creating such a great course for us “technologically challenged” folks! I really enjoyed going through the process that you so clearly put together!
Wow, you have done a ton of work, Erin! Congrats! Editing is definitely a “learn as you go” process. I still feel like I have a lot to learn in this area. The more you do it, the easier it gets. So happy you enjoyed the course and have overcome some of those technological challenges ;)
I have just finished Chapter 1. I am equally an Earth and Air Songwriter. I have written a few songs, both personally, and for therapeutic purposes. I am looking most forward to the recording process, as it is the furthest from my comfort zone. I’m loving the course and honestly, could possibly be considered a Listen and Learn stalker. To seem less creepy, let’s think about me as a Listen and Learn groupie/junkie! I love witnessing the business that can be built with a just little creativity and drive. I hope to be able to affect my clients in the way that you have so generously shared with all of us. Thank you for all that you do. Looking forward to the remainder of the course.
Hi Julie! I welcome all Listen & Learn “enthusiasts” — how about that? ;) Recording was WAY out of my comfort zone in the beginning, but now it is my favorite part. The possibilities are endless! Thank you so much for the kind words, and I hope you enjoy the course. Please let me know how I can help along the way!
I just completed chapter 1 and found myself to be an “earth songwriter” but really my numbers for the others were very close. I honestly have not done a lot of songwriting but mostly done piggyback songwriting with clients. I definitely want to do more songwriting with and for my clients and decided it was time to take this course. I always had interest in songwriting but never really knew how to get started. I have some goals in mind for myself. I am really excited (finally!!) to get started and bring this to action!
So happy you decided to take the plunge, Jennifer! I was completely green and unsure where to start at the beginning too, but have found that it’s all about experimentation and learning what works best for you as a songwriter. Good luck with the course and feel free to ask questions as you go!
I finished watching the 2nd chapter and have a question about the M-audio USB Moble Preamp. My guitar does not have an amp hook up. Do you have to have amp hook up or is there another option to use?
In order to use the preamp, yes, you would need a pick-up on your guitar. However, you can just play your guitar in front of a mic. You would just need to keep in mind that any other ambient sounds would be recorded, so you’d want to wear headphones while recording your guitar if you’ve already recorded other tracks.
I forgot to mention I wrote my first song and used it in a session. I am excited about recording it next!
That’s awesome! Congrats! Isn’t it such a great feeling using your own original songs with clients? :)
Just finished chapter. I am a water type songwriter, which seems fitting for me. Wrote a simple song that can be used for a goodbye song working with kids or teens.
As of now I have a very similar step-up to what you had when you started recording except I have a PC and use Audacity. With that my instrument considerations are limited to actual instruments I have but I do not envision the good bye song I wrote, “And Thank You,” being overly orchestrated. Never knew what a pop filter was called before. I like the layout for Audacity and it was easy to use to record the three tracks for my song. I am more accustom to recording everything at once live so it took more takes than I was expecting to get use to recording each track separately but I am please how it turned out.
Hi Merritt – I’m glad you’re getting the hang of Audacity and congrats for finishing your first song! It’s easier to be a perfectionist when you’re recording separate tracks as opposed to everything as once, because then you can hear every little flaw. A good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. Keep up the great progress.
I work in a hospice setting and most of my songwriting has to do with emotions and feeling associated with my clients’ personal experience of their disease or grief process. Additionally, most of the songwriting is co-written and I would not share any song without permission from the client. Many times, the song I am working on with a client is meant to be shared with for his or her family and I burn a copy of the finished song on a CD for the family or whoever the client wants to have a copy. I had just been making a simple word document cover with the name of the song on it but I do like the idea of incorporating pictures and other stylistic options to the label to make it stand out.
I have found that going the extra (small-ish) step of customizing a CD label can mean so much to my clients. If you are interested in designing and printing a label that can stick on the CD, I use DiscLabel software (can be downloaded online) and the Memorex CD labels.
Chapter one competed! I am a fire song writer. I am very spontaneous in creating a song in the moment of the session. I just recently began to use my voice recorder during sessions so that I can reuse the songs in the future. In the past I would end up forgetting them the next week and be lucky if the client remembered! It was exciting to put my lyrics and chords on paper to create a lead sheet. I wrote a song to promote use of the ocean drum, whether banging the drum or moving it independently. With the repetition of the song, client is also now filling in the blank while tapping the drum. It feels great having a more finished product after creating a song.
Loving the specific direction given throughout this course. I have now taken several of the songs on my voice recorder and re recorded them (still using the voice recorder), but applied the “preparing to record” checklist. Although the sound quality is not as good as your professional recordings, some simple adjustments made a big difference. One of the biggest influences was step 4, treat this as a performance. As a music therapist of of 15 years, I don’t consider any of what I do as a performance. This step really opened my eyes and made me rethink how I could be presenting my music. I am so often asked for recorded versions of my songs and I just send a recording of a session to parents via message, but I could seriously record music that could be played over and over. I am curious as to your thoughts: I want parents to sing with their children, not depend on recorded music. Does sending a more “professional” version of a song still promote the same bonding. I have shared songs in the past by recording during our session and told parents I am sharing this so that they may learn the song, not just play it with their child, hoping the parent won’t want to play it over and over again as it is not professional.
Hi Angie! You make a really good point, and I can definitely see where you’re coming from with your question. In my experience, parents will play recorded songs over and over again no matter how terrible the recording quality is. I have families who tell me they still listen to CDs I made for them back when I first started working as a music therapist back in 2008…when I was clueless about recording. Yikes! I like to have my songs recorded professionally for my own collection (especially if there is a chance I may be able to use them again with another client), and I figure if others are going to listen to them, even if only a few times to learn the tune, it might as well sound good. I approach songwriting and recording first and foremost as a music therapist, but I feel like it’s important to apply my skills as an accomplished musician as well (and let my recording reflect that).
This was an incredibly timely cmte as I had been planning to create a cd for a family that is moving. Following chapter 3, I now have an understanding of where my recordings are in iTunes and have created a cd for the family. Many of the songs were personal songs, but others I will use again in the future. I will be taking the website cmte during the next month or so. I will be adding pages of my music on the website. For now I will be simple and free as this is all very new to me, but I really like the handouts and information you have provided. It is all very user friendly and I am actually eager to piece the cmtes that I’ve selected together to advance and update my practice. Bandcamp may be in my future!
I’m glad the timing worked out so well! Sounds like you have made some awesome progress, and I look forward to keeping up with your next steps. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can do anything to help!
I am thrilled to be taking this course with you Rachael! I’ve been using my own original songs, as well as improvising songs on the spots for over 10 years in my practice. I now finally want to get them down on paper and on recordings to share with other therapists, educators and parents for helpful, easy and therapeutic uses!
I just finished chapter one and appreciate all the resources you offer. I haven’t yet tried sibelius but am using finale notepad for now.
I just started a new song combining mothers/fathers day into one song. A song about how much “mom and dad” love me and I love them, including all the things they do for use everyday. Cheers!!!
Hi John! Thanks so much for joining the course. Love your new song idea! Keep me posted on your progress and let me know if you have any questions as you go through the course!
Thank you for putting this course together. I have received many new helpful resources and am very excited to also be currently using some of the ones you suggested, guess I’m on the right track! Keep up the great work!
My pleasure, John! I’m so happy you found it useful and are already putting so many of the resources to good use. Go forth and record :)
I just watched video one in Chapter One of your course, and I am a Fire (19) songwriter with an extremely strong Water component (18). I often have songwriting ideas, and easily compose vocal melodies with accompanying guitar chords, but I’m usually unsure of myself by the time I start attempting to write what I’ve done on a page. I’m excited to continue this video series and I look forward to leading my clients through their own songwriting styles.
Jennie, welcome to the course! Sounds like you have a really solid songwriting foundation…the rest will come with time and practice. Feel free to ask questions as you go through the chapters, and check in with your progress! :)
Hi Rachel,
I’m really enjoying your course on songwriting! I started listening to your songs a few years ago, before knowing you offered a course on musictherapyed. I have a few songs already written and want to get them recorded, so this is invaluable information!
My songwriter type is spread exactly equally across all four; I literally got a score of 17 in each category. I guess I’m not surprised, I’ve always been “a little bit of everything”! I think that having the handout of attributes for different “types” will allow me to look at the ones I gave lower numbers, and improve in those areas, or at least think about how those attributes fit into what I do.
Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth! So glad to hear that you are enjoying the course so far and that it will be helpful when you start recording your songs. That is so interesting that you scored equally across all four categories! I think you are the only person that has happened to (that I know of, at least). Please keep me posted as you go through the rest of the course and let me know if you have any questions :)
Action steps for Chapter 2: I will use computer recording software, GarageBand, to record my songs. I have already recorded several using this method. I may also be able to borrow a professional microphone from my employer to improve the sound quality even more. I plan to look into getting midi cables so that I can use my keyboard to play various instrument parts, as well as possibly eventually getting a microphone for myself. I have some experience choosing instrumentation for songs, and have also done recordings using some sound effects like the ocean in a song with a surfing theme.
