Pat Pattison
Encyclopedia
Pat Pattison,Professor at Berklee College of Music, is the author- inventor of Object Writing.
Pat completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the University of Minnesota, and went on to graduate work in Philosophy at Indiana University, where he was an instructor as well. He earned a second Master's degree in Literary Criticism at the Kenyon School of Letters. Pat taught Philosophy and Logic at the University of Notre Dame for two years before leaving that position to tour with his band, featherrain.
Pattison began teaching at Berklee College of Music
in 1975, first as an English instructor, then as the developer of Berklee's philosophy and poetry electives. He offered a course in literary criticism, and chose to use song lyrics as the subject matter for the course, thereby creating one of Berklee's most popular offerings: Analysis of Song Lyrics. That course, along with Berklee's original Songwriting course-developed by Jon Aldrich and Tony Texeria- evolved into Berklee's unique, groundbreaking songwriting major. Pattison played a central role in crafting the new curriculum. Material for his lyric writing coursework grew into articles that were published in Home and Studio Recording Magazine and ultimately formed the backbone of his first two books, The Essential Guide to Rhyming and The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure. While his work continued to be published in both Home and Studio Recording and Performing Songwriter magazines, Pattison wrote his third book, Writing Better Lyrics, published in 1995 by Writer's Digest. These three books attracted international interest, allowing Pat to commence an extensive seminar schedule both in the US and abroad.
The success of Writing Better Lyrics led to the second edition in 2009, adding one hundred pages of new material as well as significant rewrites of existing chapters. Pattison's fourth book, Songwriting without Boundaries: A Lyricists Guide to Finding Your Voice, (2012), is an interactive book of four (4) fourteen-day challenges, and focuses on the creative process through Object Writing and Metaphor. The book includes responses to the challenges from writers across the globe.
Since 2007, Pat has been filming lectures and master classes for the website Songwork.com, created in cooperation with hit songwriter Steve Seskin. Extensive instructional videos available at the site include Pattison, Seskin and a host of teaching professionals.
Pattison has authored four courses for Berklee's online school, Berkleemusic.com: Tools and Strategies; Writing Lyrics to Music; Writing From a Title, and Poetry. He continues to tour, and to teach at the Berklee College of Music.
Pat completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the University of Minnesota, and went on to graduate work in Philosophy at Indiana University, where he was an instructor as well. He earned a second Master's degree in Literary Criticism at the Kenyon School of Letters. Pat taught Philosophy and Logic at the University of Notre Dame for two years before leaving that position to tour with his band, featherrain.
Pattison began teaching at Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in 1975, first as an English instructor, then as the developer of Berklee's philosophy and poetry electives. He offered a course in literary criticism, and chose to use song lyrics as the subject matter for the course, thereby creating one of Berklee's most popular offerings: Analysis of Song Lyrics. That course, along with Berklee's original Songwriting course-developed by Jon Aldrich and Tony Texeria- evolved into Berklee's unique, groundbreaking songwriting major. Pattison played a central role in crafting the new curriculum. Material for his lyric writing coursework grew into articles that were published in Home and Studio Recording Magazine and ultimately formed the backbone of his first two books, The Essential Guide to Rhyming and The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure. While his work continued to be published in both Home and Studio Recording and Performing Songwriter magazines, Pattison wrote his third book, Writing Better Lyrics, published in 1995 by Writer's Digest. These three books attracted international interest, allowing Pat to commence an extensive seminar schedule both in the US and abroad.
The success of Writing Better Lyrics led to the second edition in 2009, adding one hundred pages of new material as well as significant rewrites of existing chapters. Pattison's fourth book, Songwriting without Boundaries: A Lyricists Guide to Finding Your Voice, (2012), is an interactive book of four (4) fourteen-day challenges, and focuses on the creative process through Object Writing and Metaphor. The book includes responses to the challenges from writers across the globe.
Since 2007, Pat has been filming lectures and master classes for the website Songwork.com, created in cooperation with hit songwriter Steve Seskin. Extensive instructional videos available at the site include Pattison, Seskin and a host of teaching professionals.
Pattison has authored four courses for Berklee's online school, Berkleemusic.com: Tools and Strategies; Writing Lyrics to Music; Writing From a Title, and Poetry. He continues to tour, and to teach at the Berklee College of Music.