Paddlestar Galactica, the ping-pong tournament event supporting 826DC’s programs, returns on Saturday, April 27th, 1 PM to 4 PM at SPIN DC! Learn more and sign up here.
News and Events
August 2019

Summer Songwriting

This year, one of 826DC’s offsite summer programs was a songwriting workshop series at Levine Music! Students ages 5-12 explored songwriting and drafted original songs together.

We began the first session by asking the students “if you were an instrument, what would you be?” Answers ranged from electric guitars to pianos, trumpets, and even a harp!

826DC summer interns Zara and Kendall led the workshop, introducing a game called Word Karaoke. They each picked a lyric from their own favorite songs, “A Whole New World” and “Party in the U.S.A.” and demonstrated how to use those existing lyrics to create a new song.

826DC intern Zara works with students in the songwriting workshop.
Zara, an 826DC intern, speaks with the young songwriters.

The students then broke up into groups to try Word Karaoke with their favorite songs.

Some of the most popular lyrics were from songs like “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, and “In My Feelings” by Drake!

Over the course of the workshop series, the students went on to use those lyrics to write their own new songs, which they then performed for the group.

We can’t wait for what other songs these budding songwriters and musicians will write!

Are you interested in supporting more young writers? Donations help keep these workshops free for all DC students. You can show your support by donating here!