Sounds like you have a great game plan in place, Elizabeth. I always find choosing instrumentation to be the hardest part, because there are so many options. Keep me posted!
Action steps for Chapter 3: I will start with just the clients and music therapy coworkers hearing my music. I will see if any other therapists find my songs useful and then go from there. To share songs with clients, I will use CDs, and to share with coworkers I will use dropbox. I created a simple CD label to put onto a collection of one of my client’s piggyback songs, using Microsoft project gallery. I started a band camp account, but have not been able to put any songs onto it yet, as I have been extremely ill this week due to pregnancy. Hopefully when I am finally feeling better I will be able to sell some of my kids songs that elicit expressive responses, and that are geared towards an audience of preschool to second grade kids of any ability.
Hi Elizabeth – sorry to hear you were ill :( Fun fact…I created this entire course while battling some nasty 1st trimester nausea, so if I look a little queasy in the videos, now you know why. No rush in selling your songs. The most important thing is that you are writing, recording, and getting them heard!
I am loving this course. I have always been scared to write my own songs, but I am finding it a necessity as a music therapist. Thank you for breaking down the steps. This is exactly what I needed. I scored a 17 in both Air and Earth songwriting and a 16 in Water. I got a mere 10 in Fire. I would say I am more of an Earth Songwriter right now, but I can see that changing as I become more experienced. I ordered and am reading “Songwriting for Music Therapists”. I am really enjoying it and am learning a lot. Perhaps I CAN write music well, with practice. I have always come up with a melody before words (automatically) and I have had a difficult time fitting words to it. Now, I will record what comes to me on my cell phone recorder, but write words first. Rhyme Zone is a lifesaver! I am eternally grateful for this class. Thank you for teaching it!
Hi Shelly! YES, you 100% can write your own songs and do it well, just takes lots of practice. I still pull up RhymeZone every single time I write a new song :) Good luck as you make your way through the course, and let me know if I can help!
Hi Rachel,
I have a question: My husband and I have PC’s. We use to own Macs in the 90s, so we are familiar with the system. We liked Macs a lot, but we found that PCs were much more affordable, as we were (and still are) living on a teaching salary. We are both musicians. After finishing your class, I am seriously considering jumping back into the Mac world. I am thinking about starting with an ipad, because it would have GarageBand on it AND I could also download apps and use it in my practice. OR…would it be better to get a mac book first? Would one work better than the other when it comes to making recordings of my music? Thank you for one of the most relevant, helpful classes I have ever taken!
Hi Shelly! Thank you so much for your feedback regarding the course…I’m SO glad you found it helpful! In my opinion, investing in Mac products is worth every penny if you are a musician. PC programs just don’t compare to Garageband as far as user friendliness and capabilities go. Garageband on the iPad is great, and you have a good point about being able to use apps in your practice, but I do all of my “real” recording on my Macbook. If you are really serious about recording, go for the Macbook! I am happy to answer any other questions you have about this. I know it’s a big decision and investment!
Hi Rachel,
I was at the Apple store yesterday talking with a salesperson about a Macbook Pro. The sales person recommended a desktop Mac rather than the laptop, because he said that I could get a desktop mac with a ginormous monitor (which would be nice for Garageband) for the same price as a 13″ Macbook Pro laptop. My question is: Do you use your Macbook Pro for other things outside of your office or home? Would it be better to get a desktop with a huge monitor or a laptop for Garageband? Thanks!
Hi Shelly! I’ve often entertained the idea of going with a desktop Mac (my parents have one and it is SWEET!) but I use my Macbook Pro on the go way too often. I bring it with me back and forth to my studio, use it in other rooms of the house, and travel with it as well. If you already have a laptop, though, I think a desktop Mac would be a great choice! My hope is to someday have the luxury to invest in a desktop Mac dedicated to recording, and still always have a laptop (I would go with something smaller than my current 15″ Pro) to use on the fly.
Hi Rachel! Thanks for this helpful CMTE course. I am definitely an amateur songwriter at best, but have written little songs here and there for students I now see in schools as well as a couple of personal songs. I am looking forward to developing a better system of documenting these, though. Thanks for your tips!
~Lindsay
Hi Lindsay! I’m so glad to hear you found the course helpful. I still feel like an amateur at times but having written lots of songs, and having a good solid system in place makes a big difference. All the best to you, and thanks for taking the course!
I took the song writing assessment and it clearly showed me what I am NOT – an air songwriter! I scored highest on water songwriter, but really was fairly balanced between all but air. I’ve written lots of songs but have never been systematic about making lead sheets or recording them. This CMTE will help me take it to the next level!
Hi Rebecca! Glad the assessment allowed you to see more clearly what kind of songwriter you are. I hope you get a lot out of the rest of the course and please let me know if you have any questions along the way.
Hi! I noticed as you discussed methods of selling your songs, an example of a CD was shown while talking about labels, etc. On the label you had a copyright and year but you didn’t talk about this issue. How does one protect one’s music when selling it online or any other way?
Hi Janel! You can register a copyright through the U.S. Copyright Office. Here is a link to a tutorial through that website for how to do so: http://copyright.gov/eco/eco-tutorial.pdf.
Thank-you, Rachel!!
I just finished the action steps for chapter one and wrote a song teaching conflict resolution skills for use in a preschool classroom. I found that the words and music come together for me in an interwoven process – not distinct and separate steps. It was really rewarding to produce a chord sheet as a finished product. I would definitely like to get notating software down the road.
Congrats on finishing your song and chord sheet! It is so nice to have a tangible representation of your song, right? I know that too many of my early songs got lost in my head because I never went through the process of putting them on paper.
I used Garage Band to make a recording of my song but after going through the process I can really tell I need a better understanding of the software to make the kind of finished product I want. It was a great learning experience but I think revisiting it after I get some Garage Band tutorials under my belt would be helpful. (Keeping it simpler for now is probably a good idea!)
Sticking to the preparing to record checklist takes discipline – I found I just wanted to jump ahead and record! I can see the value of a making it a habit to use the checklist.
Nothing wrong with jumping right in and giving it a try! There are tons of specific tutorials on YouTube and the internet in general that are super helpful when it comes to breaking down the different functions and capabilities. But yes, starting simple is the way to go. This coming from someone who also wants to jump ahead and do everything at once :)
Hi Rachel! First of all, this course has been a life-changer in that it gave me the skills and confidence to branch out into recording! Thank you! Now almost a year later, I’m looking at equipment and wonder if you could share your thoughts regarding a few products/set-up. I am interested in the Blue Yeti mic and a little mixer (Behringer Xenyx 302 USB) but I’m not sure if it will work with Garageband on my MacBook Pro. When you record, do you ever use the mic and mixer at the same time? I think in your process you played the guitar track first then sang next (right?). I’m kind of stuck thinking about the fact that the USB mic and mixer are going into two different ports on the computer and wonder what that means in terms of recording. I’ve only ever done single-mic recording (whether onto a mini-disk recorder or my little Edirol device) so the prospect of using a mixer is, well, mixing me up. (I know, bad joke, but couldn’t resist). If you can offer any clarity on the mixer issue and how it works with ports and set up, and if you think something like the Behringer would work similarly to your M-Audio, I’d really appreciate it! Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi Erin! What an awesome compliment — thank you for sharing that with me! I’m so happy it has made such a difference in your skills and confidence level. Yes, your concerns with using the USB mic and mixer simultaneously are warranted…unfortunately since they come from two different sources, it’s not possible to record on both at the same time. When I want to record piano or guitar AND vocals together, I plug my Shure Beta mic into my M-Audio preamp using an XLR cable along with my piano/guitar. I’m actually really digging this setup lately, because it saves time recording each track separately and sometimes I just perform better doing both at the same time! It looks like your Behringer mixer has the same capabilities (if not more!) as mine and could be used in this way as well. I hope this helps! Please let me know if I can clarify any further. Hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving too!
Woo-hoo! I have my CD all prettied up and ready to share with the classroom I wrote it for. Feels great! I’ve put it in dropbox so it’s ready and waiting when it seems appropriate to share beyond the classroom. (Baby steps!) I am honestly not quite ready to sell online. I want to hone my recording skills a bit (ok, maybe a lot) first and would like to get a whole collection ready to sell. Bandcamp looks like a good venue for this when I’m ready. I’ve been wanting to record for a long time and I am SUPER excited to begin. Thanks for helping make that possible with a fantastic course!
