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The Songwriting Class | Winter 2025

Hello Songwriters and Aspiring Songwriters,

It doesn't matter where or what time zone you're in: This is an online class.

Whether you write songs regularly, or you're just getting started, you will be challenged in some inspiring ways to write a new song every week in this, one of Beacon Music Factory's most popular classes.

8 consecutive Mondays
Feb 3 - Mar 24 2024
7:00pm–9:00pm
Limited to 8 Participants

HOW IT WORKS
Every week, we’ll meet for an hour (or two) and I’ll treat you to song examples to consider, song strctures to puzzle over, a few new ways of looking at songs you already know and lovel and then, most importantly, you will be given a multi-layered songwriting PROMPT (assignment).

The weekly PROMPT is chock full of rules to inspire you, parameters that will help focus your thinking and still more layers for you to consider. Past students tell us over and over how much they learn and how inspired they become by these assignments. It is exhilirating and satisfying when you are eager to dig in and begin writing rather than feeling daunted by a blank page. That's what this class is all about. Throughout the course I’ll provide extra pointers, some harmonic, some lyrical, some conceptual, to keep you going.

I am pretty sure you will amaze yourself with what you are able to conjure on a weekly basis. Your songs will be shared in class each week, and we’ll have substantial discussions about each student’s song; and then, of course, … you will receive your next song assignment!

Acclaimed songwriter and founder of Beacon Music Factory, Stephen Clair has been teaching songwriting classes like this to adults and kids for years—both in the classroom and online.

We will meet over Zoom. I will send full details when we get closer to the start date.

I am really looking forward to seeing you write a bunch of new songs, as you find your way writing sometimes far outside your usual stylistic habits.

If you have any questions, please get in touch,

Stephen Clair play@beaconmusicfactory.com

Buzzcocks ROCK CAMP

Buzzcocks are an English punk-pop rock band that singer-songwriters Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk.

They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a “punk masterpiece.”

Instructor: Daria Grace

10 Mondays, 7pm-9:30pm
Feb 3rd - April 7th, 2025
Performance date TK

Power Pop ROCK CAMP

Glorious! Hook-heavy! Shimmering! Pop-taculous!
Decades-spanning! This music is such a rush!

Featuring such bands as:

Fountains of Wayne
Raspberries
Matthew Sweet
Flamin Groovies
The Posies
Jellyfish
Split Enz
The Heatz
The Jam
Rockpile
Superdrag
Velvet Crush
Cheap Trick
Shoes

Check it out, and get with the program and join the Power Pop Rock Camp.

Instructor: Stephen Clair

10 Wednesdays, 7pm-9:30pm
Feb 5 - Apr 9 2025
Performance date TK