Here is the typical flow of composition lessons with Kyle. Lessons will generally follow this structure, whether the student wants to focus more on traditional classical composition or songwriting in popular forms:

1. Start with a music writing prompt to warm up
   • Usually this is a low-stakes, fun instrumental or lyric writing activity that activates the brain and “gets the creative juices flowing”
2. Dig into technical material to work on developing new skills
   • This is where most of the instructional work happens. Kyle and the student will review new material on a writing concept and analyze some examples of the concept in action. 
   • For example: practicing the different species of counterpoint, learning new orchestration techniques, studying melody shapes, etc.
3. Work on the current (or new) longer-form writing project that applies these new skills
   • This is an opportunity to put those skills into practice. Kyle will assign and assist with writing projects that have clear goals as a way to challenge the students to use what they’ve been learning.
   • For example: write a verse using a Dorian progression, compose a harmony to a given melody and orchestrate the piece for strings, etc.
4. Wrap up and review homework for the next lesson
   • This step is pretty self explanatory, but incredibly important! Music lessons are the type of thing where “what you get out of it depends on what you put into it” so be ready to do some (hopefully enjoyable!) homework.
5. Send out summary notes post-lesson
   • Written lesson notes that summarize the material covered and homework are provided to the student and/or their parent/guardian after the lesson