YAY! Congrats on getting your CD ready, putting it on Dropbox, and starting to *think* about the possibility of selling your music. No rush — wait until you feel ready and then take the plunge. Bandcamp is AWESOME and I can’t recommend it enough. Let me know if you need any guidance once you get to that point!
Hello, Rachel! I have just completed the first chapter of your course. As soon as I saw the categories of the assessment, I knew I would be the Earth type. And sure enough, I was right. Though air came in a close second. I was DEFINITELY not a fire type. Something to work towards I suppose! So begins my journey attempting to write my first song from scratch…
Hi Kelly! It’s definitely not okay to fit into all the categories…I sure don’t :) Good luck on your first song, and keep me posted on your progress!
Ch 1. I was very curious about the results from the songwriting assessment. I scored the highest on air songwriter with my second being a point away at earth. After reading the descriptions they match my odd style of songwriting. My method of songwriting has always been just winging it in session. Songwriting was never a strong point in school and one of my least favorite assignments. During my professional experience I have found that the only time I have created a song was in session taking a statement that the client said and going from there. Since the iPhone has the recording app I began to record those sessions so that I could go back to it the following week. Especially when the client is requesting to sing that song again. From there we revisit the song and I adjust melody and chords as we go. The song I used was Personal Space a recent client favorite that I really want to get down on paper and recorded.
I tried my first recording today of the song of just a verse and chorus. The song can go on for 5-15 minutes depending on how many people so I just did 2. I only have garage band on my iPad so the recording does not offer as many features but I have now learned how to loop and trim sections. Since it is on my iPad used my external mic to improve the sound quality. I definetly want to make another recording of it but it was good practice for the first time using garabe band to record multiple layers using some of the instruments they have and live.
One question I have when you use songs with multiple verses that can go on forever, how many do you do in your recording? A lot of the songs I make up in session are based on a set of 12 toys. For those with short attention spans I have them select 4 and we sing about the 4 and move on but for those that can tolerate it all 12 can sometimes take 15 minutes to complete the entire song. How would you go about recording this?
Heather
Hi Heather! I was definitely a “winger” type songwriter in the beginning, and still do a lot of that these days in addition to traditional songwriting. Great question about how many verses of a song to include. I have to make this decision a lot too, especially for songs involving different movements, animals, sounds, etc. I usually go no longer that 4 verses for the sake of recording, just because most of my recordings serve as either a template for other music therapists who will adapt it to meet their needs OR as a jumping off point for clients to use at home or in other settings. I think it will depend on how your recording will be used.
I am a Water songwriter….although, I don’t write much, so I’m not sure I would consider myself a songwriter at all. That is the reason I am taking this course!
Hi Deanna! Thanks so much for taking the course. Even if you don’t consider yourself a songwriter at this point, you ARE one! The potential is there, it just takes some practice before you’ll feel comfortable giving yourself that label :) Good luck with the course, and let me know if you have questions along the way.
Ch 3. I have grealy enjoyed all of the information in this chapter. I know that I would like to make some of my songs available but I was never sure how to go about doing it. While I am not ready yet to make them public for sale I feel I now have the tools to take it to the next steps. My biggest hang up before was trying to notate the songs on the staff rather than just doing a lead sheet. I can now focus on my recordings and lead sheets rather than struggling through notation. I did some searches on the web to see how other therapist are selling their songs and I was able to recognize the different program options. I am leaning toward BandCamp if I decide to sell on my own but I am also considering doing a Ebook with the songs included.
I am trying a lot of album art to see which matches what I am looking for but will not finalize it until the Ebook is complete so they complement each other.
I really liked the idea of using Cds of flash drives to provide clients with music. I recently began recording their concert music with and without lyrics to burn some CDs so now I can start doing that with their weekly songs. Since I am starting to work with more younger children this will be a perfect way to start my recording process and sharing the music. I just want to become more comfortable with the recording process and product before I make it available to others.
Thank you so much for making this course it has answered a lot of my questions
Heather
So glad you enjoyed this chapter, Heather. I stick with lead sheets for many of my songs, just become they come with recordings that customers can use to learn the melody. It saves a lot of time, for sure! There’s nothing wrong with making your music available on Bandcamp AND selling an ebook — I make all of my products available on Bandcamp even if I sell them through additional avenues. I’m really happy to hear that this course has been helpful, and please let me know if you have further questions down the road.
Hi! My name is Kim, and I am excited to learn more about the process of songwriting, which has always intimidated me. I have not written much original music, as I just don’t have much confidence in my ability to do so. Most of what I have done has been piggy-backing. That being said, I took the assessment, and scored highest in the Earth category. Hoping this course helps me gain the skills and confidence needed to dive into songwriting at a deeper level.
Hi Kim! Songwriting intimidated me for a long time, too, but hopefully you will find that the more you do of it, the less intimidating it becomes. Good luck and keep me posted as you progress through the course!
Well, it’s not very sophisticated, but I wrote a catchy little Hello song. For me, it worked easiest to pick up my guitar and write it all at once. I had a few lyrics in mind and the first phrase of the melody, and then it all just came together as I played guitar and sang. I quickly did a rough recording and wrote down the lyrics in Pages. Then I notated it as a lead sheet in an app called Notion. I have had it for awhile, but hadn’t really used it more than once, so it was a great time to learn how to use it. It was really easy – I highly recommend it! Now on to recording!
I forgot to mention that I did use the Rhyme Zone a few times – great resource! :)
I recorded my song using GarageBand on my iPad. The quality is not great, since I don’t have an external mic, but it was still fun to do. I have used GarageBand many times before to record accompaniments to use in sessions, but had never recorded an original song. I laid down a drum track, added bass, then recorded my guitar and vocals. It was fun to work on balancing the tracks and adding a little reverb. It really went a lot more smoothly than I expected. In the past, I was always leery about making a recording, even for clients/teachers, but this process really gave me some confidence. Now I’m excited to do more, and am looking into buying a Snowball mic, camera connection kit, and iRig so that I can have a better quality recording. Yay!
Listened to the last chapter, and then made some cover art for my song using Keynote, since I have that already. It took me a little bit to figure out how to add an image, but I finally figured it out. I had some Shutterstock images that I had purchased previously for recital covers, so I used one of those to play around with. Since the sound quality of my recording quality is not great due to using the mic on the iPad, I am not ready to share my recording yet. I would feel comfortable sharing it with staff at the school I work at, but the song is a greeting song for music class, so they really wouldn’t use it in the classroom. I did experiment with Dropbox, just so I understood the process. I had to email the song file to myself, and then open it in Dropbox. I am obviously not ready to sell my song yet, either, but if I am able to do some more writing and get the proper equipment, I can see possibly doing so in the future. I have purchased songs from both Teachers Pay Teachers and Songs for Teaching, so I am familiar with those sites already.
Such a great course, Rachel! Thank you so much for making the process of songwriting less intimidating!
Hi Kim! Thanks so much for keeping me posted on your progress throughout the course. Sounds like you have wasted no time diving in to all the areas I covered, and it will only get easier with time and practice. Enjoy!
I’m really enjoying this course so far! I am an “air” songwriter and while reading the definition I kept saying “Yes, yes! That’s so me!!” I never took any composition or songwriting classes either so I love how this course breaks things down and makes the process less intimidating. I’m taking this course while home on a “staycation” so it’s nice to have a clear head to focus on the task at hand!
1 – I wrote a song to use with one of my clients that is working on self-identification of feelings and self-regulation to deal with anxiety. I am a mix of all the song writing styles. I have two each in the Earth and Water columns, but, after reading the descriptions, I would have to say that I feel I am more in the Water category d/t the more improvisational nature of how I write. I used a simple melody with very simple format in which he can voice one thing per verse of something that he can do when he feels anxious or stressed. I recorded it and used it with him. He focused, calmed, and started doing the activities and suggested other calming activities when the song was presented to him.
2 and 3 – I recorded my song with voice only on the iPhone and will put it for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. I decided to not use instrumentation on it for the simple reason that the song calls for the client to choose various activities to do, and I usually am guiding them in that experience in session. Also, the lack of rhythmic instrumentation adds to the calming demeanor of the song.
Ok….well, I originally chose Teachers Pay Teachers because I am more familiar with that site, but then decided to give Bandcamp a go since it looked like it might be easier to upload there. I am having some difficulty getting my m4 file to transfer and needed to convert it into a wav file to transfer, but am having troubles doing so in iTunes. Any suggestions?
Hi Kirsten! I will agree that Bandcamp is a little more user-friendly as far as uploading your music. To change the format of your song, go to Preferences, and then under Importing, change the setting to WAV. Then right-click on the song in your iTunes library and select “convert to WAV”. If you still have questions, please let me know!
Ok. I am still working out the kinks, but I want to thank you for getting me to the place where I have got to this point. I wouldn’t have tried to figure out how to put it online without your impetus. I’m going to work a bit more on our recording. In the process, I actually found some songs that I already made into CDs and gave out to teachers that I worked with in Mexico. I think that I am going to try to make them into a CD to distribute online. So, thank you!
