For anyone interested in lyrics and songwriting, this class offers easy-to-use tools to help turn your stories and ideas into catchy, well-constructed songs. Whether you’re a beginning or seasoned musician, or just "lyric curious,” you'll learn the basics of song structure, how to write a good “hook,” and explore how rhythm and rhyme can elevate and enhance your songs. 

 

We will cover basic copywriting issues, the pros and cons of co-writing, and analyze some of the songwriting masters. 

 

Everyone will generate at least one original song, using in-class prompts and writing exercises to get the words and ideas flowing. (You can either record it at home or perform it live for the class; non-instrumentalists will be assigned a collaborator.)

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About the Instructor:

 

Bay Area singer/songwriter Zoe FitzGerald Carter has been touring both coasts in support of her latest album, Before the Machine, since its release in June of 2024. Picking up where Zoe’s last album, Waterlines (2021), left off, the album showcases the artist’s vivid sense of language while weaving a rich fabric of folk, country, rock, blues and jazz. Inspired by memories of a pre-smart phone world, the title track explores how technology, and specifically smart phones, has irrevocably altered our experience of time. The song won first place in the Corpus Christi Songwriting Contest and the music video has been included in several international film festivals. “Zoe FitzGerald Carter is an artist who taps into the great American tradition of the troubadour singer-songwriter,” writes Tom Hilton of Aldora Britain Records. "With a fresh and invigorating approach, this Berkeley, California based tunesmith crafts lyrically drive, compositions that delve into themes of change, longing, exploitation, nostalgia and many more. It’s a gem of an album from top to bottom.” 

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A native of Washington D.C., Zoe began playing guitar and singing as a teenager. Although music was her first love, writing was her first career. After graduating from Columbia Journalism School, Zoe wrote for numerous national magazines and, in 2010, published an award-winning memoir, Imperfect Endings. After leaving New York City for the San Francisco Bay Area, she began playing with local bands and co-founded the Americana string band Sugartown. She’s performed at numerous clubs around the Bay Area from The Freight & Salvage to Sweetwater Music Hall and has toured Southern California and the East Coast. 

 

 

Click here to learn more about Zoe.

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LEFT MARGIN LIT'S CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY:

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If you find that you can't take a class for which you registered, you may request a refund, less a $25 administrative fee, at least 48 hours prior to the start of the first class session. If a class doesn't reach its minimum enrollment, it will be cancelled, and all students will receive full refunds.