Latin Music Legend Talks Songcraft in a New Berklee Course In Latin Songwriting, visiting artist Claudia Brant will focus on the value of collaboration, working across genres, and how to approach lyric translations.
By
Bryan Parys
January 30, 2023
Image courtesy of the artist
When songwriting legend Claudia Brant says that she wants to help students become pro songwriters, you can be sure she knows what shes talking about. The Argentina native, who now resides in L.A., is a multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winner and has earned top accolades such as Latina Songwriter of the Year from both SESAC and ASCAP, and her song No Me Doy por Vencido, cowritten with Luis Fonsi, is the longest-leading No. 1 song ever on Billboard's Latin Pop Airplay chart, with 30 weeks in the top spot.
Brant was named the 2023 Herb Alpert Visiting Artist for Berklees Songwriting Department, and in the spring semester she will teach the course Latin Songwriting, which will cover song form and structure, lyrical concepts, melodic structure and development, effective lyric translations from English to Spanish, and more. While Brant is one of the most lauded songwriters in the Latin music world, her expertise stretches across many genres, languages, and collaborators. Her songs have been recorded by artists such as Camila Cabello, John Legend, Carlos Santana, Barbra Streisand, and Demi Lovato, to name a few, and she's worked with an equally long list of other writers and producers, from Bruno Mars and Dianne Warren to Armando vila and Danny Elfman.
In the following interview, edited for length and clarity, Brant gives an overview of the kinds of topics and skills she'll cover this semester, including the value of collaboration and humility, what it takes to stay musically versatile, and the joys and challenges of lyric translation.
Congratulations on being named the Herb Alpert Visiting Scholar. Could you talk a little about the course you'll be teaching? Basically Im going to go over all the details of writing a song-you know, the rules, the rhymes, the topliners, the tracks, the splits, the construction of a song, chorus, verse, bridge, all the basics that probably most of the people that are going to be with me already know, but its good to confirm those ideas and have them ask me any questions.
And for me, one of the most important things in writing a song is collaboration. I think that collaboration is the key. So, collaboration, meaning from writing a song and sharing it with your peers to see what their reaction is and what they think should be changed or should stay [to] getting together a group of three people who write a song from scratch. Put them together in different groups, give them different genres, give them different titles, give them different concepts, or even have them pick them and then have all of us criticize and give an opinion on what we are were hearing.
What's the key to being a good collaborator, particularly in terms of receiving feedback on a new song? I think that the word is humbleness. And I learned humbleness when I was a starting songwriter, and I was put in sessions with people that had been doing it forever to listen to them, and [Id] hear them say, Thats not right. That title doesnt work. The concept is not clear. The rhyming is not perfect. A lot of things that I would hear, and I would have to say, wait a minute, hes right. He has it together.
I write all kind of genres-I write from pop to salsa to bolero to rock to alternative-and I try this humbleness. Whenever I sit down with a guy that writes mostly regional Mexican [music], for example I can grasp from them that they have a certain way of using certain subjects certain words that me, coming from Argentina, I have to learn.
We are learning all the time. Learn from a regional Mexican guy and learn from a salsa guy. And I let them take the lead. So when they say, This word; we would never use this word, I have to shut up and listen, and use the word that they suggest they would say. So, I think that collaboration and humbleness go together.
What do you think students will get from this course that they can't get anywhere else? I think there are a zillion tricks that I can teach to them, and I think that the ultimate goal is to get them to be pros. And to get them to be pros, they need the collaboration, they need the tools, they need to be able to hear the feedback of their companions and all of that.
I cannot tell you youre going to become a pro after writing 20 songs . But Im willing to stimulate these kids so that they write every day, because writing every day is what gets you where I am.
Could you talk about your experience working across so many genres and languages? I think theres been more of that on the production side, like songs that Ive written that were originally ballads, and then were they turned into salsa, or they were turned into urban.
So, its more of that, more than me changing the genre in the middle. I remember I had two experiences, two trips where I, learned a lot from scratch with two teams, two different trips in Medell n, Colombia, where I ended up doing a lot of reggaeton. And then another trip I did to Rio de Janeiro where I ended up collaborating with a bunch of Brazilian artists, Brazilian writers, and that opened my mind. I think I learned a lot from that. Thats why I keep saying that the collaboration is key.
[Regarding translation] I think that when I do Spanish versions-I do a lot of them-its a very complicated job. Its not something easy to do. Im probably going to give the [students] a couple of samples, and Im going to ask them to deliver [translations] for next class. Its a matter of being strict to the rhythm and being loyal to the meaning, and being very strict with the vowels. The vowels should fall in the same spot as they do in English
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
12/05/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, has appointed Randy Koeman as Sales Manager, Netherlands, marking anot...
12/05/2026
Taiwan Television has expanded its HD content ingest workflow capabilities by investing in the PlayBox Neo Suite - a leading multi-channel multi-server UHD/HD/S...
12/05/2026
Jigsaw24 is strengthening its media team with the appointment of Tom Laker as Client Director and Ashish Chauhan as Project Manager. These strategic hires bring...
12/05/2026
Broadcast playout leader showcases hybrid IP infrastructure and workflow automation with Videoland deployment as regional benchmark...
12/05/2026
dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its centralised approach to production workflows...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
NUGEN Audio will debut Version 1.1 of DialogCheck, its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at the 2026 Media Production & Technology Show (S...
12/05/2026
The reactive visuals can adapt to any stage or screen setup and comprise 50 layers of Notch content
Today, Disguise announced that its high performance GX 3 m...
12/05/2026
Snapgrid , Snapbag & Airglow Expand Creative Control for the ARRI Modular LED BarFollowing the launch of the ARRI Omnibar, DoPchoice introduces a dedicated li...
12/05/2026
May 12th, 2026 Press Materials Available Here
TRIBECA FESTIVAL UNVEILS 2026 GAMES PROGRAM
Tribeca Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary With World Premieres and Pl...
12/05/2026
May 12th, 2026 Press Materials Available Here
MADONNA BRINGS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CONFESSIONS II TO 2026 TRIBECA FESTIVAL
The Global Icon Will Unveil a Cine...
12/05/2026
Customer demand for data continues to grow in the first quarter of 2026 at Magya...
Latin Music Legend Talks Songcraft in a New Berklee Course In Latin Songwriting, visiting artist Claudia Brant will focus on the value of collaboration, working across genres, and how to approach lyric translations.
