Today, Pupils from Year 10 to 13 spent the day with song writing sensation Rich Cottell, to learn how to put the perfect song together.
Cottell was raised in Devon and at a young age, wasn’t at all into his music. However, after watching the Jack Black classic School of Rock, he was converted. He bought his first guitar for just £5 but not long after was bought lessons and a new guitar by his mother. He now has nearly 30000 followers on YouTube and has covered popular songs like Ed Sheeran's Perfect, Shawn Mendes' Treat You Better and OMI's Cheerleader which has racked up over 26000 views!
Rich spent his day at Shiplake giving advice to our pupils on how best to get into the music industry. Among other pupils, Livie Fergusson spent the day in attendance of Rich’s song writing masterclass and said ‘Rich gave us some really good advice on how to break into the industry and why it’s best to avoid talent shows like The X-Factor. He taught us some good techniques which helped me to write my song Crossroads. We all had a really good day and are really grateful to Rich!’
The younger boys received some step-by-step walkthroughs on how to put a song together, while the BTEC pupils were able to work somewhat more independently. Among these pupils were Charlie Thomas, Will Mandondo, Arthur Langeler and Bobby Howard-Jones. Their songs ranged from pop-punk to rock and some excellently Ed Sheeran-esque tunes! Well done to everyone who was involved, and thank you to Rich Cottell for coming to Shiplake to share his wisdom.