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The Basics Of Pro Songwriting: How the Pros Write Hit Songs (Udemy.com)

Song structure, lyrics, melody, music composition and more – learn songwriting techniques and tips from a pro!

Created by: Tom Worth

Last updated January 2026

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What you will learn

  • The fundamentals of commercial songwriting.
  • The exact same songwriting process that has been used to write countless #1 songs.
  • The basics and beyond of song structure, melody and lyric writing, rhyme schemes, phrasing and more.
  • How to AVOID common songwriting mistakes that instantly label you as an amateur to industry professionals...even if you aren't one!

How it compares

Against the other 270 rated Udemy courses in Music on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 40% of them
  • Reviews2,813#16 of 271 by number of reviews
  • Length6.4 hourslonger than 74% of them
  • Last updatedJanuary 2026more recently than 75% of them

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Course Description

Ready to Drastically Improve Your Songwriting?

Whether you’ve never written a song in your life, or you’ve been writing for years and want to step up your game…my video course will have you writing songs like the Pro's.

So there are countless books, videos, and classes that teach songwriting. What makes my video course better, or even different? Good question. All of these other sources can teach you how to write a song. What’s a verse, chorus, bridge, etc…and yes, I will certainly teach you all of these things.

But in addition to the basics of songwriting, I teach you the basics of PRO songwriting. I’ve been a professional and successful songwriter for over 20 years and in this course I show you the exact method my colleagues and I use to write commercial songs every day. The exact same songwriting method that has been used to write countless #1 hit songs on the pop, country, christian, and rock charts!

I’ll also identify the most common mistakes songwriters make that instantly turn off industry professionals. If you’re currently making these mistakes, I can almost guarantee you won’t have success. Sorry…I don’t make the rules…but I know them, and now you can too!

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Instructor Details

Tom Worth

Hi there -I’m Tom Worth - the Pro Songwriting Coach.  I’ve been a professional and successful songwriter out of New York and Nashville for over 20 years.


So let’s get the 2 questions you’re probably thinking of out of the way…


     1.  Have I written any songs you know?

     2.  If I’m a successful songwriter, why do I teach?


Good questions. The answer to the first is…probably.


My first success was when I was 20 and a song I wrote and recorded was licensed by MTV and then ABC to be used on their shows “Road Rules” and “Forming The Band.” Since then, I’ve had over 65 of my songs recorded by artists other than me. One of them reached #6 on Billboard charts. Another was on a top 20 Billboard album.


My songs have also been used on ABC’s Jane By Design, in a Verizon commercial, and even the theme song for a show on ESPN.


2nd question: Yes it’s true – I’m living my dream as a pro songwriter. So why do I take time away from that to teach? That one’s simple…because I love teaching and helping songwriters follow and reach their dreams…and want them to avoid the many mistakes I made!


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Reviews

4.6

2,813 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Miguel Ángel Castellanos Martínez on 6/9/2026

Me parece que est un curso con mucha claridad en sus conceptos, aunque yo escribo en español he encontrado que puedo aplicarlo perfectamente en mi escritura. He comprado varios cursos para escribir canciones y me parece que este curso por mucho es el mejor. una de sus fortalezas es la lista enorme de ejemplos, que aunque pueden ser de estilos muy contrastantes uno puede ver la semejanza en la estructura Pero también como determinados recursos se resuelve el en de a cuerdo a la personalidad de cada estilo musical.

By David Gray on 3/16/2026

Great course, I am not a musician so I skipped over those sections. I have been writing poetry for years and wanted to try writing lyrical versions of my poetry. I found the lessons on terminology and song construction to be extremely helpful. Over the years I've heard most of the terms but never truly understood their meaning. I am somewhat embarrassed but I have fed my original lyrics and updated lyrics into an AI music generation site, and for my personal listening experience I think the songs I've created following your rules do sound better. Thank You for taking the time to put together a clear, easy to understand, course with examples and explanations.

By Frank Janzow on 12/6/2022

The teacher is clear, informed, experienced, fun, and presents a logical step by step explanation of the craft of songwriting. I appreciated his willingness to demonstrate writing a song from scratch. It made me feel that my own stumbling persistence through this process is actually normal! Thank you!

By Ahmere Ware on 11/8/2020

Very in depth!

By Kevin Reither on 11/8/2020

I did not have high expectations for this course when I started, but I am learning a ton of great information which I am sure will help me become a better song writer.

By chaz Attamah on 10/24/2020

One of the best and most important class I have purchased at Udemy. I have had tons of chord progressions in bank from the days I started university over 15 years ago. I went through the steps Tom taught and it all makes sense now. This class has been perfect for me because, I can play guitar well, I love almost all types of music, I have a good grasp of music theory, but trash lyrics writing skills. The revelation for me was the phrasing section. Thanks Tom! By the way, "Fun in a song" is a banger. :-)

By Karley S on 10/20/2020

Really really enjoyed this course. Fills in gaps with out anything deemed as unnecessary to the course topic. Its well designed.

By Sam Simpkin on 10/18/2020

Good foundation for starting songwriting

By Rico Huff on 10/15/2020

I am really impressed with this songwriting and Toms' teaching style. I am a songwriter and I possessed information on this topic already. However, this class has shown me that there is always something new to learn that will cause growth and expand your knowledge on any given subject. My personal writing practices have changed drastically in a relatively short amount of time. I am elated that I found this class and will definitely inform other serious songwriters that Toms' songwriting course is a must if you want to set yourself apart; especially in a world of wanna be's. Thank you Tom for sharing your invaluable information with a community of avid learners and seekers of knowledge.

By Melissa Bean on 10/7/2020

I absolutely love this course. I have always wanted to write songs but I wasn't sure how to get started. I feel like I finally understand the process and feel like I can begin writing now. I can't recommend this course enough!

By Richard Andr Desjardins on 10/2/2020

Dbut trs clairement expliqu. On traite d'un type conservateur et standardis de chanson. Cela suit le titre du cours.
Je viens de terminer #19. Trs clair, excellents exemples. Les sous-titres ne disent pas la mme chose que le narrateur et sont donc inutiles.

By Jill K on 9/22/2020

Not only is the information 100% relevant, but Tom presents it in a concise, well-edited way. And, he includes pdf’s of the highlights of each subject — a handy reference when writing a song. (I think he should create a course on how to create a course!) I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Thanks Tom.

Showing 12 of 292 reviews

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Overall Score : 92 / 100