Songwriting for Everyone (Udemy.com)
Learn how to write songs without needing to read or write music!
Created by: Joseph Lilore
Last updated January 2017
What you will learn
- Compose a song in any style or genre without needing to read or write music, and without needing to play an instrument.
How it compares
Against the other 270 rated Udemy courses in Music on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.4 out of 5higher than 14% of them
- Reviews169#154 of 271 by number of reviews
- Length1.3 hoursshorter than 88% of them
- Last updatedJanuary 2017earlier than 92% of them
Course Description
Think of composers such as Paul McCartney, who admits to no formal training in music. Or singers, who even at an early age can sing in perfect pitch. The ability to create music is in everyone.
Have you ever seen Behind The Music or an interview with a famous composer or band on how they actually write their songs? They almost always play chords on a guitar or piano which generates melodies in their mind.
In this course you will learn how melodies are generated in the mind as chords are played. You will see how musical phrases are joined into sentences, and then combined into sections, which form songs. Throughout the course I use real world examples of contemporary hit songs such as Rihanna's "Stay" and Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself." I also discuss and demonstrate the application of basic songwriting techniques and song elements in classic rock songs from Led Zeppelin to Nirvana.
These sections - Introduction, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus and Bridge - are the main elements of today's modern music. At the end of this course you will be able to compose as many songs as you wish, in any style or genre!
This is an interactive course, where I play chord progressions on the guitar as you sing melodies. By the end of this course you will have written your first song, and you will be able to compose as many songs as you wish, in any style - pop, jazz, rock, country, and more!
Instructor Details
- 4.4 Rating
169 Reviews
Joseph Lilore
Joseph R. Lilore is an arranger, composer and author with over 25 published books. He has taught music at all levels and across musical genres.
In his chord book "Guitar Chords for the 21st Century," he presents 1,848 alternative C chords, for a total of 22,176 new chords in all.
In addition to teaching and writing, he is a composer who has composed six pieces for guitar and various ensembles, as well as five pieces for violin and classical guitar.
In this course he brings his depth of music knowledge and his teaching background to create easy-to-follow, accessible lessons.
More Music courses
Music Theory Comprehensive Complete: Parts 13, 14, & 15 (2026)
5.0 (315 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 8.4h
$16.99
Jazz Piano - Ultimate Beginners Course for Piano & Keyboard (2025)
4.9 (2,224 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 8.1h
$15.99
Music Composition with the Piano: Ultimate Keyboard Theory (2020)
4.9 (1,679 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 7.8h
$16.99
Electronic Music Production with Ableton Live [2025]
4.9 (1,088 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 14.8h
$19.99
How to Play Djembe,Drum & Rhythm and teach Children. Level 1 (2020)
4.9 (533 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 2.1h
$69.99
Reviews
By Enrico Contrasti on 5/19/2021
I really enjoyed the course. The instructor is a great musician and he gives very clear instructions, directions and tips. I like his personality, enthusiasm and energy. I would definitely recommend this course!
By Saubhagya Maharjan on 5/8/2020
Since It's for beginners, Its Good to learn from This Video Class. But It guides me to write Song without Words. It has a high Concentration over Chord progression and body of Song. It fails to teach on Lyrics. However, It's just a Basic. Thank You for making this possible.
By Adrie Judd on 4/6/2020
tution is awesome and easy to follow. i have learnt a huge amount of ways to improve my song writing skills. Thank you
By Lisa Cardoso on 3/31/2020
I left this rating because it is very clear the instructor loves what he is teaching and is very knowledgeable about what he’s teaching. I didn’t give it a 5 because I am a beginner and I’m kind of confused on what exactly is being asked of me but I’m sure a non beginner would no more just as he said. If later on in the course I start to understand the direction as the instructor said a beginner should then I will change rating to 5 stars
By Brigitte Dumas on 11/17/2019
I wrote songs a while ago, and this couse help me to come back to it. It is very clear our teacher knows very well the subject and has a lot of experience . Thank you Joseph Lilore
By Mayara Silva Pinto on 8/6/2019
Particularmente eu não achei o curso muito completo. Poderia ter sido um pouco mais explorado e com um pouco mais de detalhes. Os exercícios eram bastante intuitivos, mas sem muitas ideias sobre a escrita de letras.
By Fazlyn on 6/1/2019
Excellent quality. I like the piecemeal approach. I have a much better understanding of songwriting now. However, I cannot access the resources - the pdf’s. I have to use my laptop. The presenter is to the point. Thank you.
By B S Lalith Kumar on 1/8/2019
It is a very good course but,if sir had written song and given as example it would had been still more good and understandable
By Alfredo Barrera on 9/3/2018
This course is amazing! I am having a lot of fun. I highly recommend it to any budding songwriter. I would advice taking a course on coming up with lyrics prior to taking this course. In this course you will take your words and will put them to music. By the end of the course you will have a complete song. If you do the course exercises a second time, you can come up with another song. This course will also show you how to listen to other songs to learn from them.
By Amanda Yates on 6/20/2018
I think that this course would be ideal for anyone who is new to songwriting. It contains a just little bit of theory and a lot of practice which is going to be really great for anyone who is nervous about starting. My advice to you is to start the course with a song idea in your head (by this I mean thoughts on the subject of the song such as "Sundays make me feel lonely" or "the fast red car") and use the resources. If you do the work you will end up creating your very own song!
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 88 / 100




![Electronic Music Production with Ableton Live [2025]](/programming/music/images/6523651_6960_3.jpg?v=1789443824)