I just finished the course and boy have my eyes been opened to a plethora of information! I had no idea there were so many resources out there. I, like many others above, tend to get very overwhelmed when it comes to technology, so I’m glad to have “scratched the surface” with this course! I look forward to exploring further and finding what resources work best for me and my practice. Thank you for your time in compiling and presenting this course, Rachel!
You’re very welcome, Jenny! Have fun exploring all the options and deciding which one works for you! Thanks so much for taking the course.
Hi Rachel and anyone taking the course this fine, frigid January 2015! I am excited to be taking this course. I often write songs on the spot with/for my clients and then promptly forget them. I’m kicking myself (which never helps). I do employ my recorder on my phone and have in that way, preserved clients songs and grabbed songs bits to remember and develop. Now, to go the next step with this course. Alison Rene
Hi Alison! Hope you are managing to stay warm! I do this ALL the time still to this day, and if I’m lucky I can remember enough of it to write out and record later. Good luck as you go through the course, and let me know if questions come up.
Simple is best. Just finished ch.2, going out of my comfort zone and had a lot of help from my husband using my firebox recording device from Cubase. It is not intuitive to me. Especially on where to store it and retrieve it. However, I wrote and recorded a polyphonic round.it was pretty exciting. Not ready for publication yet.
In the past I’ve used my voice recorder, then I can send it to one of my teachers immediately via message or email.
Ch. 3 is excellent. My band shares a Dropbox folder. I’m slowly learning. I also shared w one of my teachers this week and it was a success!
Thanks for the feedback, Alison! So happy to hear that you were able to share with another teacher successfully. I am a HUGE fan of Dropbox.
Hi Rachel!
I just finished the songwriting assessment. I’m an “Earth” songwriter. Looking forward to the rest of the course. :)
Hi Amanda! Thanks for taking the course — I hope you find it helpful since you already have lots of experience with songwriting and recording! :)
Hi Rachel, I am currently taking this online course and I am enjoying it! I have composed and recorded songs before, but this CMTE is still very informative. I need more help with the songwriting aspect of this process and the first chapter gave me some new ideas. I feel like I have this potential to unlock my songwriting creativity–and it’s about time I dig in! :-)
One question I have for you–how do you go about getting copyright protection for your original works before you sell your songs? Do you send a form to the US Copyright Office?
Welcome to the course, Maurizio! Glad you are finding it helpful even though you already have some experience with songwriting and recording. YES – it’s all about unlocking that potential! You can register a copyright through the U.S. Copyright Office. Here is a link to a tutorial through that website for how to do so: http://copyright.gov/eco/eco-tutorial.pdf. Let me know if you have other questions!
Thanks for the link to the tutorial!
Although I have an iPad, I am not a Mac user for the other things I do for MT (I use Windows). I’m trying to figure out how to record a line input into GarageBand into the iPad, whether it’s the guitar or keyboard into the iPad. Having that capability would be of tremendous help in my songwriting endeavors. Please point me in the right direction. Thanks!
There are lots of options for this! Here is a list with varying price points and reviews: http://goo.gl/BfRlds. Hope that helps!
Hi! I am an Air writer with some of the other types mixed in. I am a notorious piggyback songwriter as I have found classroom teachers are more likely to use my activities if it’s to a familiar tune. However, I have a private client who is working on writing his own songs so I stumbled on this CMTE just in time. I write spontaneous piggyback songs in almost all his sessions, but we are ready to venture into an original tune as well. We are working on the lyrics and I am going to use a rhyming app (thanks for that idea) with him as rhyming is super difficult for him. My biggest weakness is the recording area. I would love for him to be able to use garage band to record his song.
Hi Melisa! Thanks for sharing a little about your experience and what you are looking to gain from this course. Please let me know if you have questions along the way. I’d love to hear about your progress with your client as you begin your songwriting adventures together.
Ch 2 & 3: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have been wanting to learn how to use GarageBand for a while now. I have messed with it a little on my iPad, but after your short video, I’m ready to dive in! I have ordered my mic and camera adaptor from Amazon, and I’m going to record as soon as it comes in. I have DropBox and am going to look into using it to share with my clients. Thanks again for sharing your expertise!
That’s so great to hear! I’m glad you found the video helpful, and having those tools will make recording a fun and successful process. Good luck!
Moving on to chapter 2. I finished getting my song written and have it down on paper. Just finished doing the rough recording. I decided to write a song for a student who is working on identifying and reading sight words. My objective: Student will be able to say, spell, and identify sight words from a field of two sight words in 8 out of 10 trials.
I think it normally takes me longer to do my recording due to the fact that I have ideas in my head of tunes for the songs I write, but I sit down and do all of the recording at one time (ideas, trials and errors, tweaking,etc.). The suggestion to do a rough recording is a great idea!
Amanda, good for you tackling a tricky objective in your new song! You’ve never been afraid of a songwriting challenge, that’s for sure ;) Yes, I allllllways start with a rough recording because I like to let the ideas for instrumentation, arrangements, etc. percolate before I tackle the final version. See if that helps with your time efficiency!
I have a comment on chapter 3 about converting the iTunes file to WAV format for websites. I found that it’s also a neat trick to import a track into Audacity after converting the track into a WAV file and you may adjust the speed of it without changing the key. This allows for more adaptation for clients while they are learning songs or depending on an audio file to learn a skill. In other words, you can decrease the tempo to match your client’s level AND remain in the same key.
If you are interested in doing this, first make sure the entire tracks are selected. Go to the menu, click on Effect –> Change Tempo and follow the prompts to adjust and preview the difference. Be sure that you select ‘Change Tempo’ for this feature and not ‘Change Speed’ because selecting change speed will definitely change the key.
Awesome tip, Maurizio! I know our Audacity users will very much appreciate you sharing this!
Hi Rachel!
Just finished up the course. Loved all of your info and especially the products you use to record. I’ll definitely be looking for a couple of the products you mentioned to add to my collection! :) For Chapter 3, my target audience has always been for students with special needs and their parents, teachers and other caregivers. I share my music via my website, http://www.morewithmusic.org, my bandcamp site, and I also created a separate website via weebly.com which is shared among the teachers that I serve in the school system where I am employed. I write a surplus of songs, design visual aids for them and post them to this weebly site so the teachers can provide the repetition of the song when I am not present in their classroom. This site gets an average of 125 hits a day! :) I love the fact that the teachers are using music and songs in their classrooms daily with this site to support their academic topics.
I design my song covers with keynote also and link my songs via bandcamp to my facebook business page often as well. I also have a teachers pay teachers page where I sell some songs too.
Hi Amanda! So happy to hear the course was informative for even a seasoned pro like you :) That’s impressive how many hits your site gets! You’re clearly doing it right. Thanks for sharing your experiences as a songwriter and artist, and keep up the amazing work!
Rachel,
I really enjoyed listening to your CMTE. I look forward to following through with some of my songwriting ideas. I appreciate seeing the process from start to finish. Thanks again!
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for the positive feedback. Wishing you all the best with your songwriting!
In the middle of Chapter 2 having just finished Chapter 1. I am an “earth” writer. I am loving this course already and using rhymezone. I use a lot of original songs in sessions but am looking for ways to make the words flow easier and notate simple composition.
Chapter 2- I used a portable recording device to record the lyrics several times and pick the best one to pick out melody to and sing along with in practice. I set up percussive accompaniment in Audacity on my computer. I got my guitar out to play and sing new song into my computer microphone. I have added a snowball microphone on my wishlist! Nothing fancy, but I think it’s good enough to save with chord sheet and to give to my client’s parents for them to help the client work on goal throughout the week.
Chapter 3 – My target audience is mainly my clients. I currently use dropbox to share resources with others. If I choose to try and sell my music, I think CDBaby would be my choice as it has the option to set up a facebook musicstore.
Hi Rachel! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and progress as you complete each chapter. You will love the snowball mic! Good luck with your original songs, especially as you start sharing them even more! Let me know if you have any further questions for me :)
I just wrote my song for the course while my hubby was holding our sleeping toddler and my preschooler was working on writing letters beside me. Before I was done recording it the preschooler was singing along and my toddler woke up clapping and waving her hands to the music :) It’s simple but works great for the topic and objectives for our kids church little’s choir. So excited to write more now!
That’s great, Margaret! My toddler is my best sounding board for new songs, too :) Can’t wait to hear about your progress as you keep writing!
Just finished watching the course videos today. Found that I’m probably an Earth/Air split in songwriting style. It was a little overwhelming to see all the different program choices for recording and sharing music with clients and others, but I’m glad to have learned about some of the available options. I am not currently employed in MT, so I don’t have an archive of music waiting to be produced and shared, but at least I will have an idea of what to do when the opportunity arises.
