MENTORSHIP
1-1 with Andrea
The Mentorship Program is where you and I can work individually on your songs and musical goals. We do this work within a custom-built portal designed for asynchronous sharing of lyrics, recordings, and conversations.
MY LETTER TO YOU
Sometimes we need an ear outside ourselves to really hear our vision for our music. When I began writing as staff-writer in Nashville, I had regular access to career songwriters and publishers who could give me balanced feedback on my songs. Over the years, live performing and studio recording further guided me to hear what my songs could become even while they still stood unfinished on my writing or production desk.
It is very difficult for other listeners, and even yourself, to hear the potential in what you create if your process feels stuck. When we write in a vacuum, we can wonder whether our songs have any effect on emotions. We might receive vague, conflicting feedback from others, or none at all, which can leave us confused around what to do to write stronger, more true expressions of our songs.
The Mentorship Program will help you to recognize your unique fingerprint as a writer or artist. Together, we will identify your true areas of strength and spotlight them, highlight areas in your writing that continually produce doubt, and determine the specific tools we’ll practice together to intensify the overall experience of your songs. If you’re a performing artist, we’ll also focus on the integration of your voice and overall performance into the effectiveness of your songs. The goal is to bring into alignment all pieces of your artistry, so that you can move forward towards your musical goals with confidence and clarity.
The Mentorship program is designed to last as long as you need, whenever you need. Try the 1-month taster, or stay for 3 months, 6 months, or the year. The goal is not to keep you in it, but to prepare you to leave ready to see your music through on your own.
Warmly,
INSIDE THE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Personal Feedback on Your Music
Post a recording, a lyric, or a voice note whenever your inspiration leads you to. I'll listen and leave feedback in that song's thread, ready for your next free moment to listen.
It’s always me on the other end of your line.
About the Program:
♪ It's asynchronous, so there's nothing to schedule and nothing to be late for. You post when it suits you, evenings and weekends included.
♪ Post whatever you have: a rough recording, a lyric start, a video, a voice note, or just a question. Unpolished is welcome; we're working on the bones of the song, not the quality of the performance.
♪ Every song gets its own thread, so the recording, the lyric and all the back-and-forth stay together.
♪ I respond several times a week, most often Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
♪ When I listen, I always assume we're somewhere along the line from just born to fully developed. My main interest is understanding what you love, and what falls short of what you love, in whatever you're working on.
My job is to help you get it closer to your vision, whether you can clearly verbalize that vision or not.
HOW LONG WE WORK TOGETHER
Choose the length that suits your work.
Add terms or months whenever you reach the end of one.
ONE MONTH
$1,500
one month, once only
TASTER
THREE MONTHS
$2,500
per month, for 2 months
$5,000 TOTAL
SIX MONTHS
$3,000
per month, for 3 months
$9,000 TOTAL
ONE YEAR
$3,000
per month, for 5 months
$15,000 TOTAL
The taster is for new members and can be taken once. After that, single months are $1,800 each.
JOINING THE PROGRAM
How a space opens.
The program is capped at a small number, though mentees move in and out of the program depending on the length of their project or musical goals. Because of that cap, there isn't always room, but places open as writers finish.
When one does, I go to this list first. If you'd like to be on it, tell me a little about yourself and I'll be in touch directly with an expectation of when a spot will open.
I read every inquiry myself and reply within a few days.
Come write with us,
QUESTIONS
Asked and answered.
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It's built for writers who have written enough to experience known challenges with their own writing. If you're interested in building a life or a career in music, this is designed for you. In the form below, share with me a bit about yourself and your musical interests so that I can best advise you whether the mentorship is the best next step.
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No. There's no application and no enrollment window. The form below reaches me all year round, and I read everything that comes through it.
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Yes. The program is designed to run for as long as you need and no longer. Mentees often come in and out of the program as they need, depending on the projects they are working on and the goals they set in front of them.
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No. This is built to help you hone your voice, refine your craft and reach real musical goals over time, so I don't give feedback on individual songs as one-offs. Writers commit to a term, because that's what makes actual progress possible.
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Yes. If you'd like to join for a longer period but spread the cost over a few months, there's an interest-free payment plan available, with no extra cost for using it. We'll work out the details together once we've spoken.
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Several times a week, most often Monday, Wednesday and Friday, though you're free to send them any time. The program is meant to keep momentum going, and many benefit from the enhanced accountability in order to reach their own deadlines.
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I take a two-week holiday break at the end of December, and try to disconnect for a few weeks during another season of the year. In the case that your mentorship extends across one of my own breaks, I simply extend our term so you don't miss out.
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Rough is better. I'd rather hear the voice memo than the produced version. We're working on the bones of the song, and I'm a songwriter too, so I know exactly how it feels to send something unfinished.
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You own 100% full-stop rights to all your songs and recordings. As for your music and messages within the portal, they remain available to you for at least a year after we finish working together, and I won't delete anything without telling you first. If you'd like something removed sooner, just ask.
ABOUT ANDREA
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.
