Last summer, I packed by suitcase, harp and notebook for a trip to Boston, Massachusets to attend a songwriting workshop at one of the most prestigious music colleges in the world: Berklee College of Music.
My fluffy caramel-colored Yorkie, Lola, watched over me as I packed my things, staring daggers at me with a “I can not believe you’re leaving me, jerk!” expression in her eyes. I told her it was only going to be about a week but she jerked her head away saying: Go! I wash my hands clean of you! Leave me! in telepathic dog language.
You see!? -->
When I arrived, and the air of Boston finally embraced me, I looked around the platform where fellow travelers were milling around here and there, for the wild, brown curls of my godmother who was to pick me up. When I found and embraced her sweet herbal scent, we got into her trusty midnight blue Honda that was as seasoned as a spartan warrior and drove through the lively city to her teeny, cozy apartment that would be my home for the next ten days.
It was the fourth of July weekend when I arrived, so I spent the next few days walking around the richly historical city with my family. On the fourth, the security was tight everywhere due to the memory of the Boston marathon bombing; all public transport was halted around five in the evening. But the enthusiasm was infectious, the fireworks were dazzling and everything turned out well.
Heres a picture I took while walking on the Longfellow bridge on the fourth of July! Boston is a beautiful place to visit -->
Before I knew it, Monday morning was waiting for me when I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes and launched myself out of bed like an olympic diver. I had been having a dream that I was late to my first day at Berklee and when I looked at the clock, I died.
A second later I came back to a debatable version of life, put my internal motor into sixth gear and sped through the kitchen, living room and front door in a blur, finally skidding to the bus stop like a car from "Fast and Furious."
After five hundred million public transportation years, I arrived! Finally! I was one of the last ones in line to sign in, but was able to get settled in without problems.
Each student was given their own personalized schedule, set based on the areas of interest they selected when signing up online, such as:
Songwriting Techniques
Working in a Band
How to Write a Hit Song
Business of Songwriting
And more, plus a mentoring session class that everyone had in their schedules every day, no matter what.
We were there all day (from nine in the morning to nine or ten at night) with a two hour break for lunch in the middle, where I usually went to the cafeteria, which had the most delicious, mouth-watering, to-die-for and reincarnate back to life food ever. The all-day schedule really allowed us to form a connection to other musicians, teachers and use all of the ridiculously awesome state-of-the-art facilities they offer, like this awesome computer/MPK station I used in one of my classes:
My first class was Songwriting Techniques with Melissa Ferrick, a singer and songwriter who has been working and performing for over twenty years and who has worked with sisters Tegan and Sara, had performances with Morrissey, Paul Westerberg, John Haitt, Weezer and so many more amazing artists.
Our first exercise was to do a free-write revolving around a specific keyword. The lesson was supposed to aid us when we are low on our inspiration and/or when we simply just need to get our creativity flowing with an exercise. We could pick any word and find so many interesting things to write about, and possibly pick out some verses that might be used for a song. In this class we wrote about the word Amsterdam and each of us read aloud what we had brainstormed. Some people wrote about never having a chance to get on a plane, about their travels in Europe, another about someone who's name started with an A, and so on.
Tip #1
Practice a no-limits free-write daily or at least a few times a week to keep your creative juices fresh. Remember, you are not a songwriter (or an athlete, artist, or anything) if you have not worked at your sport within the last 24 hours.
Other classes I had were just as engaging, like I had one with Pat Pattison. Let me tell you, if you are in any way interested in songwriting and you don’t know him, look him up NOW. He is one of the most experienced professionals in the business of songwriting, and an awesome professor too. He taught us about a few of the easiest and most common songwriting mistakes you can possibly make and how you can generally make songs sound so much better.
For example, have you heard the song “Unconditionally” by Katy Perry? It’s lyrics are beautiful and heartfelt and its production is really great, but the song “is dead” as Pat told us because of how poor her wording technique is. Let me ask you to do something. Say the word unconditionally to yourself. It comes out un-con-DI-tion-ally right? Because that is how we normally speak every day. In her song however, she pronounced it un-con-di-TION-ally, therefore putting our attention on how weirdly the word is pronounced and not what she is actually saying. This is such a common mistake songwriters make that could have been easily fixed to make the song much more powerful and natural.
Another thing we discussed is, in the most well-known song in America "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", the stress of the refrain is on "somewhere over the rainbow" not "somewhere over the rainbow" because the song is about getting out of the place you are in, to go somewhere better. It's not about a rainbow. The way you say something sometimes matters even more than what you are actually trying to say.
Tip #2
If you are a songwriter, write according to normal day-to-day speech. If you wouldn't say it like that, don't write it like that. The stress / emphasis you put on your lyrics matters so much!
In the mentoring classes, which were much smaller and intimate than the others, the sole purpose was for us to share our music with each other. We would take turns to perform things we had written, and then everyone (including the mentor) would give feedback on it. I heard some spectacular songs! There was one specific song that a girl wrote called "Soaring" that captured the feeling I get while flying on an air plane thousands of feet above ground, which is a nostalgic and weightless feeling, better than I ever could have.
One guy shared an acoustic song he wrote that was about a giant that lived on a mountain, which transported me to world of “The Lord of the Rings” and enchanted all of us to make us feel like we were sitting around a campfire. That unique creativity inspired me so much to think about writing outside the box.
Tip #3
Share your music!!! Even if it is with your parents, siblings or friends. Especially if you know someone who has the same passion that you do. Getting feedback on your creations and hearing those of others not only makes you a better songwriter, but opens your mind to so many new ideas that you would not have been able to think of on your own.
One thing I learned at Berklee is that if you have a passion (no matter if it is sports, art, or music), sharing it with others who feel the same way and want the same things you do will change your life. Read: Change. Your. Life. Having a passion that only lives in the cave that is your skull will never be as fulfilling, nor grow as much, as when you share it. No man is an island, as John Donne says.
On my last day we all attended a seminar held by some of the most experienced in the biz and, at the end, Paula Cole (trust me you know her- listen to "I Don't Want to Wait") who is a fantastic singer-songwriter in her own right and a vocal professor at Berklee, gave a phenomenal performance for us and we got to meet and ask her questions afterwards. The veil between the untouchable, successful musicians and average musical human beings, like me, was removed from my eyes completely while attending Berklee. Meeting so many approachable artists made the concept of actually making a life in music feel so much more doable.
I took the bus back to my aunt's apartment and spent the rest of my idyllic and legendary trip thinking about everything I experienced, and what could happen next. I was extremely eager to get back to the mini studio I had in my room at home to put into practice all I had learned. Before I had been stricken with stage fright, but the mentoring classes helped me to be more confident in my work because of how people responded so positively to it.
I missed everyone back at home in Miami, including my Yorkie Lola who was probably missing me very much despite her attitude, but being at Berklee had begun to feel kind of like home too. My mentoring sessions were something that never seemed to last long enough and the other students in my class and my mentor felt like family. Being around so many fantastic musicians made me really feel like a part of the Berklee family and gave my the courage to be more confident when sharing my music. The fantastic food in the cafeteria didn't hurt either.
