Since I've been back in New York City about week now, I am looking pretty hard for a job. Having just become the first American ever to have completed a Masters in the craft of Songwriting, I figure, what the hell, might as well try my hand at teaching. The funny thing is I really don't know right now if anyone in New York is interested in paying money to write better songs. Even if they did, will anyone care about having a Masters degree? Does that qualify me to do anything? Fortunately, I didn't do the course to qualify myself for any particular job, but to simply write better music so I'm not sweating it too hard. I think the hardest thing about teaching people to write songs is that there has to be a lot of mutual investment. The teacher needs to seek out what the student wants to accomplish. This may sound simple, but unlike teaching guitar or piano it's not as simple as "I want to play the solo to Bohemian Rhapsody backwards at 900 beats per minute." To help someone develop as a songwriter a teacher must be versed in their influences, musical and lyrical. One must take time to understand a student's methodology and writing routine and perhaps the hardest of all, learn how to communicate with them effectively. I think the investment is even harder for the student as they have to trust their teacher, giving up time and money to build this relationship. Ultimately, it's about expanding a student's writing tools, but the teacher must give the right tools to the right student at the right time, or they simply won't work. I was super fortunate to have a few songwriting mentors that understood that well and I think it took me a long, long way. So if, err, you know anyone that wants to learn how to write songs, err, send them my way . . .