Learn the secrets of the world's most successful hitmakers.
Our advanced songwriting and composition masterclasses are designed especially for songwriters, composers and producers, to give you all the essential tools you'll ever need to turn your ideas into finished productions.
Songwriting Masterclasses
Our masterclasses take a detailed look at the tried and tested techniques used by the world's most successful songwriters and how to apply them in your own work.
Music Theory
We offer beginners, intermediate and advanced classes in music theory, including harmonic and melodic work, chord work and related keyboard skills.
Song Analysis
We take the world's most successful songs and analyse their harmonic and melodic forms, rhythmic and lyrical content as well as the sound palettes used in different genres.
Lyric Writing
We take a look at the lyrical aspects of songwriting, with a focus on common prosody techniques used in pop, jazz, dance and other contemporary styles.
Arranging
We take an in-depth look at the art of arranging, focusing on the instrumentation of different genres, sound choices and even mixing styles according to territories & genres.
The Songwriter's USP
An exploration of individuality within songwriting and composition, what makes a good songwriter unique. Developing our own uniqueness in our own songwriting.
Gordon at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Meltdown Festival 2015 with BMI award winners, Psapp
When he's not teaching piano or touring as a keyboard/piano player, Gordon Hulbert is a composer/songwriter for UMPG. Based in Notting Hill, West London, he has spent a lifetime working with grammy-winning and multi-platinum selling songwriters and artists such as Chaka Khan, Alexander O'Neal, Imagination, Heatwave and Kenny Thomas. His predecessor in Heatwave, Rod Temperton, went on to write some of the most seminal hits in music history, such as Thriller (Michael Jackson), Boogie Nights, Always And Forever (Heatwave), Give Me The Night (George Benson) etc.
You may not know it, but you hear Gordon's music on a regular basis if you watch 'Loose Women', 'Come Dine With Me', 'Emmerdale', prime time MTV, NBC's 'Minute To Win It', TV Land's hit series 'Younger', CBBC's 'Hacker Time' and international TV shows such as Turkey's smash hit detective series 'Kuzey Güney'.
As a successful composer for TV and film, Gordon knows a thing or two about putting a tune together. He studied composition under John McCabe, William Lloyd Webber (father of Andrew and Julian) and Susan Bradshaw, so he can help with more traditional composition, if that's your thing. But he can also show you how to make a dubstep, glitch or minimal tech track, so you've got all bases (AND basses) covered.
Gordon's songwriting masterclasses in West London have been slowly becoming an integral part of his teaching practice and have quickly gained popularity with his students. Limited places are kept in his schedule for these one-on-one sessions and all masterclasses are on a first-come-first-served basis.
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“Writing a song is actually quite easy. Writing a good one is very, very difficult”
Joe Elliot (Def Leppard)