Songwriting Summer School

Whether you have a few songs under your belt already or you’re keen to understand how the great songwriters go about their craft, ICMP’s Summer School for creative songwriters will provide you with the know-how to dive right in.

Over five days, you’ll learn, create and connect with likeminded songwriting students as you explore the subtle nuances of both songcraft and performance. Each day, you’ll be inspired by your industry-experienced tutors plus special guest speakers visiting our impressive London campus.

“It was an incredible experience that helped both beginner and experienced songwriters – there were learning opportunities for everyone!”

Each day, you’ll work with specialist ICMP songwriting tutors who will show you how to put your ideas and concepts into practice. You’ll be supported every step of the way as you dial up your creative thinking, discover your style, develop your entrepreneurship and progress your overall songwriting ability.

By the end of the week, you’ll have dramatically increased your songwriting experience thanks to regular creative challenges, and you’ll leave with newfound enthusiasm and greater confidence to get out there and put your ideas to song.

“For me, it was super valuable to understand co-writing and meet people I’d like to write with in the future.”

Learning topics

During the Summer School, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Lyric writing
• Song idea generation
• Creative writing and free writing
• Co-writing
• Harmony and melody writing
• Song development
• Vocal technique
• Performance skills
• Marketing for the music industry

“My favourite part was meeting the tutors and other students, making friends and receiving advice and support. It was really inspiring.”

By the end of the week, you’ll have developed:

• A solid overview of the songwriting industry
• An understanding of song style, structure and content
• Skills to implement a range of creative writing strategies
• Improvements in your lyric writing, harmony creation and song structure development
• The ability to collaborate with peers to co-write on creative projects
• An understanding of how to release and market your music

What will I learn?

Daily songwriting workshops: Share your songs and creative material with regular opportunities to perform across the week, and receive informed feedback from your tutors and peers.

Specialist masterclasses: Gain a window into the industry as you learn from ICMP’s expert songwriting tutors and hear from industry guests about their experiences as professional musicians, songwriters and more.

Co-write, collaborate and network: Brainstorm and write songs with your fellow Summer School students each day as you build connections to take into your career.

Songwriters’ showcase performance: Perform your songs in a livestreamed songwriters’ circle at the end of the week, with an audience of students, family, friends and tutors.