Spring 2010: Losing It

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Summer Workshop Deadline: June 1st
I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner
SFK Bookclub
Spring Songwriting Challenge
Poll: You'd Lose Your Head If It Wasn't Screwed On!


  Summer Workshop Deadline: June 1st



Registration is now open for my summer workshops at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. I can't wait to see all the creative work that my students will come up with this year...hope you can join us!

July 12-16, 2010
Songwriting for Kids Vol. 1 (K-3), 8:30am-12:00pm
Fiction Writing for Kids (grades 3-5), 1:30pm-5:00pm

July 19-23, 2010
Songwriting for Kids Vol. 2 (K-3), 8:30am-12:00pm
Poetry Writing for Kids (grades 3-5), 1:30pm-5:00pm


For more information and to register, please visit www.songwritingforkids.com.

I Wrote a Hit Song! Contest Winner

Congratulations to Lucy, age 9...Lucy wrote a hit song!

Lucy, from Woolwich, Maine, wrote a song called "When a Bluejay Dies" and you can view the lyrics at the I Wrote a Hit Song! webpage. It's a heartfelt song about the circle of life. Please stop by and leave a comment for Lucy to let her know how much you enjoyed her song.


 SFK Bookclub

Learn to Speak Music by John Crossingham

For any kid who's ever wanted to write a song, start a band, record music, or play a gig...Learn to Speak Music is a book well worth checking out! Read more about this book...


Songwriting Challenge: Losing It

Everybody loses something sometime or another. We lose books, toys, keys, socks. We lose dogs, cats, people we love. We lose our tempers, we lose our train of thought. Sometimes it even feels like we lose our minds!

Losing things can be hard. But think about all the great songs that are written because of something lost. Lucy (this quarter's I Wrote a Hit Song! contest winner) wrote a terrific song about losing a blue jay. There are all kinds of songs about losing pets "Old Blue," "Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?," "The Cat Came Back." My own song Evangeline is based on a Longfellow poem about a girl who loses her true love.

Spring '10 Songwriting Challenge:
Can you write a song about something lost?

Here are some things to think about:

1. What's something you've lost recently? Write about that.
   
2. Will your song be funny or serious, happy or sad? A song about losing a grandparent could be beautiful and sad, but you could also write a fun song about losing a tooth, or a mysterious song about a missing key or a long lost treasure map.
   
3. Give some details. How did you lose it? Did you find it again? What did you like or dislike about the thing you lost?
   
4. Write about how you feel. Are you glad the thing you've lost is gone? Sad? Worried? Relieved? How will you feel when and if you find it?
5. Have fun!
   

Here's a goofy song from Sesame Street about a lost cookie:



Poll: You'd Lose Your Head If It Wasn't Screwed On!

If you can't see the poll, just click here. (Once you vote, you'll be able to see other people's answers, too.)