These past two weekends I had the immense privilege of facilitating three days of songwriting workshops at Westben in Campbellford. These workshops were aimed at adult amateurs with little to no songwriting experience, and though I was supposedly the teacher, I learned an incredible amount from the experience and the beautiful folks who participated.
Here are just a few of the things that are sticking out to me as I reflect on the workshops:
Amateur is irrelevant. These folks could write! Given some exercises to get the juices flowing, some parameters to work within (because boundaries make us freer to create), and some time, they each wrote an original song in the space of one week. And each song had a distinct style and voice. I was blown away.
Learning and creativity don’t progress in a straight line. The first day of workshops felt like a lot of instruction from me and not a lot of active response from the participants. The second day everyone came alive with musical ideas and sharing. And on the final day it felt like we didn’t have half as much time as we needed because everyone was overflowing with creative energy. As the facilitator it can be just as hard to trust the process as it is for the new writers. Did I pace this correctly? Are they interested? Did I give them enough time/enough guidance/enough cookies? These workshops tested my ability to trust myself, and reminded me that I am not in control even when I’ve been given the label of leader.
The things that work for me are the things I have to offer to other people. Digging around looking for new exercises to share or techniques I don’t personally use didn’t prove fruitful, but sharing the things I use in my own writing was exactly what hit home the strongest. In case you’re curious, some of those things include: writing daily morning pages; separating the creator and the critic in my mind and giving them different days to work - AKA no editing in the initial writing process; and not taking writing too seriously or being too precious about what I write.
I came away inspired and happy, with a few ideas for future workshops rolling around in my head. Huge thanks to Westben and the lovely folks who attended the workshop for the opportunity to be inspired and share my love of songwriting.
Upcoming Shows
SOLD OUT - NatureNurture is officially completely sold out. We intended to hold some tickets for PWYC at the door, but folks have reached out to buy those in advance so they don’t get turned away at the door. We are so stoked you want to share this evening with us, and if you didn’t get tickets please know this won’t be the last time this group of artists will collaborate.
Joy Just Because Playlist Update
I’ve added and subtracted some tunes, and I invite you to always add your faves to the playlist. Let me hear ‘em!
Love this post. I believe your experience is a common one among teachers of any subject--it's one of the joys of teaching kids or adults.