Songwriting is an art form that transcends boundaries, allowing artists to express their deepest emotions, tell captivating stories, and connect with audiences on a profound level. Whether you’re a seasoned songwriter seeking to refine your craft or a budding lyricist just starting your journey, the right education can make all the difference.
In today’s ever-evolving music landscape, online songwriting courses have emerged as invaluable resources, offering aspiring songwriters the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, hone their skills, and explore new creative avenues. From mastering the art of lyric writing to understanding the intricacies of melody and song structure, these courses provide a comprehensive and immersive learning experience tailored to your needs.
In this article, we’ve curated a list of the 11 best songwriting courses available online, each offering a unique perspective and approach to the craft.
1. Lyrics Writing Course by Jacob Carter
Jacob Carter’s Lyrics Writing Course is a comprehensive online program designed to help aspiring lyricists and songwriters enhance their skills and creativity. Taught by the seasoned lyricist Jacob Carter, The course consists of six modules covering topics such as finding inspiration, understanding lyrical structure and style, crafting impactful lyrics, and collaborating with others.
Students will gain practical insights, industry knowledge, and hands-on experience through HD video lessons, printable resources, and real-life exercises. The course emphasizes storytelling, expanding rhyming techniques, and specificity in lyrics.
Students also analyze hit songs by artists like The Beatles, Ed Sheeran, and Joni Mitchell to understand what makes their lyrics effective. The course is suitable for both beginners and experienced songwriters looking to refine their craft.
You can check out his free guide on lyrics writing before joining his course.
2. How to Write Lyrics – The Song Foundry
This in-depth online course focuses solely on lyric writing techniques. It covers generating lyric ideas, using rhymes effectively, creating hooks, avoiding cliches, and more. The course aims to help songwriters craft lyrics that are distinctive and emotionally resonant. It includes video lessons, downloadable resources, and practical writing exercises.
3. The Singer Songwriter – Berklee Online (Coursera)
This comprehensive 4-course specialization from Berklee College of Music covers all aspects of being a singer-songwriter. Students learn guitar basics, singing techniques, lyric writing, and using Ableton Live software to record their songs. With input from industry professionals, it provides a well-rounded curriculum for writing, performing and recording original music.
4. Writing Song Lyrics: Create and Combine with Melody – City Lit
An online evening course perfect for songwriters who struggle more with lyrics than melodies. Students generate lyric ideas from personal experiences and learn techniques like rhyme schemes, meter, language devices and song structure. The emphasis is on practical exercises, collaboration and receiving feedback on original songs.
5. Songwriting: Lyric Writing – Elevate with ICMP
This online course from ICMP focuses exclusively on lyric writing skills. Over 6 modules, it covers song structure, rhyming, storytelling, genre conventions and more. Students analyze influential lyrics and develop their own creative voice through immersive tasks and tutor feedback. It’s designed to be self-paced with lifetime access.
6. The Art of Songwriting – The Open University (FutureLearn)
A 6-week beginner’s course that introduces the core concepts of songwriting through video lessons and practical exercises. Students learn how to set lyrics to rhythm, craft melodies, use chord progressions, and structure a song arrangement.
The course uses specially-commissioned lyrics each week for students to build their own original song.
7. Lyric Writing: Tools and Strategies – Berklee Online
This course, authored by Pat Pattison, focuses on enhancing your lyric writing skills by teaching you how to generate better ideas, find the right words, and organize rhythms and rhymes into compelling verses.
The course covers various rhyme structures, techniques for creating forward motion with rhyme, and methods for balancing and resolving lyrics. Students engage in daily object writing activities and complete assignments that help them apply these techniques to their own songwriting. The course is designed to help songwriters become more intentional and effective in their lyric writing process.
8. The Lyric Writer’s Workroom – Songcraft
The Lyric Writer’s Workroom by Songcraft is an online course that provides a structured approach to lyric writing. It covers essential topics such as finding inspiration, developing song ideas, and refining lyrics.
The course includes video lessons, writing exercises, and feedback from experienced songwriters. It aims to help students develop their unique voice and improve their ability to write impactful and memorable lyrics. The course is suitable for both beginners and experienced songwriters looking to enhance their skills.
9. Songwriting Simplified: Music Theory, Melody & Creativity – Udemy
This Udemy course, “Songwriting Simplified,” is designed to teach the fundamentals of music theory, chord progressions, melody writing, and lyric writing. It promises that students will write a complete song by the end of the course, following five simple steps.
The course covers practical music theory, popular chord progressions, song structure, and tips for writing catchy melodies. It is suitable for beginners and intermediate songwriters, and it includes over 20 downloadable PDFs, easy-to-read charts for piano and guitar chords, and insider tips for writing memorable hooks.
10. Commercial Songwriting Techniques – Berklee Online
Authored by Andrea Stolpe, this course focuses on writing songs for commercial success. It combines theory and practical skill-building to help songwriters create memorable melodies and lyrics that forge an emotional connection with listeners.
The course covers the time-tested characteristics of hit songs and teaches students how to reproduce these patterns while maintaining their unique voice. It includes lessons on writing for different commercial music markets, creating hooks, and understanding the business aspects of songwriting.
11. Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics – Berklee Online (Coursera)
This course, offered by Berklee College of Music via Coursera, is designed to help both novice and experienced songwriters improve their lyric writing skills. It covers the essential concept of prosody, which involves aligning lyrics with the music to enhance the song’s message.
The course includes lessons on developing song ideas, creating stable and unstable sections using rhyme schemes, and understanding language rhythms. Students work on assignments that involve writing verses and choruses, and they receive peer reviews to refine their work. The course emphasizes the fun and creative aspects of songwriting while providing a structured approach to lyric writing.
