StretchLearn Course

Write lyrics that sing, not just read

Learn to build a song's structure, land a hook on its title, marry your stresses to the melody, work rhyme like a pro, and co-write without the drama.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 15 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches lyric writing using the terms and tools that working songwriters and Nashville and Los Angeles co-writers actually use: the AABA and verse-prechorus-chorus forms, the title-as-hook and where to place it, prosody as the marriage of stressed syllables to strong melodic beats, the rhyme family of perfect, family, and additive rhyme that frees you from forced clichés, point of view and concrete sensory detail, and the unwritten rules and percentage splits of a co-write. You will map the structure of songs you love, write a hook and a chorus built on a strong title, scan a lyric line against a melody to fix awkward stresses, build a rhyme scheme that does not bend the sense, and run a co-writing session that ends with a clear split sheet. Every lesson pairs a concept with a named technique and worked examples drawn from songs like the Beatles' Yesterday, Adele's Someone Like You, Dolly Parton's Jolene, and Ed Sheeran's Shape of You, with tools like RhymeZone, MasterWriter, and a simple split sheet.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Map a song into its sections and name its form, from AABA to verse-prechorus-chorus

Write a memorable hook and a chorus that delivers the payoff its title promises

Match stressed syllables to strong melodic beats so a lyric sings rather than fights the tune

Build rhyme schemes using perfect, family, and additive rhyme without forcing the meaning

Develop a lyric with a consistent point of view, concrete detail, and a clear emotional arc

Run a co-writing session with shared etiquette and close it with a signed split sheet

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Song Structure and Form

Before a great line comes the shape that holds it. You learn the sections every song is built from, the standard forms they assemble into, and how to map any song so you can borrow its architecture.

3 lessons

The Sections: Verse, Chorus, Bridge, and MoreContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Common Song Forms: Verse-Chorus and AABAContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Mapping a Hit: Reverse-Engineering StructureContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Hooks, Choruses, and Titles

The hook is the reason a song gets remembered, and the chorus is where it lives. You learn to write a hook, build a chorus that pays off, and use the title as the spine of the whole lyric.

3 lessons

What a Hook Is and Why It SticksContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Writing the Chorus Around the TitleContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Finding Titles and Generating HooksContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Prosody: Marrying Words to Music

A lyric is not a poem; it has to sing. You learn prosody, the art of fitting stressed syllables to strong beats, building rhyme schemes that do not force the sense, and keeping every line singable.

3 lessons

Stress, Syllables, and Singable LinesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Rhyme Schemes and the Rhyme FamilyContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Rhythm, Phrasing, and Where Lines BreatheContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Lyric Craft and Co-Writing

Great structure and prosody still need something to say and someone to say it to. You learn point of view and concrete detail, a revision method, and the etiquette and splits of writing with others.

3 lessons

Point of View, Detail, and Emotional ArcContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Revising a Lyric: From Draft to FinalContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Co-Writing: Etiquette and SplitsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

songwritinglyric writinghook writingsong structureprosodyrhyme schemechorusco-writing