Brett Boles

Big news for songwriters with busy lives: The M Tea Songwriter's Studio is changing.

For three years it's been home to a wonderful group of writers, most of whom fit songwriting around jobs and families.

Starting today, I'm teaching a 90-minute live workshop in the Studio every week, and I've rebuilt the membership so far more of you can join.

If you've been watching my videos on a lunch break and wishing you could ask me about your own song, now you can.

skool.com/songwriters/about

2 hours ago |[YT] | 2

Brett Boles

For the past three years, I've been building a place where songwriters can get better at their craft.

Now I'm taking it a step further.

You'll still get immediate access to my complete Song Mapping course, where you'll learn how to plan a song before writing a single word or note.

But now you'll also get weekly live workshops with me, teaching, feedback, and Q&A, plus a community of fellow songwriters to share your work with and learn alongside.

My goal hasn't changed.

I want you to have the tools to sit down and write confidently, consistently, and without waiting for inspiration to strike.

What's changing is how much more directly I can help you get there.

Tomorrow, I'll show you everything and open the doors.

1 day ago |[YT] | 3

Brett Boles

Here's what's changing. 👀

I'm making myself much more accessible to the songwriters in my community.

That means weekly 90-minute LIVE workshops with me.

Real teaching. Real questions. Real feedback.

A chance to get unstuck, sharpen your skills, and actually put what you're learning into practice.

Because watching a course is one thing.

Having someone help you apply what you've learned to your own writing?

That's something else entirely.

And there's more...

2 days ago |[YT] | 9

Brett Boles

One of the biggest things I want songwriters to understand is that you don't have to wait for inspiration to write something good.

There are actual techniques you can learn.

Tools you can reach for when you're staring at a blank page.

That's what I've been teaching for years through Song Mapping and Prosody.

But I've realized that learning the techniques is only part of the equation.

Sometimes you need someone to help you figure out how to actually use them in YOUR songs.

And that's where things are about to change.

3 days ago |[YT] | 5

Brett Boles

If you love writing songs, want to get better at it, and wish you could do it more consistently, this is for you.

You don't need to be chasing a record deal or a Broadway production.

You just need to care about getting better at your craft.

I've been working on a new way to help you do exactly that.

And this time, we're going to be working a lot more closely together.

4 days ago |[YT] | 4

Brett Boles

Something's changing. 👀

For the past three years, I've been building a community for songwriters who want to get better at what they do.

And I've been thinking about how I can make that experience even more valuable.

Well, I've decided to make a pretty big change.

More tomorrow.

5 days ago |[YT] | 8

Brett Boles

Even though I spent $250K on my education, I still had trouble finishing songs.

I started writing before the internet had any real resources for this. So I went to school, majored in composition, did (half) a Masters in songwriting, and spent almost $250,000 learning the craft.

It sucked because even with all that money spent, I still had no repeatable process for actually finishing a song. I rarely knew where a song wanted to go, so I'd start strong and stall out halfway through.

I had no idea how to record from home and get a demo pitch-ready.

And I always wondered if what I was writing was any good.

But then I learned Prosody (marrying music and lyrics so they serve the same dramatic moment) from the BMI Workshop and from studying thousands of songs.

And I discovered Song Mapping, which meant I never had to abandon a song halfway through again.

Which led me to Off-Broadway and London credits as a musical theatre writer, a NYMF Outstanding Orchestrations Award, a Kravis Center premiere and a presentation starring Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, 15 years inside the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and now I'm the vocal arranger for Randy Rainbow’s Emmy-nominated series and lyricist on the first live stage musical for a major company (that I can't disclose yet due to a pesky NDA 😅).

Want to know how I did it? Comment YES and I'll send you the details.

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2 months ago |[YT] | 10

Brett Boles

Stop writing your songs front to back!

Most musical theatre songwriters start with verse one and just keep going, hoping the song finds itself along the way.

The problem with this is you don't actually know where the song is going. By the time you get to verse two, you've lost the thread, and the song stalls out half-finished.

This leads to a drawer full of songs you never completed, a show idea you've carried for years but never touched, and this quiet fear that maybe your writing just isn't "Broadway" enough.

After Off-Broadway and London credits, a NYMF Outstanding Orchestrations Award, 15 years inside the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and teaching this same craft to a 700K-strong musical theatre audience (with engagement from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Lopezes, and Pasek & Paul), here's what I'd do instead:

Songmap before you write.

This is because when you build the skeletal structure of the song first, the writing stops fighting you. You're not guessing where it's going anymore. It finishes itself.
Which leads to songs you actually finish, songs that come out stronger and faster, and real shots at getting them in front of the festivals and producers who could put them on a stage.

You can think about it like this:

Do you want to keep starting songs you never finish? Or would you prefer to build a portfolio of theatre songs you're proud to submit?

An example of a what a possible song map might look like in verse/chorus form:

2 months ago (edited) |[YT] | 14

Brett Boles

MT Writers: What stops you from finishing songs?

2 months ago |[YT] | 2

Brett Boles

I'm working on an exciting new project that will help soooo many musical theatre writers finally finish the songs and the musicals they start. Anyone excited? I know I am 👀

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2 months ago |[YT] | 21