By Tammy Cohen, RJE.
Session I Visiting Faculty
Many musicians describe songwriting as something that comes from feeling—an idea, an emotion, or a moment of inspiration.
In this week’s Shalective, we explored another perspective: what happens if we approach songwriting as a creative system? What if we use formulas, checklists and experimentation, much like that of other Sci-Tech workshops to create new Shabbat songs.
Instead of waiting for inspiration, we experimented with a creative process.
Participants were invited to choose a Shabbat theme—such as peace, gratitude, creation, community, or rest—identify the feeling they wanted to create, and then make deliberate musical choices about tempo, rhythm, melody, timbre, structure, repetition, and lyric style.
Along the way, they experimented, tested ideas, refined them, and discovered that there is no single path to writing a song.
The results were wonderfully diverse.
Some students picked up a ukulele for the very first time, experimenting with notes and chords until they found sounds that matched their ideas. Others stepped away from traditional chord progressions, creating music that was uniquely their own.
Some were inspired by traditional Shabbat prayers and songs, using familiar melodies or words as the starting point for something new. Others wrote about camp itself—how camp feels like home, and how welcoming Shabbat together creates a sense of belonging unlike anywhere else.
Sitting amongst the trees, students listened, reflected, experimented, and composed while surrounded by the atmosphere of Shabbat at camp.
Rhythms, melodies, lyrics, and personal connections emerged naturally, reminding us that creativity can begin with either a feeling or a framework.
And, sometimes the most meaningful music is created when the two come together.
Tammy Cohen, RJE.
Tammy is an educator and musician from Melbourne, Australia. A former 6 Points Sci-Tech West intern, Tammy is thrilled to finally get a chance to experience a session at camp as Faculty.