This course (previously titled Song Factory) teaches the craft of songwriting in various genres such as blues, standards, show tunes, rock, R&B, dance, pop, and hip hop. We will explore the history of American popular song across key styles, eras, and artists, both in its musicological and social/cultural/political aspects. Students will work with traditional song structures such as the verse-chorus-bridge form, perfect rhyme, and other popular music composition techniques, and learn how verses and choruses operate as building blocks of a song. Students will write a number of original songs in various styles, then workshop and perform these songs in class for their peers for constructive feedback. NOTE: For this course it is necessary for students to play an instrument or manipulate music software as part of their songwriting.