Developing projection in student songwriters: Writing popular songs that are actually popular

An important turning point in the development of a young songwriter occurs when they transition from writing songs that might only be meaningful to themselves to writing songs with the intention of connecting to a wider audience. This accomplishment can be described as a student achieving good projection through their songs. More specifically, good projection in songwriting happens when student’s successfully leverage elements of the craft that effectively produces audience participation through groove, melody, form and lyrics. An artist’s persona can also contribute significantly to connecting with a wide audience through their unique and compelling performance style. Through understanding these elements, songwriting instructors at all levels can craft lessons that focus on these fundamentals with the explicit goal of improving projection in their students writing. Furthermore, the concept of projection helps create baseline criteria for the assessment of songs in the classroom regardless of genre or subgenre.