Finding the Groove for Songwriters

This collaborative course provides a hands-on exploration of rhythmic accompaniment for original songs. Students will learn improvisation tools and techniques for discovering and developing grooves for their top lines in a positive and productive learning environment. Through instructor-initiated exercises, students will hone their inner drum and percussion clock and expand their understanding of rhythmic subdivision and syncopation. Using claps, stomps, taps, vocal sounds, and other available objects as percussion instruments, students will create ostinato rhythm patterns to connect rhythmically to their lyrics, to one another, and to the outside world. Students will improvise and perform groove-based original music in the classroom to create a final performance presentation at the end of the semester. With an emphasis on dialogue and student-run composition, this class will cultivate total engagement in creative activity, initiating more possibilities for inspiration, innovation and song collaboration. By successfully applying improvisational groove- and jam-based tools and techniques to their songwriting practice, students will expand their knowledge of groove, become more prolific as songwriters, and have an intrinsically rewarding experience.