# Atelier Courses

**Source**: https://arts.princeton.edu/academics/atelier/atelier-courses/
**Parent**: https://arts.princeton.edu/academics/atelier/

## [How to Write a Song](https://arts.princeton.edu/courses/princeton-atelier-how-to-write-a-song-sp-26/)

### ATL 496 · Spring 2026

C01  · Tuesdays, 1:30-4:20 PM

Instructors: [Bridget Kearney](https://arts.princeton.edu/people/profiles/bridgetk/) · [Bartees Strange](https://arts.princeton.edu/people/profiles/bs9488/)

Taught by Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) and Bartees Strange with class visits from guest singer/songwriters and music critics, this course is an introduction to the art of writing words for music, an art at the core of our literary tradition from the Beowulf poet through Lord Byron and Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan and the Notorious B.I.G.. Composers, writers and performers will have the opportunity to work in small songwriting teams to respond to such emotionally charged themes as Gratitude, Loss, Protest, Desire, Joyousness, Remorse, and Defiance.