Lesson 3: Introduction to Songwriting

Songwriting Lesson

Start by introducing the various components of a song:

• Title: The song’s name
• Subject: The topic of the song
• Theme: The message the song is conveying
• Hook: The part of the song that gets the listener’s attention
• Verse: Talks about the songs subject 
• Chorus: The repeated portion of the song that summarizes the subject
• Bridge: Brings in a new idea or something different than what has been heard so far

√  Distribute Lyrics for the students to follow along as they listen to the song.

Play the song and ask students to identifying the various components of the song.

A great highlighting technique for supporting students in identifying and coding the different parts of the song structure on their lyrics sheet is color-coding using highlighters or colored pencils.

Here’s a structured approach:

• Title: Circle the title of the song in blue to make it stand out.
• Subject & Theme: Underline the main subject or theme in green to help students focus on the song’s overall message.
• Hook: Highlight the hook in yellow, as it is the most attention-grabbing part of the song.
• Verse: Bracket ([ ]) the verses in pink to separate them from other sections.
• Chorus: Highlight the chorus in orange to emphasize its repeated and central role in the song.
• Bridge: Star (*) or box the bridge in purple to distinguish it as a unique section bringing in a new idea.

After listening to the song, please have students either share out with the whole class or have them pair up and compare their answers to what they thought were the components of the song. 

Teachers Note: Encourage students with some mastery of music creation/composition to add any melodies/harmonies to the songs they are writing.

Additionally, if a student does not want to write lyrics in hopes of creating instrumental/electronic music, ensure they are still able to follow the different components of song creation.

Students who may come from a Band/Orchestra ensemble background that normally does not use words in the music they play may have the option to do an assignment that speaks to their mediums of performance and can compose music without words. Work with the student and make sure what they are doing is paralleling what the songwriting students are doing in terms of work.