How Nashville students have shared in Music City’s songwriting tradition for 44 years — and counting

Nashville is a “song town,” but what’s the first step into songwriting for young people? For many, that first touch comes through the Words & Music curriculum from the Country Music Hall of Fame, which has been teaching kids how to write lyrics since 1979. The initiative guides teachers — often in language arts or music classes — to teach songwriting to students. They turn out songs about fun things like chicken nuggets, bus rides, and prom, but also their challenges, like loneliness, the isolation of the pandemic and the loss of loved ones. “It makes these topics that are often taboo or hard to talk about — it gives them a platform to do just that,” says Aaron Helvig, associate director of music programs. “It never ceases to surprise us the originality we get from students every time they write.” Then a bit of magic comes in: the hall of fame enlists local professional songwriters to review the songs and put a melody to some of their favorites, and then perform those versions to students when they visit the museum on a field trip. Those song selections come as a surprise to students. And the teacher testimonials are rave — how students perk up, feel pride and bask in the support of their peers in those moments. In this episode, we’ll learn more about Words & Music, meet teachers who champion the curriculum and hear from students and their paired songwriters — plus lots of music! This episode was produced by Tony Gonzalez. Guests: Aaron Helvig, associate director of music programs at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Riley Moran, Ensworth fourth grader Claire Wyndham, artist and songwriter Ryan Murphey, songwriter and teacher at Nashville School of the Arts Jahnae Hardnett, recent Nashville School of the Arts graduate and soon-to-be vocal major at Belmont University Kyshona, singer-songwriter and music therapist Alexis Derryberry, general music teacher at Stewarts Creek High School in Rutherford County Related Reading: View recent performances from Words & Music Night Learn more about the special partnership with Nashville School of the Arts All coverage of Kyshona as WNXP’s Nashville Artist of the month (August 2022) Hear songs from Studio 103: Songwriting at Stewarts Creek High School Special thanks to Jerry Vandiver and Tasha A. F. Lemley.