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Graduate Certificate

Songwriting Analysis and Techniques

Sharpen analytical listening and apply it to your own songs. In the Songwriting Analysis and Techniques graduate certificate program, you’ll study how lyrics, melody, harmony, and rhythm serve a song’s idea, dissect contemporary references across genres, and turn those findings into stronger hooks, clearer sections, and purposeful revisions that keep your work current.

Level
Graduate
Modality
Online
Courses
3 (9 Credits)
($2,874 per course)
Tuition
$8,622
($7,760 single payment)
Semester Starts
Jan 12, 2026
Accreditation
NECHE

What You'll Learn

  • To design hook strategies—melodic, lyrical, rhythmic, and production-adjacent—suited to genre and audience
  • To build a writing practice built on the concept of prosody, which aligns melody, harmony, rhythm, and lyric with a song’s core intent
  • To translate reference analysis into targeted drafting and revision plans that improve structure, momentum, and payoff
  • To critique and iterate your songs using holistic and comparative methods that raise clarity, cohesion, and market relevance

    • Proof of a Bachelor's Degree Required
Overview Course Requirements Enrollment Requirements About this Certificate Related Music Career Roles Enroll Now No application required. Request Info

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Course Requirements

3 Courses to Complete this Certificate

  • Songwriting Tools and Techniques (OSONG-525 • Level 5 - Enrollable Course)

    This course requires you to become intentional in every aspect of your writing: melodic composition, harmonic considerations, and lyric composition, all focused through the lens of prosody. You will learn to align each compositional element in relationship to your song’s central intent and emotion.

  • Songs Unmasked: Techniques and Tips for Songwriting Success (OSONG-597 • Level 5 - Enrollable Course)

    This course will teach you to write better songs, and refine your tastes by studying your influences. You will become a trained detective, examining and exploring the traits and techniques of successful songs, and applying them to your own writing.

  • Writing and Analyzing Hit Songs (OSONG-555 • Level 5 - Enrollable Course)

    All creative works contain structure that make the success of the project more likely. In this course, you will learn to analyze specified current and recent hit songs to determine that structural basis, and apply what you’ve discovered in individual songwriting assignments.

Enrollment Requirements

Proof of a Bachelor's Degree

Proof of a bachelor's degree is required to enroll in this non-degree, graduate-level course.
Ready to submit an unofficial copy of your transcript?

Upon Completion of this Certificate Program, You'll Receive:

  • Professional credential from the world leader in music education
  • Credits that may be eligible for transfer toward a Master's degree program
  • A physical certificate from Berklee College of Music
  • A verified, digital certificate that you can share

Related Music Career Roles

Employers look for skills learned in this certificate program, when hiring for the following music career roles:

Lyricist

Performing Songwriter

Songwriter-Producer

Staff Writer

Top-Line Songwriter

Questions?

Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.

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