Gary Barlow

Songwriting

This complete course taught by Gary Barlow, writer of 14 number one songs, is designed to take you from the tune in your head to becoming a successful songwriter.

• One off course purchase, no ongoing commitment
• Rewatch as often as you like

Gary Barlow, OBE is one of Britain’s greatest songwriters. He’s written 14 number one singles, had 24 top-ten hits and won six Ivor Novello songwriting awards. He has also sold more than 50 million records. Mesmerised by a Top of The Pops performance by Depeche Mode, he was first inspired to learn the keyboards when he was 10 years old and he has been writing and performing his own songs ever since. His dedication to his craft has taken him from working men’s clubs in Wales, playing for less than twenty pounds a night, to selling out Wembley Stadium over consecutive days and playing to many thousands of fans.

Lesson 1
Introduction
Meet your Maestro. He’s going to give you all the inspiration you need to start your songwriting career.
3 mins

Lesson 2
What Is Songwriting?
Gary passionately imparts what music and songwriting mean to him personally.
3 mins

Lesson 3
The Process
Gary says songwriting is a process that involves many layers of exploration and demands a curious nature.
5 mins

Lesson 4
Listening
Gary talks about the importance of training your ears by listening to other people’s songs.
9 mins

Lesson 5
Early Days
Gary sits at the piano and deconstructs his global number one hit A Million Love Songs, a track he wrote aged 15.
5 mins

Lesson 6
First Steps
Gary reveals the remarkable songwriting regime that he started as a schoolboy and set him on the path to success.
4 mins

Lesson 7
First Keyboard
One Christmas, Gary was given a choice of presents by his parents. His choice changed the course of his life.
13 mins

Lesson 8
Singing
Gary explains why singing your own songs in front of an audience will take your writing to a whole different place.
5 mins

Lesson 9
Major To Minor
Gary pulls apart the song Pray and shows us its component parts.
4 mins

Lesson 10
Find Your Voice
There are no shortcuts to finding your own voice. Gary shows you the ways in which you can get started.
11 mins

Lesson 11
No Idea Is Ever Wasted
It’s critical that you keep all your ideas safe so that you can come back to them. Gary illustrates this with the story of a song that stuck with him until he was ready to complete it.
4 mins

Lesson 12
The Chorus
Find out why Gary likes to get a song started with a chorus.
3 mins

Lesson 13
Chords
Chords are great building blocks for songwriters. They have dictated the emotions and sentiments of many of Gary’s most famous songs.
3 mins

Lesson 14
Experiment With Chords
Gary shows us how he brought two ideas to the studio and fused them together to create a song big enough to open a sell out show at Wembley Stadium.
7 mins

Lesson 15
Collaboration
Arguably the greatest comeback in pop history was launched off the back of a collaboration. Gary explains how a partnership with producer John Shanks, helped create the song, Patience.
9 mins

Lesson 16
Simplicity
Gary shares the single biggest moment that influenced his songwriting.
3 mins

Lesson 17
Constructing A Song: Part One
Starting with a clean slate, Gary shows you how to construct a brand new song and explains many of the decisions you need to make right from the start.
7 mins

Lesson 18
Constructing A Song: Part Two
Tempo, sentiment and choice of key come into focus as a new song takes shape.
13 mins

Lesson 19
Constructing A Song: Part Three
Gary points out the pitfalls one encounters when writing choruses.
12 mins

Lesson 20
Constructing A Song: Part Four
Gary talks about the importance of staying in the moment to maintain the flow and puts the melody of our new song under the spotlight.
10 mins

Lesson 21
Constructing A Song: Part Five
Gary drives the hook home and fine-tunes the lyrics.
10 mins

Lesson 22
Constructing A Song: Part Six
Gary believes the song now has that one piece of magic in the melody of the chorus.
10 mins

Lesson 23
Confidence
In the creative world, confidence is king. Without it everything falls apart. Gary speaks from the heart about how he once lost his confidence and what he did to build it back up.
6 mins

Lesson 24
See An Opportunity
In songwriting, everything you do will prepare you for a moment that will take you by surprise.
7 mins

Lesson 25
Creativity
Gary talks about the joys of living a creative life and reflects on how Back For Good came about through experimentation.
13 mins

Lesson 26
The Theatre
Different skillsets are required for musical theatre and for scoring film soundtracks. Gary touches on what you need to know to work in these areas.
10 mins

Lesson 27
Longevity
After four decades in the business, Gary has some good advice on how to stay fresh and relevant.
6 mins

Lesson 28
Reaching An Audience
In an age in which music has never been more accessible, Gary gives his take on how to find your audience.
3 mins

Lesson 29
Summary
Gary talks passionately about his love and respect for music.
7 mins
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