Through an understanding of the history of pop, we are able to gain insight into the future of pop and thus use this information to better our own songwriting!

In this second piano lesson from Paul Corgan, learn how to play "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson—a great example of common pop song structure.

Does inspiration need to strike in order to write a great hit? In this piano lesson, learn different methods for writing a pop song, from chords to melody.

What makes a pop song so catchy? Timing, mostly. In this piano lesson, discover why timing is the key to pop songwriting and how to manipulate it yourself.

Do you need to be happy to write an upbeat song? In this piano songwriting lesson from Paul Corgan, learn how to establish a song's mood with chord choice.

Do you come up with great chord progressions, but struggle with writing melodies? In this piano songwriting lesson, walk through right-hand melody writing.

In this piano songwriting lesson, begin to apply what you've learned in this course about pop songs and start composing a song with the first step: chords.

In this piano songwriting lesson, continue writing a song with instructor Paul Corgan by adding melody over the chords you established for your song.

In this piano songwriting lesson, instructor Paul Corgan teaches how to add variation to your song so that listeners don't get bored at the two-minute wall.

Now that you've run through how to write a song with instructor Paul Corgan, get some "seat time" alone with help from these final songwriting tips.