The Singer Songwriter Specialization

Do you have a song in your heart that you want to share it with others? In the Singer/Songwriter specialization, you will learn all the skills you need to write, perform, and record your own original music. You’ll begin by learning how to play the guitar to accompany yourself in Guitar for Beginners. You’ll learn how to play chords and scales, as well as strumming patterns and finger picking patterns. In Singing Popular Music, you’ll explore your voice and develop your own personal style. You’ll learn how to sing properly, mastering the correct techniques and breath support. From there, you’ll hone your writing craft, focusing on lyrics. You’ll learn about stressed and unstressed syllables, rhyme schemes, and lyrical phrasing.You’ll also record into a Digital Audio Workstation, focusing on Ableton Live and capturing both MIDI and real instruments into your DAW to record and share your ideas with the world.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

T​he basics of playing the guitar, including chords, scales, strumming and picking patterns.

H​ow to sing in your preferred genre and style healthfully, using proper breathing and vocal techniques.

B​asic songwriting tools and techniques to augment your songwriting.

H​ow to record, edit, and mix music productions that include MIDI and audio to create professional sounding recordings of your music.

Sort options

Singing Popular Music (Coursera)

You've been studying the greats, working on improving your vocal skills, and building vocal technique. Now it's time to take the next step in your singing career to shine as a vocalist. Singing Popular Music provides you with the essential skills to define your own unique vocal style and [...]

Introduction to Ableton Live (Coursera)

In the past, Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) were programs used only by audio engineers with a highly specific knowledge base, on machines inaccessible to most people. But over the past 10-15 years, DAWs and the act of recording music have evolved from being a luxury of the few to [...]

Songwriting: Writing the Lyrics (Coursera)

There’s a songwriter lurking somewhere inside you, peeking around corners, wondering if it’s safe to come out. Now it is. This course is an invitation to let your inner songwriter step into the sunlight. All it takes is a simple “yes” and you’ll be climbing that windy hill, marveling [...]

Guitar for Beginners (Coursera)

Grasp the essentials needed to begin playing acoustic or electric guitar. You'll learn an easy approach to get you playing quickly, through a combination of exploring the instrument, performance technique, and basic music theory. For students who have long thought about picking up the acoustic or electric guitar, this [...]