Hi Heather! I felt the same way when I was diving into the recording/sharing realm — too many options. But once I found one I liked and stuck to it, I was able to become an “expert” in that method. Best of luck as you write, record and share your music.
I got a blend between the “fire” and “air” songwriter. I have written a few songs but would love to do more. I would like to get better at making time in my schedule to compose rather than relying on pure spontaneity. I am looking forward to this course!
Welcome to the course, Emily! This is something I am working on, too…I do make time for it, but usually only because I have a deadline (whether a music therapy session, new group session, or product launch). Eventually I would like to have a designated chunk of time devoted to songwriting each week.
Hello! My name is Grant Powell and I am a board certified music therapist from Denton, TX. I just worked on completing the steps from Chapter 1 of your CMTE presentation on songwriting. By following your steps, I first thought about creating a song that focused on helping a client work on identifying the value of coins and figuring out how to count coins. Then, I worked on step 2 by writing down my lyrics. Next, I spoke the words of my lyrics in different ways to get various ideas of how they could flow. When I came across a speaking style I liked that I converted into a singing one, I ended up reaching for my guitar, picked out how the melody went, and immediately figured out my chords to the song (helps quite a bit that guitar was my primary instrument of study throughout my childhood and in college, haha). Since I got my chord structure figured out pretty quickly, the song was simple enough that I didn’t have to worry about recording it to get a rough recording of how my song would go because it’s melody was very well-processed in my head. Since I’ve written original songs in the past for my own pleasure, I usually will immediately write down the melody after I come across a way of speaking the lyrics that I like. Writing down the lyrics first helps give me a good idea of the rhythmic feel and pulse of the words and that tends to help me figure out how the melody will end up going by allowing me to fool around with different pitches. Then, once I get the melody figured out, I reach for my guitar to pick out the melody in order to figure out what key it is in. This, in turn, helps me figure out what chords in a specific key I could use.
Hi Grant! Thanks so much for sharing your process with me. Good luck with the rest of the course, and let me know how it’s going!
I’m really going to enjoy this course… as it will inspire me to write down more of my “spontaneous” music therapy songs. It’s sad, as some of my best songs faded in my memory within months after a client no longer needed therapy. I know if I had written them down I could have used them with minor revisions for subsequent clients.
A few months ago I did have a need for a song for a client who is very low functioning. His blind, so sometimes the only way to keep him engaged during that “wait” time is through simple songs. I thought he needs his own special song of encouragement with his name in it, that describes the task at hand. So within minutes I had one that I knew I wanted to write down. After singing it a few times, during his little break I wrote down the solfege syllables and the rhythm words. I realized then that I always need to bring my phone into the session as it would have been much easier. I’m going to record it during his next session!
Good plan, Melody! The phone is a lifesaver for that reason. Enjoy the course and keep me posted as you progress!
Well I did it! About 9 years ago I started buying my own recording equipment to record my music therapy songs… and because of work and family stuff, I dabbled around in doing a few recordings, but they never sounded all that great and it was so much work! But I think all that is going to change, as you have worked out a simple, doable approach to song writing and publishing that even beginners like me can feel confident doing! I love your checklists too! That is so important! So yesterday (since I had to cancel my MT sessions) I wrestled with the software, got it to finally recognize my keyboard, played a simple bass line, downloaded a free online tuner on my iphone to make sure my guitar was perfectly in tune with the bass line, and even though I still have a touch laryngitis, I went ahead and recorded it. I had written it for a specific client a few months ago, and since I had to cancel his session, because of being ill, I just emailed it to my client and can hardly wait to see her reaction. I sent it to my sister (who has published two CD’s of children’s song and goes to a professional studio) and she said she was impressed and wants me to do an album. I can’t wait to tell her about the online marketing resources that I don’t think she is aware of. Thank you so much for your simple, practical ideas that I needed to actually make this dream of mine a reality!
That is SO awesome, Melody! Good for you diving back in — once you start recording, it gets a little addictive! ;) I’m so glad the course has helped inspire you and provide a framework. Keep up the wonderful work!
I just completed the action steps for chapter 1. As far as a type of songwriter I am, I am a Earth songwriter. Which makes complete sense to me. That one was by a landslide. The buzz words describe me perfectly.
For the song, I work with groups of adult with developmental disabilities and we are currently working a lot with commendation skills. I began writing a song about feelings, with opportunities within the song for them to choose how they are feeling today or how a peer is feeling. I have written down the lyrics and chords now just onto a rough recording. I prefer to handwritten things as it is easiest for me to remember them this way. And I have a note book full of notes and such and I added the song to this. I have worked with Sibelius before and also have a app for the iPad which is very similar. But for this simple of a song I don’t feel I’ll write out this melody. Looking forward to the next chapter.
I meant communication skills.
I can already tell this course is going to be just what I need! I have been a music therapist for almost 11 years. I contract with 3 local school districts to provide group and individual music therapy with kids ages 2-21. I work in an area that there are VERY few MT, I’m the only practicing MT within 3+ hours of my community. Therefore, I have not had any connections with any other MT to bounce ideas off of. Before I became a MT, I wrote music like crazy. But I have gotten far away from song writing. I hope this course inspires me to “get back to my roots” and get my creative juices flowing again!
That’s great to hear! I hope the course is indeed helpful! The good news is that once you start writing and recording, it’s completely addictive ;)
I have never recorded a song. Wow, did I just say that??!!! At this point (starting out) I think the digital voice recorder would be best for me. I also think it would be helpful because it is so portable, and I could have it with me at all times in my gig bag. You never know when a song may hit you, or when a client may give a snipit that you could make into a song.
I also think Garage Band would be useful for me. I have an iPad that goes everywhere with me, so having it loaded on it would be very helpful. I think it would be fun for my clients to use also. We could create songs together and have a finished product they could share with family/friends!
I hope to one day move into more serious recording, but for now, I will ease into it :)
Chapter 3:
I liked the idea of having a visual representation of each song I create. I could use these for my client’s schedule board. That way they would have a visual schedule and know what their session will be like!
I also think the CD cover would be a cool idea to implement with my clients who help me write their songs. They can then create the album cover, and I can use this as part of the therapy process.
Lastly, since I am a novice at formal song writing and recording, I also will need a novice way to share my music with my clients and their family. A blog or web page will be the best route for me!
Hi, this is Miriam Ofori. I am just getting going on this course. I appreciated the Sonwriting assessment, though some of the categories were very hard to rate with any clarity. I came out strongest in the water area, though some aspects of Fire felt true, and others elsewhere. I don’t tend to write the music first, so that didn’t fit with Water. Most often, the start of the lyric comes with a phrase of music, though it is vague at times. In any case, I have written just a handful of songs over the course of many years, and am usually pretty satisfied with them fairly quickly. I have sometimes worked at it a bit, taking a class at a workshop, etc., trying to hone the craft, but it is more common that I have a reason I need a song and then I “have” to get it done and I am more open to the process, or just focused. It has typically come pretty easily for me, but I have very high expectations for myself in terms of the philosophical or emotional depth of the lyric in some cases, or the emotional effectiveness, certainly, so that can get in my way at times as the inner critic can become a block. Hoping to make some headway through the process of this course!
Hi, all –
Just finished Chapter 1 and am really pleased with the song I wrote for a 35-year-old, but very youthful African-American male client. One of his most positive responses to music is “That’s my song”! I gave the song that title and wrote it from his perspective, but in relationship to me and our music therapy process, as I see him privately, as well as in group sessions. I used the voice recorder feature on my phone while I improvised ideas for 9 minutes, and I was really glad I had done so, because my favorite part of the song was on that recording, but I’m not sure I would have gotten it back again without the recording. I still want to tweak the chord progression slightly to reflect the reference to the client’s loss of his father recently, but in general, I like the way it moves. Good stuff! Thanks for the inspiration, and the assignment, which can be one of the best catalysts for inspiration!
Hi, all – Wrapping up Ch 2 and I have my lead sheet put together and I made a recording on a simple recording program that my supervisor set up for me as a shortcut sometime ago. It was really easy and I have it saved. I plan to put together a more complicated recording soon, but for now, glad to have this down. I sang my song for the young man it was written for and was somewhat disappointed. It was in a group setting, and he was having a fairly “off task” afternoon, but I thought I would try it anyway. Not a fair hearing. I will sing it for him again in a private session on Friday. His caregiver said she likes it, though she didn’t hear it well either with the distractions. That old “can’t control how other people receive what you offer” situation… I still feel really good about the song. I did some research and learned that the chord that fit just right in one spot is D minor (maj 7). Now I know that. Amazing online resources! Started Chapter 3, but will finish up tonight!
