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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics by Berklee

4.8
stars
846 ratings

About the Course

There’s a songwriter lurking somewhere inside you, peeking around corners, wondering if it’s safe to come out. Now it is. This course is an invitation to let your inner songwriter step into the sunlight. All it takes is a simple “yes” and you’ll be climbing that windy hill, marveling at the view. If you haven’t written any or many songs, this course will show you an efficient, effective process for tailoring songs to express your ideas and emotions. If you have, you’ll look at your process differently, taking control of aspects of the process you may have not noticed. The course will start by examining the tools available to you, all revolving around the essential concept of prosody. You’ll learn to use your tools to enhance your message—to work compositionally at the same time you’re developing your ideas. You’ll be working both lyrically and musically, though musically it’s not necessary that you either read music or play an instrument. If you play, great, and you’ll be encouraged to play and record your musical responses to the assignments. If you don’t play, the course offers you a number of musical loops to work with. All you’ll have to do is sing your melodies over the loops. Assignments will ask you to post something for peer review—sometimes lyric lines or sections, sometimes melodies, sometimes both. None of it has to be polished. The course is about writing, not performing. Most important, you’ll have a lot of fun....

Top reviews

CS

Feb 12, 2021

This course helped me get over the hump of not being able to write songs. I want to thank Sir Pat for helping me organize my ideas and refine them so that I can tell good stories. Thank you sir!!

GH

Jan 15, 2021

I have been to dozens of workshops and have read dozens of books and have written hundreds of songs. I learned more in this course than in any of the workshops or books. This it top rated stuff!

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51 - 75 of 293 Reviews for Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics

By David R C

Aug 10, 2016

This course opened my eyes to a number of concepts which seem blatantly obvious now that I know them, but which I had never considered before taking the course. The reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on as to why certain lyrics of mine seemed off. Highly recommended!

By Rodrigo I M

Sep 14, 2021

This course is the best things you can do to advance your songwriting career. Prof. Pattison is an incredible teacher and author of many fantatic books. This course will arm you with essential tools and the only thing you will regret will be not having done it earlier.

By Brian L

Jan 18, 2022

I learned a lot from this course! I learned about plosives, the stress and unstress, and what they mean. I also learned a lot about syllable words, and how rhymes can be used at different lyrics! Definitely going to be using these tips for my next project! Thanks Pat!

By Michal K

Nov 30, 2020

This is a very practical and helpful course. The concepts which are explained in the course will catapult your songwriting to the stratosphere. Everything makes sense in this course and you are going to shake your head at how this all works together to spark emotions.

By Mario A

Jan 6, 2020

One of the best courses in my life. If you want to express yourself through songs, this is the course. Fr one, this course gave me new inspiration to write my music and be able to make my dares come true ! Thank you very much Patt, Berklee online and Coursera Team!

By Deleted A

Mar 3, 2017

I am impressed at how there is theory and study behind the art of writing songs. The course opened my eyes to this vast and interesting subject.Pat Pattson is a fantastic teacher with incredible didactics, knowledge and personality. I just have to thank you.

By Alicia C

Apr 13, 2018

I learned so much about the art of songwriting, and this course made me consider things I'd never thought of before. I also loved how pertinent the lessons were to other forms of written and verbal communication. The whole experience was just stellar.

By Rasmus M

Nov 2, 2016

Great course. Just what I needed as a beginner in writing lyrics. I've been singing/playing/producing, but never really try to write lyrics. This course opens up the subject and gives you the opportunity to understand that writing lyrics is a craft.

By Anthony K

Jul 23, 2019

This course gives you an incredible toolbox to advance your songwriting skills whether you've never done it before or are a seasoned vet. The approach alone is worth it's weight in gold. The course is definitely a steal in this information age.

By Chinedu O

Aug 5, 2017

Excellent course! It has unlocked so many doors and potential I would not have been able to discover on my own! There's nothing to think about! This IS the class you want to take if you seek to truly further your songwriting skills and concepts!

By Carlos A D

Oct 30, 2017

Excellent course, videos and material are excellent and the progression of the course and assignments are on point in helping the learning experience. An amazing scientific approach to achieve the highest level of communication through lyrics.

By Chris Z

Sep 15, 2020

Pat is absolutely brilliant! The awareness he has raised around the connections between speech, communication, and music are phenomenal and I heartily recommend anyone who is interested to take the time to learn from him. Well done!

By Kerren M

Jul 10, 2017

Every song-writer, every writer, everyone who writes, and anyone who communicates... should take this course. Pat shares invaluable wisdom about communicating, which can speak to any level in your life if you are willing to let it....

By Elena S G

Apr 5, 2020

I am so grateful for this course ! Tones of useful information and a talented mentor, I couldn't even dream about. I wish I had a chance to work with him and learn even more. But still, this course is a greate gift for me. Thank you!

By Deleted A

May 3, 2023

I didn't know! U wll stook so law! U gave me love, you gave me support I didn't know that you wll disapoint, I really appreciate you! I will never disobey u, I jst want let u know that thank very much, I wish I knew! I wish I knew!

By 김한울

Oct 16, 2023

I used to think that lyric writing was something exclusive to those born with a literary sensibility. However, after taking the course, I realized that it involves a combination of technical elements, which boosted my confidence.

By Gustavo P

Jun 20, 2020

Bastante accesible en cuestion de lenguaje, hay subtitulos en español si no eres muy bueno con el ingles.

Aprenderas formas nuevas de componer canciones, te ayudara a descubrir muchisimas posibilidades dentro de tu lengua materna

By ADITYA D

Feb 3, 2022

IT WAS A PLEASURE DOING THIS COURSE WITH PAT PATTINSON SIR. THIS COURSE IS LITERALY AWESOME. THE COMPLEX THINGS LIKE PROSODY, SYLLABLES ETC. ARE EXPLAINED SO BEAUTIFULLY, THAT IT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COURSE

THANKS COURSERA! :)

By Albert D

Jul 30, 2023

Incredibly helpful and informative - it had answers to all my questions and also gave me things to think about that I'd never before considered when writing lyrics. I can't recommend this course enough to aspiring songwriters!

By Lari L

Jul 24, 2021

Highest level insight into songwriting as technology, inspiration, production of inspiration, make internal emotion understandable to the seeking audience, view the language on its own from different angle, find poetry in it.

By Jared S

Nov 21, 2020

Pat taught this course very passionately and made it interesting. There was so much new information given to me about song structure, emotion, naturality?, etc. that I didn't already know and I will never forget...hopefully!

By (Mary) R S

Mar 16, 2018

I loved this course. Pat has a great way of presenting the information, and he really knows his stuff! This course gave me lots of really great practical, usable tools for me to finally get started on my songwriting journey.

By Tom A

Aug 10, 2018

Taught me things I didn't know I didn't know about songwriting! Great over-arching themes and concepts, and practical, actionable, advice. Technology and process worked well as well! The flow of the course was thoughtful.

By M. W

Mar 5, 2021

This course is great for beginners that want to learn how to write lyrics. There is some recommended reading assignments that I found helpful. There is a little bit of singing in it also. In the end, I learned a lot.

By Ivan M

Jan 27, 2018

If you singer, which write songs, or songwriter, this course for you! For beginners and professionals.

That material which I have acquired on this course, almost not to find in the Internet therefore welcome everybody)