The Association of Music Professionals (AMP) course on “Songwriting Strategies for the International Market” got off to a very good start on Tuesday 26th April at 5:00 pm.
The venue for the event was the Dominica State College and the facilitator is the very successful Swedish songwriter, Aleena Gibson.
Although the Association initially targeted 20 participants, AMP and the facilitator agreed to accept 34 persons since the interest of the songwriters in the course exceeded expectations and it was thought that the benefits of the course should be spread as widely as possible.
It was therefore agreed that no applicant should be left out as long as the room could accommodate the participants.
On the first day of the course, Gibson impressed on the participants that the song is the foundation on which the music business rests even though the songwriters themselves are mostly invisible to the music-enjoying public. Her second point was that songwriting was about communication and the songwriter needed to be aware of the message that she is trying to convey. Gibson played a number of her compositions to illustrate her points to the audience.
This first day’s session was punctuated by questions and lively debate among the participants and the general feeling among the songwriters was that the course, which ends on Friday 29th April with the presentation of certificates by the state college, was off to a very good start.
With all the great black song writers throughout the Caribbean, America and Africa you send for a Swedish lady to teach the descendants of those who created every genre from soul to blues to rock & roll to jazz to hip hop to reggae to Candace to bouyon how to write a song…the black man hates himself and therefore subconsciously all that he has created, so until according to bob Marley emancipate yourself from mental slavery!!!
Great observation
great job.