COURSE OFFERED SPRING 2026
Teaching institution: Manhattan School of Music
Course Tutor: Andrew Gerle
Contact email: agerle@msmnyc.edu
Course level: Undergraduate
Contemporary Ideas in Music Education
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Creating a compelling and memorable musical theatre song requires writers to master a breadth of skills: music theory, harmonic and melodic techniques, vocal composition, dramaturgy and playwriting. Students will analyze songs from the Broadway canon and write music and lyrics for two original songs of their own that are active and actable, and satisfying both musically and dramatically. This class is aimed at students from different backgrounds, but with a prerequisite of basic theory and harmony, and at least rudimentary piano skills.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Identify and analyze the musical/dramatic usage of a variety of harmonic progressions, chords and techniques from Broadway songs of the past 100 years
- Write a active, actable lyric that is character- and moment-specific
- Compose melody and accompaniment that expresses a character’s emotional life and is suitable for a musical theatre vocal type.
- Engage in a rewrite process to further focus the lyrical and musical storytelling