Hi Miriam! Thanks so much for keeping us updated on your progress through the course so far. It sounds like you are making some great strides! I definitely know the feeling of working so hard on a song for a client and then having it fall short of your expectations (most of the time for reasons out of your control. I’m hopeful you’ll have more success in the one-on-one session. Looking forward to updates as well as how Chapter 3 goes for you.
I finished up Chapter 3 last night and completed the course evaluation. I have not moved through all of the steps suggested with my song and won’t be able to right now. However, this is exactly the kind of tutorial approach to he steps involved in recording and managing music digitally that I was hoping for. Unlike Rachel, I am not a digital native. I was so struck by the comfort she displays in the world of technology. It was another reminder about the stark generational differences between digital natives and digital immigrants, such as myself. (I read a great article which introduced me to these concepts and immediately felt that “Aha” feeling when something is so true to your experience). This was ideal in that I can refer to the steps over time as my career moves forward. It is my goal to become comfortable in the digital world and not to let it overwhelm me. I plan to give my client the song I wrote for him on a cd with some other songs he frequently requests. I also hope to introduce it to his mother in a session, so she would understand where it came from. I have invited her to attend a session with him for a two-way exchange of information and insight. In any case, I still like my song and another client said today upon hearing it, “That is an amazing song!”, which is the highest praise for it so far. It feels good to share it. All for now. Thank you Rachel, Kat, and the gang!
Congrats on finishing the course, Miriam! I’m so happy to hear that it followed the approach you were looking for. You’ve already made great strides as a digital immigrant (I love this terminology!) and will continue to do so, no doubt. That’s wonderful feedback to receive from a client, and I’m sure the mother of the client for whom you wrote the song will agree. Best of luck as you continue with your recording endeavors!
Hello Rachel,
I really loved your course and even though I did take it awhile back I do occasionally go back to some of the videos to review as I learn to record. I have done a lot of recording on my ipad but really want to learn to use my garageband on my mac. I know there is so much more I can do. I also want to start recording my own songs for clients and want the songs to sound really professional. My guitar does not have a pick up in it so I bought one that can be easily put into the sound hole. And I purchased an interface chord that hooks up to my guitar and into my mac. Well, the recording is not really that good. There is a lot of static and “noise” and I am not really happy with the sound in general and there does not seem to be a way to adjust this out.So my question is if I purchase the M-Audio USB Mobile Preamp will this make recording on my guitar much better and will the “static and sounds” possibly go away? I figure a straight cable is not the best way to go. Thanks for any advise on hooking up my guitar!
Hi Jennifer! Yes, this seems to be an issue when using an external guitar pick-up. I have a small preamp that I use in addition to the M-Audio USB preamp for my Taylor GS Mini (it has an external pick-up as well) and that solves the static issue. I know it’s a lot of “gear” but that one-time investment will go a long way when it comes to increasing the quality of your recordings!
Thanks Rachel! I also have a Taylor GSMini and this is the guitar I bought the external pickup for. I have seen the M-Audio USB preamps and know where I can get one but I am curious to what the additional preamp that you use looks like. So what preamp do you use and how much do those cost?
Hi Jennifer! The additional preamp is a K&K Pure Preamp, which I got at my local music store but you can also order from Amazon for $99. Here is the link: http://amzn.to/1LHxLiT. It makes a huge difference in the sound quality of my recordings as well as when I play gigs. Hope that helps!
Hello Rachel,
I am sending a message in response to the chapter 2 part of the songwriting course. I went ahead and recorded my “Money Song” on Audacity. I used my voice along with guitar and, then I added another track that featured the frame drum. I recorded myself a few times playing the frame drum to find a stye of playing that wouldn’t overpower the guitar and voice track. I decided to add a frame drum track with a simple recurring rhythmic pattern that consisted of playing a rim shot and muting it in the middle of the drum off and on. I felt it blended well with the guitar and voice track because the song is in the key of A minor and it had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it and, since the origin of the frame drum is Middle Eastern, I felt it made a decent mix. I think the hardest part was making sure the frame drum part was played in-sync with the guitar and voice part. I had to cut a few slivers of the drum part out to make sure the tracks were even rhythmically. I remember you mentioning how you had to make sure to get your tracks even through your usage of Garageband. Actually, in my opinion, I think Garageband is better than Audacity based on your demonstration of it because it is easy to keep everything organized in terms of where the strong beat is and where the measure begins and ends when it comes to making sure the different tracks line up. At least, I think I remember that’s how you could use Garageband. I am taking a while longer completing this course and it had quite a few weeks ago since I saw some of the other videsos. Anyway, I think I might add a Garageband version designed for Windows to my computer.
Hi Grant! Thanks for sharing your experience with recording on separate tracks. It does take some time to get the hang of it and make sure everything is in sync. Garageband does have the “groove track” feature which helps with that, though sometimes it makes the sound a little too “automated” so I try not to use it if I don’t have to. Unfortunately Garageband is only available for Mac, but there is an iPad version as well. Take your time with the course — that’s the beauty of self-study :)
Thanks for the tips! Yeah, I am taking my time with this course and will continue to do so to make sure I get some of those activities in the third chapter completed. I’ll keep you up-to-date on my progress with the third chapter. Again, thanks for the feedback!
My pleasure! Sounds good!
I just completed Chapter 2 and immediately recording my song on Garageband. I added harmonies and a bass line to my recoding this time which I have never actually done on a personal recording before only on recordings for me work. I can not afford a microphone or pre-amp at this time, so I made due with what I have and actually you cannot hear a lot of background noise which is always good. Thank you for the tips on Garageband!
You’re welcome, Racheal! I’m glad the recording turned out well, especially for not having a mic and preamp.
I just completed the course, I did create a album cover for my song. I used Powerpoint because that is the program I have available on my computer and screen shot it. But in the past for songs that my clients and I have collaborated on I have had them design the CD covers themselves. I also shared my song with a teacher in a pre-school who wants to incorporate more music into her day, I did this through a USB which I will be sending through the mail to her. As for sharing with my clients at my work we usually burn CDs this seems to be the simplest method for getting their homes to play the music for them. I do not personally know how I feel about selling or sharing my music online yet, if I were to I think that I would choose bandcamp it is a great very user friendly website.
Thank you for the course I got a lot of information from the garageband portion and did like the various ways to privately share online. Through my work we use Dropbox all the time, it can be a life saver. Thank you again
I’m so glad you enjoyed the course and found it helpful! Please let me know if you have questions in the future and good luck with all your recording endeavors!
Thanks for this course! I really liked the assessment, I am a mix of Fire & Air.
Thanks for taking the course, Darci! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Rachel,
I am in the process of downloading my first album to my bandcamp . I would like to add an instrumental version to each track as part of a purchase and I can’t seem to figure this out. Is this version part of bandcamp pro? Thanks for any information.
Hi Jennifer – are you trying to upload multiple song files (the full version and the instrumental version) to the album? You don’t need pro to do that. What are the file types you are uploading?
Yes, that is exactly what I am trying to do. And answer to your second question, if I am answering it correctly. I am using WAV form when downloading.
Hmm, strange that it isn’t letting you upload more than one track. I just logged into one of my non-pro accounts to give it a try; I was able to upload more than one track to an album, but I had to upload them separately and wait until the first was done to upload another.
Are you creating an album, as opposed to just a single track? You would need that in order to have multiple files (full + instrumental tracks).
Hello, Rachel. I’ve just started taking your course online. I am a earth songwriter.
You showed me so many great tips on songwriting already. Thank you.
I usually sit in front of my keyboard and kind of force myself to create melody, lyrics and chord progression.
This time I followed your tips and it went pretty smooth. I voice-recorded the melody on garage band first. Then proceed to notation and chord progression. I used a free softwear, musescore, and also microsoft word. By doing this I realized that I hear a chord progression in my mind when I have a song . All I have to do is to figure it out on the keyboard.
Now I have a “Hello Song” for my two little nieces. I am a MT-BC, but have not being practicing. Thank you for your help!
You’re welcome, Mikako! Thanks for taking the course! I’m glad your first recording went smoothly, and I’m sure your nieces will love it :) Please let me know what questions you have as you continue through the course.
Dear Rachel
Thank you for the message above. I have been working on Chapter 2: recording. I wrote a song on the keyboard and recorded it with GarageBand on i-pad. It is not super high quality sound, but still is presentable.
The i-pad GarageBand is any different from the one you were using on the video, I wonder. Mine has fewer instrumental options. I thought it is amazing that you are using the midi keyboard. It’s all over my head right now :)
I purchased an audio interface and a stage piano few months ago, and I have been trying to connect the two, and install a software to my computer… Still I am trying. Well at least I know now one of the reasons why I have been failing. All I can do is to fix problems one by one.
