15-Day Explorer
15 days of practical songwriting tools to help you get unstuck, develop your skills, and finish songs you’re proud of.
FEEDBACK
1-Song Review from Andrea
STRUCTURE
15 Lessons & Practice
FLEXIBILITY
Self-Paced & Lifetime Access
DEEPEN YOUR CRAFT
Build on your skills. Finish your songs.
I have high hopes for your songwriting. Not because of your musical training or how long you’ve been writing, but because songwriting is a craft you can learn. Through working with thousands of songwriters and using these techniques in my own career, I’ve seen how a reliable process can build confidence and give you more freedom to create.
The 15-Day Explorer helps you build on the foundations, develop your ideas, and finish songs without relying on inspiration alone. Daily video lessons, guided practice, and downloadable PDF guides help you put each tool to work and build a writing routine that fits your life.
On Day 15, you can send me a song you’ve been working on for my personal review.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
Create contrast between song sections using melodic shapes and chord choices that bring your most important lyrics into focus.
Write melodies that feel natural and stay with listeners by exploring rhythm, repeated musical patterns, and the way words fit the melody.
Strengthen your choruses and titles by exploring different perspectives and combining ideas in unexpected ways.
Turn raw ideas into stronger lyrics using free-writing and natural rhyme to work through blocks and express what you want to say.
THE CURRICULUM
Every one of the fifteen days.
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Discover how imagery improves the experience of the song, intensifies the moment, and makes human the characters.
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Defining the music we love in musical terms.
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Lifting near rhymes that naturally occur in our free-writing.
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Drumming up lyrics from free-written pieces.
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Finding the song in the chord colors and rhythms.
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Controlling chord frequency to affect story and contrast.
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Expanding our melodic themes with rhythm and shape.
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Using rhythm for contrast and flow.
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Lifting lines naturally for flow and memorability.
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Exposing the concept through each word of the title.
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Adjusting the melody to control the pace.
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Collisions between concepts and symbols.
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Simple substitutions to keep it fresh and spotlight a lyric.
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Saving the tonic for contrast and story.
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Controlling the distance between audience and artist.
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Send a work-in-progress and receive audio feedback.
WHAT YOU GET
15-Day Explorer
♪ 15 daily video lessons and assignments, each with a downloadable PDF guide.
♪ Practical tools for melody, rhythm, chords, and storytelling to help you develop ideas and finish songs.
♪ Personal feedback from Andrea on one song you submit at the end of the program.
♪ Lifetime access to all lessons, assignments, and guides, so you can revisit them anytime.
♪ Access to the Alumni Community to connect with fellow songwriters, share your music, and support each other’s progress.
$497
Andrea’s Featured In:
REVIEWS ON TRUSTPILOT
What writers are saying
Helpful on Many Levels
I appreciated the practical tips Andrea provided to help me bust out of my writer's block and to help me revise/improve my songs. She gave me a lot of tools to think about and use. Andrea also built an exceptional community of songwriters with varying skills, strengths, and talents. The people were open-minded, collaborative, and super supportive. As a result, the songs created at the retreat were amazing.
- Marion Sheaffer
A complete system for learning songwriting
Andrea has figured out a way to take the tools of songwriting and codify them in such as way as to make songwriting learnable if you are willing to do the work and follow the steps. She is insightful in her individual comments no what matter level you are as a writer. I highly recommend this experience if you are songwriter and want to further your skillset. This workshop was very useful to me!
- Jim
Amazing 10/10
Andrea is incredibly knowledgeable about her craft and I was impressed at how thorough and concrete her process and tips were to help construct songs. She was extremely empathetic and attentive with everyone who asked a question and I could tell she had a genuine interest in helping everyone there. If you’re looking to level up your songwriting I’d recommend checking this out.
- Isabel Hanson
A true gift
Andrea is one of those gifted artists and educators who knows how to facilitate creativity and foster connection. She leads with curiosity and empathy and models for her students the true meaning of collaboration. To learn from her is to learn from the best. Grateful to have her as a mentor and friend.
- Samantha Joy Pearlman
Andrea Stolpe has spent more than twenty years writing songs and helping other people write theirs. She arrived in Nashville as a staff writer in 1998 with a classical piano background and a degree from Berklee, and spent the decade that followed in writing rooms learning to collaborate, singing demos, and, ten years in, making a record of her own.
She has written for artists including Faith Hill, Julianne Hough and Jimmy Wayne, and held publishing deals with EMI, Almo-Irving, and Universal Music Publishing. Her book, Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Storytelling, is a standard text at Belmont, Berklee and the USC Thornton School of Music, where she helped build the songwriting courses within the Popular Music Program. Her online courses have earned Grammy nominations in music education and a Gold Telly Award. She teaches now the way she learned, in small rooms, alongside other writers, through her in-person retreats, online programs, and in the studio at home and abroad. She is still, first, a songwriter.
ABOUT ANDREA
Is this the right course for you?
BEFORE YOU DECIDE
WHO THIS IS FOR
Graduates of the 7-Day Challenge
You loved the initial momentum and are ready to expand your toolkit, deepen your craft, and build a sustainable writing routine.
Writers sitting on unfinished ideas
You have plenty of starts, fragments, and half-written verses, and you need a clear structure to take them across the finish line.
Songwriters seeking a repeatable process
You want a daily practice that breaks through creative friction so you can write consistently without relying on random bursts of inspiration.
WHO THIS ISN’T FOR
Writers ready to record and release
If you want a 6-month system to write a song every 3 weeks and gain the tools to record and release them, take a look at Write, Record, Release.
Writers who want 1:1 feedback from me
If you want personalized guidance, direct song feedback, and long-term mentorship on your body of work, explore The Mentorship Program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find all your most frequently asked questions below. Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Feel free to contact us here.
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The 15-Day Explorer is designed for songwriters looking to get unstuck, deepen their craft, and build a consistent daily practice. Whether you're graduating from the 7-Day Challenge, returning to songwriting after a break, or sitting on a collection of unfinished ideas, this program gives you the tools to bring complete songs across the finish line.
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The course is completely self-paced with lifetime access. You can watch the daily video lessons, work through the exercises, and access the materials whenever it fits your schedule.
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Not at all. While the program is structured as a daily 15-day sprint to help you build momentum, there are no deadlines or expiration dates. You can work through the lessons day by day or spread them out as life permits.
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As part of the program, you get a direct song review from Andrea on one song of your choice. You don't have to write a new song during the 15 days to use it - you can submit an unfinished draft, a completed track, or a rough voice memo whenever you're ready for direct feedback. There will be directions within Day 15 of the program on how to submit.
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No. This course is specifically built to help you overcome unfinished ideas and creative blocks. All you need is an instrument (or your voice), a device to record simple voice memos, and a willingness to show up for your daily writing practice.
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The 7-Day Challenge is a short kickstart to get you writing with the foundational tools all songwriters use. The 15-Day Explorer is the next step, and expands on those foundational tools to build a lasting daily habit and unblock your writing. If you are looking for a 6-month program to write a song every 3 weeks and go through full recording and release modules, explore Write, Record, Release.
Fifteen daily lessons to turn unfinished ideas into completed songs.
Gain instant access today, build a lasting daily practice, and get direct song feedback from Andrea.
Come write with us,
