Chords, Lyrics and confidence

By Grace, age 16

When I walked through the door of the Songwriting Workshop, I had what I wanted to write about in mind. My heart was pulling at it and I had no choice but to follow.

Walking through the gardens always provides a brilliant backdrop for stories you want to tell and emotions that call to be conveyed. Flowers and art jump out at you and compel you to apply your life to them and weave their story into yours. Somewhere in there, it all becomes a song.

During the jam session, the same three or four chords and lyrics were arranged in different moods and they meant completely different things when sung to different rhythms. As a musical theatre nerd, I was well aware of this, but it only really clicked that I could use such a tool just then.

I enjoyed being able to hand my song off to some experts allowing them to breathe their own truths into it. It's always an amazing experience to allow someone to see a side of you that you wouldn't normally allow seeing the light of day, only to have them validate its beauty in a way you never thought possible.

The 17th Annual WriteGirl Songwriting Workshop was sponsored in part by The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs - Youth Arts Division.