Well back to the recording topic. I am thankful for that you pushed me to record my own song. It was a huge learning experience. I composed a 25-measures long song, which was a big step for me! When I listened to my recording, I came to realize what I need to work on to be a better song writer. I need to pay attention to phrases, breath takes, intonations, and word choice. Oh I wish I could be like you right away :)
Thank you so much. I like how you reply to our comments. It is nice to get some support. It is nice to know that I am not alone in this song writing process. You are wonderful teacher!
Have a great Week,
Mikako
Hi again, Mikako! I am happy to respond to your comments, and glad you are making what sounds like great progress with the recording stage. The iPad app has probably changed a bit since I created this course. It definitely is a bit of a learning curve getting familiar with the audio interface and midi keyboard; it took a lot of practice for me, too! Trust me, I didn’t get to this point overnight (not even close) and you will get here too with time and experience. Keep on doing what you’re doing! You are definitely not alone in figuring out this process :)
Thanks, Rachel for the encouraging words. I’ll keep working little by little.
This is fascinating. I am definitely a Fire songwriter, but Water was my second, so maybe that’s why I have a hard time getting anything done! I am really excited to take this course. I’m an MT-BC in private practice, getting back into the swing of things after having three kids at home, and also beginning to teach some wellness classes. I definitely want to do some more songwriting and really learn how to do it. I loved this advice, “Your job is to write them down immediately.” That is definitely good advice for me. Can’t wait to learn more. Thanks, Rachel.
Hi Amy! I’m so glad you’re taking the course and got some good insight from the songwriter assessment. How exciting to be jumping back into practice! Please let me know how I can help as you make your way through the course.
Are there any free or inexpensive notation software programs available? I’m not ready to purchase one. I used to have Encore on my computer and I thought a free version of Finale, but I might be wrong.
I started out using Finale Notepad…is that no longer available for free?
Yes, I found it. I didn’t come across it the first time I searched, but it is available for Mac and PC. Thanks.
You can’t do chord symbols on Notepad except with text boxes, but I can live with that for awhile.
Glad you were able to download Notepad for free, but huge bummer about chord symbols.
Dear Rachel
Thank you so much for showing us how to share music online.
I found ‘selling your music online’ the most difficult part in this whole thing. :)
I am not confident enough to post my music online, and to even sell it!!! This task seemed impossible to execute. Well, I decided to review the whole part 2 videos, and to compose on the GarageBand all over again before I could post music online. After reviewing and re-creating, my composition did not see any desirable progress… There are so much to learn! I am very frustrated. But good thing was that I sort of felt the joy of creating even I struggled figuring things out. All this time I have been playing other people’ music, but want to be more than just copying music. I want to be better at creating my own for my own enjoyment and to share with others.
I found this newly established community website, ‘Note’, where artists can share music, novels, movies and comics. I am excited to see where this could take me to. I started out selling for free on the free version of the Note. The website is available in Japanese, and may have a English version. Some famous Japanese artists are using the site to interact with their fans. I pasted the link on the Website box.
Thank you :)
You’re welcome, Mikako! Sharing your music is taking a BIG leap, so I completely understand how you are feeling. Good for you, trying out Note, and thanks so much for posting the link. I can’t wait to check out your songs! Just remember that the more you write and record, the easier it gets and the better they sound.
Thank you Rachel. I will trust on your words and I will sure keep making songs and recording, and to share.
Thank you so much for the great course. I enjoyed it very much.
Of course I struggled a lot, but I sure enjoyed this growing experiences.
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the course, and thrilled you will continue to stick with writing, recording and sharing!
Re-sending the website link to my home page with my songs.
Hi, I’m Stephanie. My Songwriting area is Earth, followed up very closely by Fire and Air. I like to write songs, but have a hard time making the time to sit down and do it. =) I’m excited to take this course and get motivated to do more songwriting!
Hi Stephanie! Welcome to the course, and thanks so much for sharing your songwriting type. Please keep me posted on your progress as you make your way through :)
I’m having fun recording on my garage band! I like your checklist, makes me really think about my recording process.
Really great course! I definitely feel more confident with recording and sharing music. Another way to share also is through iCloud, if those that you are sharing with also have iCloud.
Thank you Rachel Rambach for sharing your how to’s in writing songs. I have found my song writing style is “Earth”. During each chapter its definitely been a learning experience for me as I am not comfortable with the process! But you have made it sound so attainable and given me permission to just keep trying!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Stacy! It took me a long time to get comfortable with the process, so keep chipping away! Best of luck and thanks for taking the course :)
Chapter 1) I’m an Earth songwriter as well. Seems to be popular among the other course-takers! I sometimes spontaneously do songs in sessions to meet immediate needs. What I should start doing is pulling out my phone to record a rough copy right there, because normally by the time the session is over, I’ve forgotten all but a few snippets of the song.
Chapter 2) I miss having access to Macs with Garage Band, Finale, Sibelius, and all sorts of other fantastic music-making and recording programs. My family always looks at me like I’m crazy when I ask for something Mac for birthday/Christmas/whatever. They just don’t know the struggle for us musicians! Anyhow, now I primarily write my music by hand, either as a lead-sheet format or on staff paper, with chords written above. If I record, it’s usually on my phone so I can bring it easily to sessions. If it’s something I’m sharing with the families, I’ll typically do the song as a piggy-back melody so that I can easily teach the family and give them the words to use as well.
Chapter 3) I’m not really sure I’d be comfortable sharing my music without all the editing software to make my songs look and sound pretty. I like the idea of posting the music to a private blog/website for future recall, sharing with colleagues, clients and families, etc. It would be great to have that carryover with multiple service providers knowing the song and appropriate situations for its use as well.
I love the reintroduction to technology I haven’t used in several years, as well as learning more about sharing music on websites, drop box, etc.
Hi Leigh! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feedback after taking the course. I am SO with you on asking for technology-related things as birthday/Christmas gifts — they are at the top of my wish list every year! Luckily my family has just gotten used to it ;) I hope the course has been helpful and given you some new inspiration as you continue your songwriting and recording journey.
According to the songwriting assessment, I am an earth songwriter. Water was pretty close behind, and the other two honestly weren’t much behind that! Honestly I feel like songwriting is an area I have struggled in. I like to improvise if its just me, but I feel pressure many times when others are around. And actually “composing” a song is pretty tough for me because I can’t seem to get quite what I want from it.
I am super excited about all the steps you outlined and exercises you had us do.
So I never really considered myself having done much songwriting, but through the course I discovered that I have . . . done a lot of piggyback song writing. Often spontaneously in sessions. I think my hangup has come in actually creating the music (though like I said, I do love to improvise on my own).
I have used voice record on my phone several times for other purposes – but never thought of it for recording my own snippets as they come. I want to continue with that.
In going through the process, the word that I keep remembering is SIMPLE. I’ve always expected a huge long song. As I began to create a simple hello song, I realized it doesn’t have to be long. And for the population I work with a lot, (hospice), short and simple will be best. I realized I was able to create the song fairly easily. And recording it on voice record was fun to do! As long as I keep the melody and harmony simple, it wasn’t hard to get those parts successfully done.
Chapter 2 –
I have used garage band to notate a simple melody for clients before (using it without a hooked up keyboard though got tedious). I never really realized that I can go ahead and use it for as much as I can without all the extras that you showed on the video. I’m sure once I get those, it will be a much higher quality recording, but that will be a process. The important thing though is that I was able to do it. Oh – and thank you for your preparing to record checklist – It was very helpful!
Chapter 3 –
This is where I get most nervous – the more people I put music out for, the more I feel like I’m “performing” and I don’t like that. I do like the website you introduced me to – bandcamp. Once I feel comfortable putting things out there, I think that is where I’ll go. As far as getting my songs to clients – being the population they are, and many of them in nursing homes, right now my best option is going to be creating a CD for them. It was fun to explore creating a song cover and CD cover.
Overall – I loved and benefitted a lot from this course. It was a big help for me to realize I don’t have to jump in and compose as the great masters have. I can take it little by little. I am excited for that perspective, and it makes me want to do it more! I am excited to get more comfortable with sharing my creations, get more equipment to supplement what I already have, and get it out there more!
Thank you for your expertise and mostly in your excitement about the process!
Chapter one –
I was
Hi Janessa! I really appreciate you sharing your feedback through each chapter. Some of my most effective songs have been short and simple! It’s definitely scary to start putting your creations out there, but you never know who else you might be helping by doing so. The more you write and record, the more comfortable you will get with the process. Good luck and enjoy!
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for this course!
Chapter 1: According to the assessment, I am a fire songwriter. Air came in as a close second, with both earth and water far… far… far… behind. I appreciate the way that you shared your process with us. One of the features that I will be incorporating more into my own practice is audio recording original songs along the way. Especially since I do not usually fully notate the melody of my songs, this would be very helpful for me.
