Songwriting Course
“Critical thinkers are people who reflect on and challenge their own and others’ assumptions. [...] Critical thinking includes a healthy degree of skepticism about everything that affects music teaching and learning, including colleagues' “common sense,” official doctrines, local and national curricula, textbooks, popular bandwagons, shiny new technologies, and the advice of so-called authorities” (Elliot & Silverman 2014, 29).
As students gain more experience and exposure to a variety of music, they should be able to develop a healthy degree of skepticism about everything they experience so that they can develop as individuals who know how to reflect, analyze, and voice their ideas.
This is the intention behind my curriculum for high schoolers. I would like to give students the opportunity to think critically, analyze texts and experiences, and voice their ideas through the craft of songwriting. Students will be exposed to all types of songs, genres of music, and world music. They will analyze the connections between music and words. Students will also learn the practical skills of how to set up audio recording software and music editing.
