Students at Tyrone Area High School recently swapped sheet music for notebooks and dove into the art of songwriting under the guidance of Nashville singer-songwriter Bronwen Fair.

Organized by Tyrone High School Choral Director Gabriella Petrarca, the workshop was designed to push students beyond their comfort zones and create something entirely their own.

“I wanted my students to have more of a creative experience,” Petrarca said. “We do a lot of workshopping and performing, specifically singing music that’s already written, but we don’t get to do as much creative work. So this opportunity came up, and I was like, that’s perfect. We’ll get them writing and get them doing something creative.”

Throughout the session, Fair walked students through the core elements of songwriting, including lyrics, melody, and chords, and how those pieces work together to tell a story.

“For me, as a person who’s very lyric forward, I think the lyrics often speak the most to me,” Fair said. “But there are many catchy songs that I have no idea what the words are, but they’re just catchy. So I think, you know, a really solid melody and interesting chords all contribute to it.”

Fair also shared her own journey as a songwriter, tracing it back to childhood.

“I wrote my first song when I was about five,” Fair said, “and it wasn’t very good, but it was a start.”

Songwriting soon became a way for her to filter emotions and process life events.

Fair grew up in the Pocano region of northeastern Pennsylvania and was a music education major at IUP, where she and Petrarca met and became close friends. While Petrarca focused on the performance and teaching aspect of music, Fair pursued a career as a singer-songwriter.

Moving to Nashville opened new doors for Fair, from open mic nights to regular co-writing sessions with other artists.

Petrarca invited her friend to Tyrone to share her knowledge and experience.

For many Tyrone students, the workshop marked their first serious attempt at writing music.

They began with a basic song idea, then experimented with melodies and chord patterns.

“I really didn’t know how to write a melody at all,” freshman Aleigha Croft said, “so this is kind of helping me get that out and everything.”

Freshman Malina Corrigan said that she has a notebook with ideas and songs, but had never known what to do with them before this workshop.

Freshman Maddie Hassenplug said she had never written a song before, but enjoys writing poetry, so the workshop was something she was interested in attending.

Beyond the technical skills, Fair emphasized that songwriters should focus on emotional expression.

Senior Lydia Meridith admitted that “Songwriting is really hard, especially when you don’t really know where to go with your lyrics or how to make a melody. But with Bronwyn’s tips, I definitely think I could have a song I’m proud of by the end.”

By the end of the workshop, students walked away not just with drafts of new songs but with a new sense of confidence in their own creative voices.

“I hope that they feel empowered to make the creative process their own,” Fair said, “and that maybe they’ll even walk away with something they enjoy enough that they’ll want to share it.”

This story was originally published on Tyrone Eagle Eye News on March 27, 2026.