Workshops
This page contains a variety of workshop materials resulting from our "last Wednesday" workshop meetings at McNally Smith College of Music, various resources available online and/or other special visits with songwriting professionals.
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Berklee College of Music songwriting professor Pat Pattison has presented numerous songwriting workshops to MAS members since the mid-1990s. The notes provided here were taken by MAS member Tim Zbikowski at a workshop with professor Pattison in October of 2008.
2008 Songwriting Workshop with Pat Pattison
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An audio recording of Jill Holly's 54-minute workshop/telephone conversation with Nashville songwriter Mark Selby and his partner Tia Sillers, conducted at one of the MAS meetings.
Stream
Download
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Another audio recording, this one of Jill Holly's 45-minute workshop via telephone with Nashville songwriter Keith Follese.
Stream
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This "paper" exercise shows you how to use the structure of an existing song to help you create an entirely different song of your own.
Remodeling A Song
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Touring songwriter T.R. Ritchie provided us with this document, which is designed to walk readers through the process of hosting a house concert.
House Concert Primer
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This one-page document provides a set of tips that will help you prepare for a successful performance at an MAS showcase or any other live appearance.
Performance Prep
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This is a brief discussion of elements that might be found in most successful songs.
Elements of a Song
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Here is a 31-page document about the Business of Music from Berkleemusic.com. Berkleemusic is "the award-winning online extension school of Berklee College of Music, the world's premier institution for the study of contemporary music for over 65 years. Berklee's faculty and alumni have won over 150 Grammy Awards and sold over 400 million records."
The document contains information on the following topics:
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Unpaid Royalties by David Kusek
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CDs vs Downloads by Eric Beall
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Sponsorship by John Czajkowski & Jeff Dorenfeld
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Copyright Law by Allen Bargfrede
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Releasing an Album by Jon Vanhala
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Entrepreneurship by Peter Gotcher
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Using Fan-Funding Techniques by Mike King
Music Business Handbook from Berkleemusic.com
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