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Welcome to the SongMakers VCE Music (Units 1-2) teacher/student resources. This website includes a range of examples, activities, and resources to help teachers and students to write songs within a VCE Music (Units 1-2) classroom.
ABOUT SONGMAKERS
SongMakers link Australia’s internationally successful songwriters and producers, teachers, young people and leading researchers in shared creativity. Through mentoring by industry professionals, the program uses the creation of students’ original work as a springboard to explore issues around the cultural industries – like the importance of being enterprising, collaborative, persistent and resilient.
We support practical contemporary music education in schools, so that, together, we build a stronger songwriting culture in Australia and introduce more young people to global opportunities.
Getting Started
Welcome to the SongMakers VCE Music (Units 1-2) website. The content on this website will help you to write a song in small groups or on your own; from lyrics, to chord progressions, melodies and form. There are so many ways you can write a song, but some suggested ways to structure your songwriting process can be found here
If you choose to work in a group...
Your teachers will help you to form your groups. We suggest working with students who play different instruments, and who might listen to similar music genres. This might mean working with students you don't usually work with, which is great! Songwriting is a great way to get to know new people.
Professional songwriters tend to follow a set of guidelines and expectations outlined in a working agreement, which notes expectations, desired outcomes, and even copyright distribution.
Our suggested working agreement
Respect the ideas of all group members: All ideas and suggestions from group members will be heard and respected. This is a group songwriting activity, so the song should include elements that reflect the suggestions of every group member
Keep it school appropriate: Because this is a school-based activity, make sure the content and language of your song is appropriate. If you're not sure, ask your teacher
Listening is key: Not only is listening to your group mates key, but listening to music that you and your group like can help to unlock some great ideas. If you are stuck, try to find some musical artists/genres you all connect to and borrow some strategies from them
Nashville Splits: A 'Nashville Split' or 'The Nashville Rule' means that everyone involve in writing a song gets equal credit/copyright claim to the song. This encourages everyone to contribute and be involved in the writing of the song.