Reviewed by Shanade Morrow

 

The institute once again welcomed another great  masterclass from working professional singer/songwriter Boo Hewderdine whose career ranges from working with such artists as Eddie Reader, Natalie Imbruglia, KD Lang, Mel C and fame academy winner Alex Parks.

 

He shared many aspects of his career including the relationships he formed when working with artists. Himself and Eddie Reader had a magical working chemistry which resulted in many hits for the duo including 'Patience of Angels'.

 

Boo played a selection of his work with just an acoustic guitar and it was evident he favours a simplistic approach when writing songs. He was modest with his song writing, keeping chord changes to a minimum leaving room for his memorable melodies to carry through and stay with the listener. This combined with his haunting and raw vocal talent left the group feeling inspired.

 

Boo highlighted the importance of keeping "match fit" by writing a song daily, and the importance of completing a song and the fact that rhyming can be used too much; Boo favours story type writing with words being chosen on their emotional importance as opposed to just how they rhyme. His story telling within his songs was very emotive and is thought to be one of the most difficult song writing techniques to master.

 

Myself and fellow classmates found great inspiration in yet another well received masterclass and would like to thank Boo and the Institute. We are now looking forward to many more exciting masterclasses organised by the school.