Category: Shrewsbury Songwriters Briefs

This month’s meetup happens to fall on St Patrick’s Night. So of course we had to have a relevently-themed brief for the occassion…

To celebrate St Patrick’s Night and the legendary Irish luck, write a song in the style of a traditional Folk song about luck, in any of its forms (perhaps even bad luck!)

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

Shrewsbury Folk Festival is soon approaching, so lets get into the festival spirit!

For this month’s song, imagine you are performing on the main festival stage and write an anthem that a football stadium-worth of people can sing along to!

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

It’s easy to get stuck into a pattern with our songwriting. For this brief, let’s get out of our comfort zone!

So for this month’s song, here’s the challenge:

If you usually rhyme in your songs, then you can’t rhyme at all in the song.

If you don’t usually rhyme in your songs then you have to rhyme at the end of every line (you can choose whichever rhyming structure you want e.g. one line rhymes with the next, 1^st and 3^rd, 2^nd and 4th lines etc. but the end of each line has to rhyme with something).

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

As Shakespeare’s birthday approaches, combine one of his methods of writing with your own. For this brief, write a 14-line song written in the style of a sonnet.

What is a sonnet?

A sonnet is a style of writing poems. It has 14 lines, with 3x groups of 4 lines (then finishing with 2x lines) and each 1^st and 3^rd and 2^nd and 4^th line rhyming. The rhyming structure of a sonnet is shown below.

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

Easter is often associated with treasure hunts and solving clues and riddles, with the treasure usually being chocolate! However, in myths, legends and throughout history there have been many incredible and fantastic treasures long sought after.

For this brief, write a song about one of these legendary treasures, whether real, mythical or somewhere in-between (as truth often is). You could write about the treasure itself, from the perspective of the person hunting for the treasure or perhaps someone actually involved in the creation of the treasure – the choice is yours!

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

The first signs of Spring are here, bringing a feeling of excitement and anticipation! In this season of new growth, write a song that describes new beginnings.

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!

Love songs are usually centred around a person that has made an impact on your life, whether romantically or otherwise. Particular places can also have a similar effect but there are far fewer songs about somewhere that has touched your heart.

For this February brief, buck the trend by writing a love song for a place that is close to your heart, whether that be a town, county, country or somewhere else.

Shrewsbury Songwriters is a free monthly social meetup I run for songwriters (of all stages) as an opportunity to meet up with fellow writers and discuss their approaches. If you would like to learn more then please head to this page. Hope to see you there!