COMBINED

INSTRUMENTAL
AND VOCAL
SONGWRITING
Grades 9-12
GRAYSON PARKER
 What's the Purpose?
The focus of this curriculum is to show
students from different areas of music
that they can make music together. It
allows for vocalists and instrumentalists
to work together to make a beautiful
piece of art that is their own and tells
their story. The end goal of this project
is to be able to perform a new piece
written for voices and instruments! This
would be a year-long course and would
be open to all students who have
actively been enrolled in a music course
(either instrumental or vocal) in previous
years.

 What's the Need?

The purpose of this course is to enrich the knowledge of
students by allowing them to bring numerous different
fields into one. By incorporating these different facets
together students have the opportunity to participate in
songwriting. A study shows that songwriting has many
positive effects on students such as dealing with stress,
fostering creativity, learning difficult subjects, boosting
self-worth, and self-expression (Tunedly 2020). This
course allows for students to work together by using
their basic knowledge of music theory as vocalists and
instrumentalists to come together and make music.
Through this course students will learn to incorporate
their own field with another, transfer a musical thought
to paper with the help of mentors/teachers, as well as
learn to improvise musical thoughts and work with others
to put them together into one piece of music. Students
will also know about the fundamentals of songwriting,
basic music theory skills to allow for easier experiences
with writing, and even basic performing etiquette. At the
end of this course the students will be assessed by
coming together as a class to write a piece that they will
later perform for a public audience. To begin students
will create a small section given criteria (ex. Key, time
signature, etc.) and then they will be pieced together to
make a melody. After this they will create the lyrics to
their song. The National Association for Music Educators
gives us so many tips and reasons why each step is so
important. Not only is this a good experience for
students, but it is also a fantastic opportunity for
teachers. With teaching different areas in one course
comes beautiful ways to collaborate with other
educators to give students a full opportunity for an
enriching
course!
 How will this course positively
impact students?
This course will allow students to use their
experience in their lives after school to
understand the concept of many
instruments and voices combined as a full
musical concept. Not only will this course
give them experience, but it will open the
world up to opportunities that students
without this course

may not have!

How will the community impact
our students?
In many areas of the world, music is a
unifying figure that is practiced by many
people. Whether it is listening, singing,
participating in a choir, or in a band, almost
everyone is involved. By looking at the
music around us, we can determine what
type of music would best fit what our
demographics display would be best-
accepted!
What will the breakdown of this
course be?
The Budget!

Total: $2,000
WORKS CITED
5 ways children benefit from songwriting.
Tunedly. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2022,
from
https://www.tunedly.com/blog/songwritin
gandchilddevelopment.html
Songwriting for music educators. NAfME.
(2021, August 20). Retrieved April 12,
2022, from
https://nafme.org/songwriting-music-
educators/