Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that I learned much through songwriting class including tips on working with others, mixing, inspiration for songs and song structure. The collaborations each week worked well most of the time, though it was difficult to communicate with teammates at times, but I feel that these collaborations are preparing me for working in the industry for real. There are sometimes problems or disagreements but you must make it work and so the best for the song that you can do. My biggest areas for improvement remain music theory, rhythm and also production skills. I feel with many of the demos I am off beat, this is something I have always struggled with but I do think that with all the practice I am improving and this can be heard in the music. As for music theory I have always struggled to understand it, especially as I do not play an instrument, so I struggle sometimes finding a melody or a harmony. This continues to hinder me and is definitely something I want to improve upon. My music production skills at this point are just rusty, I am well aware that I was not really too involved in any of the production on the tracks; I found it hard to assert myself amongst my peers and because I am a singer/songwriter everyone I worked with just assumed I would do that part of the song, which I have no problem doing but the opportunity to produce a track wasn’t really offered to me and I did not speak up for it. This is because I am not as confident with production as I am with songwriting and singing, but this is a switch that happened in recent years, I was purely a producer many years but have lost confidence in my skills due to not using them much as of late. I did not want to speak up to produce a track and have it be worse than what my classmates can do. This is something I want to work on and really start producing again going forward. I do think through the work we have done I have been able to explore different genres, different stories in my lyrics and also different vocal styles which I appreciate; when songwriting I see a song as a playground, I listen and I can pick up different stories, I wander round and hum the melody I would sing and I find the story that matches it best and then I bring that character to life. That is how I see my practice, some of these stories are personal and some are not, it really depends on how the track I’m writing to presents itself to me. I think I improved upon the structure I use in my music through these projects also, in my final song having a clear verse chorus structure with a catchy hook. I also think I improved upon my use of my voice, learning new techniques and styles in which I can use it and also tightening up the usual voice I have in my personal tracks. Overall there is definitely room for improvement in many areas of my songwriting and I acknowledge this but I do think I am a talented songwriter and with the right effort put in I can produce great tracks.