Play Space: Write Songs in 30 Minutes
Writing songs teaches you how to write songs. Therefore: Quantity over Quality
What’s the difference between you and a more experienced songwriter? EXPERIENCE. The more you write, the more refined your opinions. Being an artist is simply having opinions about what’s beautiful… and doing the best you can to create them. The anxious experience of “I don’t know what to do next” turns into the adventurous feeling of “I don’t know what to do next” — and yet we do something next! And we learn from it.
Overcome Self-Criticism
When you write a full song in 30 minutes, there simply isn’t time to judge it. There’s no need to waste time in those loops. You are fundamentally good, even if no one ever hears your songs, it’s a net positive in the universe that your song exists. Learn to love that you are working on your craft. Fall in love with the effort and the practice — not the result.
Celebrate your creativity with others
We will share these songs!! With each other. As practice seeing what’s best in others’ creative expression, it prepares us to find the best part of ourselves. We never really know who we are, or how we come across, without the sacred mirror of others.
Nate Shaffer has taught thousands of people how to IMPROVISE songs — at first through the ImprovBoston Comedy School (2013-2020) and then at other theatres around new england and the country. Since 2020, he has taught nearly 100 students on his online songwriting classes — contemplative songwriting, playing with fire. He has synthesized the wisdom of the Artists’ Way, The War of Art, The Creative Act, with his years of experience in professional artistic spaces.
Past students include professional and touring musicians. Songs written in his workshops have been absolute bangers, made many people cry, and helped people change their lives.
He leads retreats, the Songbuilders Soiree, and more
We’ll have a brief primer, some warm up exercises, then scatter throughout the big ol’ house to have some private time writing our songs!
Bring a notebook, instrument, water bottle, and mug for tea!
** due to limited space, if you have a keyboard that could be plugged into headphones, or are comfortable playing an electric guitar plugged into headphones, that’d enable us to have more space!
Folks who have never taken a class with me, please come an hour early!
Returning folks are welcome to show up just for the practice 11:30-2:30
Price $50 — sliding scale ($20-80)
