Creating Lyrics with Pop and Rock Music
Enjoy a video preview (right) and explore the learning guides below. Teaching artists are available for LIVE video instruction sessions to accompany each video.
This learning series requires that you obtain a license to view/download content. If you'd like to purchase a license to download the full available content or to discuss creating a custom learning series for your students, please contact VirtualClassroom@MetGuild.org or use the link below.
Video One:
Source Material, Themes, Tone, and Imagery
Have you ever thought about being a songwriter? Miss Gracie introduces us to the work of an NYC Songwriter! Join her as she teaches us techniques to create our own original song based on adapting an existing text, or "source material."
For our source material, we will use the historical event of the Boston Tea Party in the American Revolution.
Video 1 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 1 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 1
CCSS.ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.1
Video Two:
Character Point of View
Miss Gracie leads us through the process of identifying the characters in our source material, The Boston Tea Party, and explores character POV writing through the lens of "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
Video 2 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 2 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 6
CCSS. ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.6
Video Three:
Songwriting Structure
In our third video, Miss Gracie leads us through various songwriting structure techniques including verse/chorus, punch line, rhyme scheme, and syllabic meter.
Video 3 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 3 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 5
CCSS. ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.5
Video Four:
Heightened Language & Poetic Devices
Miss Gracie leads us through a lesson on heightened language & poetic devices including: simile, metaphor, assonance, and alliteration. We then explore how these devices are used in modern songwriting & apply them to our own writing.
Video 4 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 4 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 4
CCSS.ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.4
Video Five:
Presentation and Revision
In our final lesson in of this custom series, Miss Gracie will help us explore options for presenting our original lyrics/libretto. We'll look at several ways we can share our work: a performance, spoken word poetry, singer/songwriter, choreography, audio recording, and visual art (including video).
THEN, we'll talk about the final step: REVISING our work.
Video 5 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 5 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Writing Standard 3
CCSS.ELA-Writing.CCRA.W.3
Additional Information: (any additional/supplemental information related to this post will appear below)
Gracie Nash, Teaching Artist
Gracie Nash is a singer/songwriter & music educator based in NYC. She has performed at venues all around the city ranging from Yankee Stadium, Radio City Music Hall, and Rockwood Music Hall. Gracie has been a teaching artist with the Met Opera Guild for 2 years now, and she's constantly in awe of the creative brilliance her students bring to life through opera based learning. Gracie holds a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance from NYU and a Masters Degree in songwriting from NYU.
Back to Top
The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc.
70 Lincoln Center Plaza, 6th Floor
New York, NY. 10023