Steve Seskin Workshop

Steve Seskin Workshop Sat, Sept 27th from 9:30AM to 4:00PM at The Well 220 Main Street, Pineville, NC 28134, right next to the police station

Imagine taking a songwriting class from a songwriter who has “made it.” You can! Steve Seskin has written seven number one songs, including Grammy-nominated “Grown Men Don’t Cry,“ recorded by Tim McGraw, and “Don’t Laugh at Me,“ winning NSAI Song of the Year and Music Row Magazine Song of the Year in 1999 as recorded by Mark Wills. Steve enjoys teaching; he is an insightful, helpful and charismatic teacher. Since 1988, Steve has taught beginning and advanced classes for the West Coast Songwriters Association. He continues to teach about all aspects of writing lyrics and music, including critique classes. Steve has also been a guest lecturer at Berklee College of Music and on the faculty at San Francisco State University. These are just some of his songwriting workshop and song school management experiences. Don't miss this chance to learn from him in person, right here in Charlotte!
Class Overview
Melody - In focusing on melody writing, I teach from a place of writing melodies for lyrics. Prosody is the marriage of music and lyric. We explore ways to determine if the overall vibe of the music feels right, and look at specific parts of songs in terms of choosing an appropriate melody that milks the emotion that the writer would like the listener to feel from the lyric. I also talk about phrasing and accents. There is an important word in every sentence. We look at choosing accent places that stress the right syllables and help drive home your point. Music can actually change the meaning of a lyric when used to its fullest potential. We also discuss rhythm and range and how to use them effectively in songs. Writing/Rewriting, There is a Difference - Writing can more easily come from that dreamy/stream of consciousness place. Rewriting involves considering what you’ve already written and in many ways is a lot more tedious. In this seminar we examine all types of rewriting. Are you rewriting because the content is not serving the moment in the song, or is the problem the tone of how you put forth your idea? We'll also look at how to know when a song is done and the wisdom of sticking to the task versus putting a song away for a while and giving it a rest. Many times I write more than I need just to give myself choices. Rhyming and Metaphor - Rhyming is our best friend but it's also our worst enemy since it constricts us and makes it harder to say what we want to say in a song. We'll look at inventive ways to use rhyme that sound natural, not drawing too much attention to the rhyme and letting the listener concentrate on the content of the lyric. We’ll also look at metaphor and figurative language and how they can deepen the emotional experience of a song. Point of View - In this seminar we explore eight different perspectives to choose from when deciding how your characters can best tell their story. We will look into figuring out how to find the most powerful way to tell any given story. We’ll talk about 1st, 2nd, 3rd person and various combinations as well. We will then look into more complex ways to use perspective to bring out the most emotion in all your lyrics. I believe this is one of the most important lessons on the road to writing great songs.
There are three ways to sign up:
Pay by Check	Member Paypal	Non-member Paypal
Send an email to Steve Simpson, at sisimpson@aol.com, and then mail a check, made out to "NSAI Charlotte", for $50 for NSAI members, or $75 for non-NSAI members, to Steve Simpson, 1147 Thornsby Lane, Matthews, NC 28105. The check should be mailed no later than September 19th.	Click on the button below and follow the instructions there. The cost is $50 plus $2 Paypal fee.	Click on the button below and follow the instructions there. The cost is $75 plus $2 Paypal fee.