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Free AND paid content explained:
Free stuff will be fun and helpful tips about how to start (and how to finish!) songs, what to do with song ideas and where to get them, discussion about songs and songwriters that I love, discussion about how to learn from the songs and songwriters that YOU love, and more.
Free subscribers will be part of the Song Factory community, and will get a fair amount of fun and helpful free stuff to encourage them to hang around. Some premium content will pop up in the free posts, so you know what you’re missing by not paying.
Paid subscribers will get premium content, including much more depth on all the topics covered in the free version. The comment section is free for everybody, but the premium subscription will have much more extended and interactive Q&A and chats. I’ll be taking suggestions from everybody about what content to post, but I’ll be more likely to take suggestions from premium subscribers.
I’ll also be doing online classes for the hardcore songwriter. These classes will be a serious academic treatment of the subject, my thorough songwriting method that deals with various skills (melody, lyrics, chords, rhythms, etc.) and dealing with the challenge of integrating them. Paid subscribers will get excerpts from class material and class discount offers.
TESTIMONIALS
Alan MacEwan: Few have delved into American songwriting more deeply than Karl Straub, whether as a student or as a practitioner. His unrivaled ability to turn a phrase—both musical and lyrical—in service of conveying emotion and narrative keep me perpetually interested in anything he has to say on the subject of music-making.
Pete Kennedy: Karl Straub has a potent gumbo of talents. He's a complete musician; a singer, songwriter, guitarist, musicologist and educator, and he excels at all of the above, making music not only in the traditional ways but in his own unique voice. He's college trained but his art has an overriding individual personality that he conveys to his audience with a facility that makes it all look easy. It's not easy, though, to amass his level of background knowledge, and that's what makes him a great teacher...he knows the backroads and byways of American music and can show you the quickest route to get from nowheresville to "real gone."
Alison Ferrier (Australia): Karl Straub has a knack for getting to the heart of the matter. His empathetic approach is always encouraging, never judgmental. He is an inspiring teacher with a special skill for making me feel excited about music. I always leave his lessons with an empowering belief in my ability and a passion to create.”