Chapter 2: The section about tools and resources for recording was very helpful! When starting the course, I was hoping for some recommendations about how to achieve better sound quality when recording. Do you have any thoughts about USB versus wireless microphones?
Chapter 3: These tips for sharing and selling original songs were also very helpful. I already knew about some of the resources, but had never heard of others. I particularly appreciated that you included information about the commissions for each option.
Thank you again for sharing your expertise,
Tina
Hi Christina! Thanks for sharing the results of your songwriter assessment. As for your question about microphones, I like the simplicity of a USB mic because it does not require the use of a preamp as well. I’m sure there are wireless microphones that use Bluetooth technology, which would probably be even simpler — good idea! You’ll have to let me know if you find one. I’m really glad you enjoyed the course and found it helpful!
Hi! Just finished the action steps for chapter 1. I make up songs all the time in my head with my clients, but I have to tell you actually writing it down and making a rough recording with chords was a great experience (like it made it an actual real song!) :) I’m looking to get into songwriting more, and it seems that this might in some cases just mean actually recording and writing the song down on paper instead of letting it just float around in my head. I agree with others on the forum as well, that many times I forget songs I create in sessions so getting into this habit would be very beneficial! The assessment said I was an earth songwriter, with water close behind and the other two tied a few points back.
Hi Allison! Thanks for joining the course and sharing your experience so far. Yes, it is so true that getting spontaneous songs down on paper and recording (no matter how rough) takes it to the next level. Let me know how things go with chapters 2 and 3!
I just finished Chapter 1 and am excited to keep going :) I came out on the inventory as “Earth” type songwriter (even though I was pretty sure I was going to come out as Fire type! Surprise!) so that will be fun to have in mind as I write. Thanks!
Hi, again! Just finished Chapter 2… I’m having a difficult time figuring out GarageBand on my Mac, but I’m having a decent time of using the GarageBand app on my iPad (thanks Bonnie Hayhurst and the iPad CMTE course!) so I think that’s what I’m going to go with. I currently don’t have any recording equipment other than my phone, iPad, and computer, so I’m going to do my best with that. I’m looking into purchasing a snowball, but it’s not in the budget at the moment ;) I’m excited to try my hand at recording multiple tracks since I’ve only ever recorded one-track versions of my voice and guitar. Should be fun!
GarageBand on Mac has a bit of a learning curve, but it’s worth the effort required to learn and feel comfortable using it. You will love using multiple tracks once you get started! Enjoy!
Just finished Chapter 1. After taking the assessment, I am a “water” songwriter with “earth” a close 2nd. This makes total sense to me! I do a lot of improvisational songwriting with my clients. This usually means, the improv was great but we can’t remember how the song went the next week. Which means we could just improvise again! but using a recording can really help me and the client reminisce about previous weeks and check progress. I usually only record when we are working toward a final project but it can help for improv too.
I’ve got a rough recording and lead sheet for a song for a client that is working on problem solving skills. I liked the considerations, that was very helpful in this process.
Hi Kiersten! Thanks for checking in and the feedback on your songwriter style. Recordings are super helpful especially when used in the manner you mentioned. Glad the considerations were helpful!
Chapter 1 – songwriting assessment: water, air, fire, earth in that order.
Thanks for sharing, Tracy! Keep us posted on your progress as you continue through the course.
Just finished chapter 2. I’ve always used a microphone similar to the snowball. It works fairly well and much better than built-in mics on my computer! I’m hoping to try and use some equipment you mentioned to make my recordings even better and easier for me. (Especially that preamp and midi keyboard!) I have become fairly proficient in Audacity since I only have a PC. In college, we have extensive training in Garageband so it definitely took me awhile to learn. Now, I have an Ipad and LOVE GarageBand. I think it is much easier to use than Audacity and you have many options. I have a client that uses it to make “mashups” and he records his own instrumentation to go along with other loops/instruments/songs he chooses. I have recorded my problem solving song with just guitar and it sounds pretty good!
Chapter 3 gave me some great ideas on how to share my music with clients. I’ve always used CD’s and while they are great, it can get expensive to give a CD to each client many times a year. It can be especially disappointing when a client tells you they lost it or broke it and need a new one. The USB idea got me thinking about all my clients that use ipads for communication or other reasons. Putting recordings on the Ipad gives them unlimited access or making a page for them on bandcamp/soundcloud would be beneficial for some of my clients.
Also, the idea of using cover art as visuals was very helpful for me. Many of my clients using AAC devices. I know you can upload PDF files into a button on most programs. I could use this art as a button for them so they can request specific songs.
I have used soundcloud before for my instrumental music that enjoy performing. Bandcamp looks great as well and I think would be useful for families!
I’m so glad this chapter sparked so many ideas! Best of luck as you put them into action. Thanks so much again for taking the course :)
Chpt. 2 – Recording method – Mobile device app. – Would Music Maker Jam work as well on Android tablet and phone as well as recommended J4T Multi track recorder app?
Thanks,
Tracey
Hi Tracey – unfortunately I don’t have experience with Android, so I can’t give you a good answer one way or another. Maybe someone else in the forum has input on this?
Chpt. 3
The song is not appropriate for public sharing because my client’s name is in it.
Thanks,
Tracey
I am a water songwriter. I was surprised by the accuracy of this assessment!
Chapter 2:
Recording method: Mobile app, most likely garage band
I’m currently a stay at home mom, but my song was written with the last client population I worked with, pediatric psych, and focuses on self awareness/self esteem.
Chapter 3:
I’ve created a lead sheet and recorded my song using the Garage Band app on my computer (built-in mic only). It is a simple guitar and voice arrangement, since that is the most probable for me to use when seeing clients. I’m currently a SAHM, but I am familiar with using flash drives and dropbox, so those are my preferred method of sharing with clients. I’ve practiced sharing my song with family via dropbox. Unfortunately, with my lack of recording equipment, I don’t feel that my recording is sale-worthy, but I hope to pursue this in the future! Thanks so much for all of the great info!
You’re welcome! Thank you for taking the course and sharing your thoughts and progress as you’ve gone through the materials. Best of luck as you continue to grow as a songwriter — your recordings WILL be sale-worthy eventually!
I just finished chapter one, action steps and all. My writing type was Water, with Earth a close second. As I wrote my song the elements of the “Water” type definitely shown through. I wrote a song for a group that I would like to start for military spouses during deployment. As a Navy wife myself I can empathize, and I used that topic as a jumping off point and it just came. I have a rough recording and I’m still tinkering with the melody line a bit, but I’m in love with this song and can’t believe it took me just sitting down an focusing. You tools and resources definitely helped! I don’t have much in recording equipment, but I’m excited to get this piece recorded and ways to share it!
Hi Ashley! Thank you for sharing the results of your songwriter’s assessment. Awesome to hear about your song! I’m so happy the materials have been helpful so far. Good luck as you dive into the recording process!
So excited to do this course. I’ve tried many times before to write a song for myself or clients. I always think so much, try so hard, and I end up getting 4-5 lines down and give up.
I am a Water Writer.
Going into Chapter2 now. I started to write a song for a group I’m conducting; my population is sexual abuse survivors. This group is specific to women who’ve be sexually traumatized by a family member. The song is called “Thorns and All”—a phrase one of the women shared in a previous talk session. So far… eh…I’ve run into a similar challenge of me thinking too hard. But I’m more determined now.
Chapter 1:
I’ve been fire and I’ve been rain — I’m right on the cusp, but due to the more improvisational nature of how I create songs, I know I’ve let a lot of good ones go by never writing them down or recording them. Even in this first chapter, I have simple tips to use as I continue my everyday practice and songs come up as I go.
I am writing a song for a 3 year old boy I started working with a few weeks ago with speech goals, particularly around volume of speech.
I finished the first chapter about a week ago and just now finished notating and creating a lead sheet for my song! It took me a few days to get inspiration for my song, but when I started thinking about some things that would be helpful for my clients, inspiration struck! I am excited to use this song in a session and it’s so nice to have it all written down.
I decided to use the audacity program, though I am more comfortable and familiar with garage band, because I no longer have a MacBook. The recording process went smoothly while following the checklist; however, as I have been under the weather recently, I will likely record my vocals again at a later time.
Hi Rachel, Thanks for the course! I just completed chapter 1 and wrote a song for my 2 year old son who just started childcare (http://triplejbrown.tumblr.com/post/156716890663/a-song-to-help-my-son-adapt-to-childcare-centre). I spent about 1 hour in setting the words and the tunes just came quite naturally.. but I feel that it sounded a bit monotonous; and the structure is more through-composed. I hope to perhaps add one more line for the ending, but can’t think of anything at the moment!
Hi Jacqueline! Thank YOU so much for taking the course :) Your link didn’t work, but I would love to hear your song! That is exactly how it usually goes for me…the tune sort of manifests as I write the words. Give it time and you will be able to flesh it out more!