Songwriting: Lyrics, Form, and Voice with Christian Wethered
Info
Date: July 1, 2026
Time: 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm
Duration: 3 weeks
Level: Intermediate | Beginner |
Cost: €140 (€126 Members)
Online/In Person: In Person
This course will take place in person on Wednesdays for 3 weeks beginning 1 July.
Course Summary
Over three weeks, this course guides participants into the craft of songwriting, with special focus on lyric-writing, form, and voice. We’ll explore how to turn images, emotion, story and phrase into song lyric, how melody and structure can collaborate with words, and how to find a unique voice within musical constraints. Using examples from singer-songwriters (e.g. Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Nick Cave) and contemporary voices, participants will try techniques, workshop ideas, and write their own short songs or lyric fragments. By the end, each student will have created a draft song lyric (or hybrid text) ready to refine further.
Course Outline
Week 1 – Finding your lyric voice: concreteness, show-don’t-tell, sense-bound detail, imagery, and emotional anchor
Week 2 – Form, structure & sound: rhyme, metre, repetition, song structure (verse / chorus / bridge), metaphor and sonic devices
Week 3 – Editing & integration: trimming, avoiding clichés, aligning lyrics to melody, clarity vs mystery, workshopping & peer feedback
Participants will submit or read a short lyric or lyric fragment each week (homework) and workshop in class.
Course Outcomes
- Understand foundational techniques of lyric-writing (imagery, sound, form)
- Be able to draft and revise lyrics with greater confidence
- Gain tools to align lyrics with melody and structure
- Leave with at least one draft song lyric or hybrid piece plus a roadmap for further development
Christian Wethered is a poet and songwriter based in Dublin. His poetry has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry Wales, The London Magazine and The Moth, and he was a finalist in the Southword Poetry Competition in 2024. Drawing on influences from Seamus Heaney to Leonard Cohen, his songs have been played on RTÉ and Today FM, and he has performed at Beyond the Pale, Electric Picnic and The Ruby Sessions. He currently teaches at UCD and earlier this year taught creative translation at the University of Granada. His new album From the Balustrade is due in 2026.
