Trails and Tales

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Available In Chicago and Online!

Trails and Tales is a songwriting and guitar & vocal course in one. This course is great for students who thrive in a highly creative and generative environment. Writers who want to be writers of their own music, even from the very start.

Learn to write songs by writing a song

Every songwriter you've ever loved started with the same thing you already have: Something they needed to say, a voice, and an instrument. Trails and Tales is for people who want to find out what that thing is — and learn to build a song around it. A real song, in your voice, with you playing, that couldn't have been written by anyone else.

The craft is learnable. You have the desire to write and the will to sing and play. This course is about connecting the two.

Yes, you can start by writing your own

An origingal song includes the same elements you learn in other courses. You'll just learn by generating and shaping your own material instead of working on someone else's. You'll learn how to write a song by writing a song. You'll learn how to play a song by playing a song. And you'll have the experience of sharing your original work with people who treat it with care.

What You'll Get

A personalized learning path that fits your skill level and musical interests
Four private one-on-one instruction with a qualified music instructor
Admission to two group workshops where you can share your song with a group in an encouraging and supportive environment
Digital tools customized just for you based on your song and songwriting needs
Online resources for learning and reference
An audio recording of you playing and singing your song at the end of the course - totally optional, but available if you want it

CoolStrummer's Unique Approach

No more weekly commitments. Schedule each lesson when you're ready for the next step
Instructors come to your home or meet wherever or even online
An objective-based suite of private instruction, online tools, and live group workshops
A musical and mental foundation built around the music you love so you'll want to keep on playing and learning more songs

Taught by Working Independent Musicians

In-home house calls and instruction at independent studios are available in some parts of Chicago. Online instruction is available everywhere.

Available Instructors:

Practice starts as effort. Every strum, every phrase feels deliberate — you're thinking about the thing instead of just doing it. Gradually, something shifts. Your fingers learn to move on their own. The words you had to search for begin to spill with ease. Trails and tales helps you change your song from an idea to a natural extension of yourself.

One complete package

Four private lessons with a working musician. Not a music teacher — a musician. Someone who has played stages and studios and knows what it actually takes to make a song feel like yours.
Two song circles with other students. A small group, a relaxed room, everyone working on their own song. You'll play what you have, hear what others are working on, and leave feeling less alone in the process.
The ability to play your song — or a real version of it. The beginning of a practice. The experience of sitting with a real musician who met you exactly where you were. And, of course, the knowledge that you are a songwriter.

Trails and Tales

You've had an idea for a song for a long time. Or you've started songs and never finished them. Or you've never tried but why not now?. You don't need to be a great writer. You need to be willing to be honest.

Walk away with

A song — or the most complete version of one you've ever had
The tools to write another one
The experience of sharing original work with people who treat it with care
Self-knowledge and confidence from knowing that you can write and play your own music

One thing to know

The hardest part isn't the craft. It's being able to own the words you sing. Everything else is learnable.

Ready to get started?

Trails and Tales

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