School for songwriting

Dick Siegel lends a hand

by San Slomovits

posted 11/23/2012

Dick Siegel, long a mainstay of the local music scene and the creator of such well-loved songs as "Angelo's," "What Would Brando Do?" and "When the Sumac is on Fire," sees a trend. "I have this sense, this growing feeling, that songwriting is becoming more and more popular among young people. Being a singer-songwriter is something that many people think that they feel comfortable doing--to write songs expressing themselves."

Nobody was teaching songwriting when Siegel started out forty years ago, but that is changing as well. Since 2010, Siegel himself has taught a songwriting class for the U-M College of Literature, Science, and the Arts honors program. For the past few summers he's also taught two-week songwriting workshops for high schoolers at Interlochen National Music Camp.

"Everybody is born hardwired for this song language, words and music coming together," he says. "Lots of people do it without thinking." For those who need a hand, though,   

[Originally published in November, 2012.]