One Course: Contemporary Songwriting

Assistant Professor of Music Christopher Nakielski, whose father was in a bubblegum pop band that produced the hit song “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy,” found himself backstage as a child with performers like The Temptations, Elton John, and Bruce Springsteen. Then, when he got older, he toured with his own rock band, Ben Ripani Music Company, whose music made it onto an episode of “90210.”

When Nakielski’s path led to teaching at Cornell, he wanted to bring his music-making experience to the classroom. After seeing a late-night trend in Armstrong Hall, he created the Contemporary Songwriting class. 

“All these people would waltz in here with guitars, portable keyboards, or portable recording setups and just find a corner of the building to write songs when I was here late grading papers,” Nakielski says. “I thought to myself, what are we doing to serve these students?”

What they learn

Over 18 days, the students learn how to craft an original contemporary song. When each day is only spent in one class, students focus on creating one or two polished songs. In the mornings they write lyrics and in the afternoons, melodies. 

“The class was a fun, friendly environment where we shared lyrics and song ideas,” says Marcus Christion ’26. “Every day started with writing exercises in different forms with different prompts and even some of our own prompts.”

Students didn’t take a traditional exam at the end of the block. They traveled to Chicago to record their songs at a professional recording studio. Last spring the class recorded at Electrical Audio where Nirvana recorded a hit album.

Nakielski says the goal wasn’t to pump out a hit song or kick off a rock-star career but to experience working with an engineer and creating art in a new way. He plans to continue teaching the class once a year.

Because of this class, the Music Department began offering a Pop/Contemporary Music Ensemble this fall.

Photo above: Michael Ossai ’26 (left), Audrey Pagel ’24 (top center), and Erin Fitzgerald ’25 (right) work with Cornell Artist Instructor of Voice Ben Laur (front center) who served as an in-house studio musician for students in the Songwriting course.