Description
In July of 2020, Kat & Sarah met every week with a group of music educators for one purpose: explore personal and educational songwriting experiences.
Those four weeks were transformative and deeply connective. Simultaneously, the experience highlighted something they had felt as songwriting educators: there aren’t enough resources for music educators looking to work on songwriting practices. While resources are abundant for learning songwriting, many music educators do not avail themselves of them because they do not view themselves as songwriters. In this text, we hope to change some of those ideas.
This text’s purpose is twofold: 1) to provide practical strategies for musicians seeking to begin or enhance their creative songwriting practice AND 2) to connect educators to studio and classroom practices that can transform curricula.
There are fantastic resources on songwriting and creativity, and we share many of these at the end of this book. This text is not meant to replace or restate work that has already been done. Instead, the hope is that this book will fill a much-needed space in connecting educators to their creative selves through these resources, stories, and areas for reflection.
About the Author
Dr. Kat Reinhert is an experienced educator and artist. She has taught courses in jazz, songwriting, private voice, contemporary theory, and popular music ensembles and is a sought after clinician for master classes and workshops as well as consulting for burgeoning HPME programs. As a performer and songwriter, Kat has released four independent albums as well as sung on multiple projects and recordings, with a fifth album set for release in February 2021. Ms. Reinhert holds a BM in Jazz/Commercial Voice from The Manhattan School of Music, an MM in Jazz Performance/Pedagogy, and a Ph.D. in Music Education, both from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, with her Ph.D. specializing in higher education popular music performance and pedagogy. Kat is the current President of the board for the Association for Popular Music Education and the former Director of Contemporary Voice The University of Miami, Frost School of Music. She currently resides in NYC and works as a freelance entrepreneur, educator, artist, and consultant.
Dr. Sarah Gulish holds a Ph.D. in music education from Temple University. Since 2007, Sarah has taught at Lower Moreland High School located in Pennsylvania in the U.S.A. She serves as an Adjunct Professor of Music Education at SUNY Buffalo State and Temple University. Her teaching centers on creativity, and she is an active researcher, writer, presenter, and clinician at the state, national, and international levels. Her experience as a popular musician has influenced her curricula and philosophy as an educator. It is detailed in her book, Creativity in the Classroom: An Innovative Approach to Integrate Arts Education. Sarah began her songwriting journey when she was a kid and recorded her first song at 12. Her songwriting credits include three studio albums, a collection of published children’s songs, and songs for the Broadway musical, Amazing Grace. Sarah teaches songwriting at both the secondary and collegiate levels.
Michelle –
This book is exactly what I needed. I have learned/taught so much as a music teacher but I never actually learned how to write songs (and that’s one thing I am constantly asked about by my students). This book isn’t just a how-to guide. It starts by having you reflect on your experiences. You may be tempted to skip over the reflection chapter but don’t do it!! This book helped me get over my fear of songwriting and shame about not knowing how to do so. I am well on my way to writing my first song and I can’t wait to do so with my students next.