Songwriting Camp

Songwriting Camp at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum offers a fun and unforgettable experience where budding songwriters (ages 11 to 18) can hone their craft, learn from professionals, and make new friends. Discounts are available for members.

2024 Songwriting Camp Dates

(Ages 11 to 18)

June 10-15, 2024: Beginner-to-Intermediate
July 8-13, 2024: Intermediate-to-Advanced

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday – Friday and 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Saturday (each camp)

2024 Camp Registration is closed

Due to limited capacity and high demand, 2024 Camp registration is closed. Registration for 2025 Songwriting Camp will open in January. Applicants who have never attended Camp will be given priority admission. Songwriting Tune-Up remains open to youth songwriters who have participated in Museum songwriting programs and to newcomers by application.

Camp Fees

$460 for current Museum members (family level membership and up). Member rates can be accessed by logging into the member portal prior to registration.

$545 for non-members

*Financial assistance: We offer a limited number of needs-based financial assistance packages that reduce the camp fee to $25 or $275 for qualifying families. The application for financial assistance becomes available February 2, 2024.

Financial aid applications must be submitted prior to registering for camp. See more information below.

Please email camp@countrymusichalloffame.org with any questions.

Please note, this email address is generally monitored Monday- Friday from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM Central Time. We will respond to your email then.

Activities in both camps will include:

  • Songwriting lessons
  • Creative writing exercises
  • Individual and small-group mentoring
  • Instrument instruction
  • Voice and performance coaching
  • Tour of Hatch Show Print
  • Tour of Historic RCA Studio B, located on Music Row
  • Tour of the Museum galleries
  • Workshops led by a special guests
  • Digital recording tutorial
  • Visual art
  • A culminating Camp Showcase in Ford Theater featuring campers and the songs created during the week (free and open to the public)

July (Intermediate-to-Advanced) Camp activities will also include:

  • Exploration of the co-writing process
  • Introduction to recording and production techniques
  • Alternatives in songwriting exercises and approaches
  • Introduction to the business of songwriting and music publishing
  • The Nashville number system

Applying to Songwriting Camp

* Previous Songwriting Camp and Songwriting Tune-Up participants may register without submitting application materials.

All applicants may submit a video or audio file explaining why they would like to attend July (Intermediate-to-Advanced) Camp and perform one original song. The video/audio file should be no longer than five (5) minutes.

Acceptable talking points include:

  • Introduce yourself
  • Tell us about your song—how, when, and why you wrote it.
  • What have you learned about songwriting, how, and from whom?
  • Have you had experience co-writing songs, recording music, or with music production? What apps or software have you used, if any?
  • Tell us why you think you would do well in July (Intermediate-to-Advanced) Camp (as opposed to Beginner-to-Intermediate Camp), and what you hope to gain from your camp experience.

The song performance must include one song you have written or co-written, and which you feel demonstrates your solid understanding of the basics of lyric writing: title, theme, verse, chorus, bridge (optional) and rhyme-scheme. We will not judge the quality of your performance. (If you make a mistake, just keep going!) If you do not play an instrument, please feel free to sing a cappella or to enlist the help of guest musicians. Similarly, if you prefer not to sing, you may enlist the help of guest vocalists.

Submission Instructions:

Applicants may share a URL to a video (lyrics must be included) in the application. (If uploading to YouTube, please mark your video as “unlisted” and type the song lyrics in the description. Video and lyric files may also be uploaded and shared via a cloud service such as Dropbox or Google Drive.) Applicants may also email an audio file and lyrics to camp@countrymusichalloffame.org.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to equal opportunity education and provides financial assistance options to allow greater access to Summer Songwriting Camp. Financial assistance plans reduce registration fees for qualifying families. Applications for assistance are reviewed according to families’ financial need, household income, household size, and circumstances. We evaluate applications on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage applicants to apply as early as possible. A limited number of assistance spots are available for each camp. Families interested in financial assistance should select the option and complete in the camp application.  Camp staff will review and respond to all applications within two weeks. Qualifying families will receive a unique payment link and should complete payment upon receiving it.

June (Beginner-to-Intermediate) Camp

  • Level one: 50% cost coverage: $275.00 camp registration. Lunch included.
  • Level two: 95% cost coverage: $25.00 camp registration. Lunch included.

July (Intermediate-to-Advanced) Camp

  • Level one: 50% cost coverage: $275.00 camp registration. Lunch included.
  • Level two: 95% cost coverage: $25.00 camp registration. Lunch included.

*Financial assistance applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis beginning on February 2, 2024.

Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2024 to be considered for the June Camp.

Applications must be submitted by May 6, 2024 to be considered for the July Camp.

The financial aid status of all campers, as well as your personal and financial information, will remain secure and completely confidential.

To receive the Museum member discounted rate, your membership must be active at the time of registration and remain active throughout the entire selected camp session.

Membership rate is available for family level memberships or higher. Access the membership discount rate by logging into the membership portal before registering for camp.

Acknowledging the composition of the song (the lyrics) are creators’ intellectual property, for songs generated in July (Intermediate-to-Advanced) Camp sessions, the Museum has the responsibility and non-exclusive right to administer songs as a benefit to campers and professional songwriters. Should a song’s lyrics/composition generate income, the Museum will collect income on behalf of songwriters and distribute payment according to industry standards (i.e. if a song is cut by a recording artist and one student and one professional songwriter created the lyric, the ownership of the song’s composition would be a 50/50 split between the professional writer and the student.)

Meet Past Instructors

Frequently Asked Questions

VIEW FAQ

Looking for an Opportunity After Camp?

REGISTER FOR SONGWRITING TUNE-UP

2023 Camp Funders

Songwriting Camp is made possible by the Country Music Association Endowment for Words & Music and is funded in part by CMA; CMA Foundation; the Dinah and Fred Gretsch Family; Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission; the Nail Family Foundation; Nashville Predators Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; and Tennessee Arts Commission.

Have Questions?

Email us at camp@countrymusichalloffame or read the FAQ.

Please note, this email address is generally monitored Monday- Friday from 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM Central Time. We will respond to your email then.

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