Let’s Write a Song!
Waltons New School of Music
Outreach Workshop
Primary 4th-6th Class
‘The facilitators had a lovely way about them with the young people…and they were patient and encouraging. It was brilliant to have a song begun developed, finished and recorded together in the space of a morning – a great morning’s work!’
– Gráinne Lord, Arts Officer, City of Dublin Youth Service Board
Workshop Description
Facilitated by acclaimed songwriter Niall Donnelly and musician-producer John Colbert, and suitable for 4th-6th Class primary students, the two-hour Let’s Write a Song! workshop will take participants on a memorable musical journey, creating in the process an original recorded song entirely from scratch! Along the way we will explore instruments, sounds and the elements that make up a song – lyrics, melody and backing music – as well as how these three elements interact.
Let’s Write a Song! includes the following elements:
- Niall will work with participants on the lyric writing process, gathering loose ideas and thoughts into a theme and subject.
- At the same time, John will arrange the musical backing according to the ideas of the group
- We will produce a working verse and chorus, as well as a basic backing track.
- John will play the musical backing to the class, and they will sing their verse and chorus. Then all of the parts will be editing to fit in and developed until the song is complete.
- Parts will be allocated to soloists, group singers and musicians. (Children who are already learning an instrument are encouraged to bring it along.)
- We’ll record the song!
After the workshop, your school or centre will receive an mp3 track of the song for easy sharing with others.
DEIS schools and registered charities receive a 10% discount off the fee for this workshop.
Workshop Details
- Day/Date • By arrangement
- Length • 2 hours
- Number of Participants • Maximum 30
- Equipment Provided • Laptop running Pro Tools, Logic and Reason music software, MIDI controller keyboard, guitar, percussion instruments, microphones, etc.
- Facilities/Equipment Needed • Classroom or school hall, whiteboard (ideally interactive) or projector
Facilitators
John Colbert
John has been a professional musician for over two decades and has had the pleasure of performing and recording with some of the very best musicians in the Irish music industry, including Jack L, Damien Dempsey, Paddy Casey and Jerry Fish. He has toured all over the world and extensively in Ireland the UK. In addition to producing his own material, he has also had the pleasure to work with some of the world’s finest producers, including Michael Beinhorn (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Ozzy Osbourne), Mike Hedges (The Cure, Travis, Manic Street Preachers), Ger McDonall (U2, Ah-Ha, Kasabian) and Gavin Glass (Lisa Hannigan, David Keenan, Paul Brady). With his own band, Black Bank Folk, John has recorded two critically acclaimed albums – Rising (2016) and Last Star Fall (2019) – and acted as guitarist, bassist, singer, songwriter and producer. Fusing rock with Irish traditional music, Black Bank Folk has been praised by the Irish Times (‘stories of love, faith, loss and vision told with fluency and grace’), Hot Press (‘makes the marriage of rock and folk seem the most natural pairing in the world – sheer class’) and many others.
Niall Donnelly
Niall hails from Bray, Co. Wicklow and has been a professional musician for over 25 years, having worked with a number of bands as front man, guitarist and principal songwriter. He first came to prominence as a songwriter after being selected to write material that ended up as part of Even Deeper’s debut EP on U2’s Mother Records label. This led to Niall setting up his own band, Alligator, in the early 90s, which recorded an album with Leo Pearson, U2’s producer. Alligator’s next incarnation was a band called Sixteen Layers, with songs co-written by Niall and Wayne Hector of Sony ATV (responsible for writing ‘Flying Without Wings’ among other songs. Their first single, ‘Torch’, released in the mid-00’s, went to the top 20 in the UK indie charts. Since then Niall has been working independently with numerous artists – including Luán Parle, Scott Maher and Springbreak – and he has shared the stage with Declan O’Rourke, Snow Patrol and Sharon Shannon, among others. Niall is a dynamic performer and teacher, and a creative goldmine; there’s never a dull moment when he’s about!
Fees
| LENGTH | PARTICIPANTS | FEE | DEIS FEE | APPROX. FEE/PERSON |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours | Up to 30 | €340 | €306 | €11.33 €10.20 (DEIS) |
Booking
To book this workshop, please complete our Outreach Booking Form.
Questions about this workshop?
