Create sound poetry through voice, pattern, silence and playful language. Make a readable score and an accessible route through the piece.
Suggested pace
4 weeks
Learning time
16 hours
Format
Self-paced
Our course is evergreen, so its suggested pace is not a fixed start date or deadline. Explore our syllabus and original open lesson below. The full teaching pack, feedback arrangements and delivery still need to be completed before enrolment opens.
AN OPEN LESSON · ABOUT 20 MINUTES
Score the silence as well as the sound
The invented sequence 'tik, tik, open' can become insistence, hesitation or release depending on its pauses. The silence is a repeatable part of the composition rather than an empty gap.
Try it now
Write a ten-second sound score using three original syllables and two marked silences. Add a key describing timing without requiring a recording.
Read it back, or check the result
Ask somebody to read the score silently or imagine performing it. Make any essential instruction available in words, without relying solely on colour or visual position.
This original Learn Courses exercise is free to read and use for your own practice. It is a standalone introduction, not a claim that the full course or tutor feedback is available.
FREE · AT YOUR OWN PACE
Follow this plan
Keep your own record as you work through the open lesson, each module and the final project. The full lesson pack and tutor feedback are still in production, so this records your own study, not an assessed result.
Our course is evergreen. Register interest for course-specific availability contact, without a fixed start date, payment or reserved place. This does not subscribe you to a general newsletter.
IS THIS FOR YOU?
Who this course is for
Writers who want to explore the voice, breath and non-lexical sound as part of a poem.
Before you begin
A notebook or accessible writing tool and a way to read the supplied text-first material.
No formal writing qualification is required. Bring existing drafts if useful, or start with the original prompts supplied for the course.
Use my own work, public-domain material or expressly permitted sources. Sharing personal experiences is optional.
FREE TO DO
Free
Our poetry and writing courses are free to do. We will not charge a course fee for these courses. The published introductory lesson is available now; full teaching materials and any tutor-led sessions will open when ready.
No course fee. Try the open lesson now; full course enrolment is not open yet.
The sample is fictional. It is separate from this course’s future lessons.
A PRACTICAL NEXT STEP
What you’ll be able to do
Make an original sound inventory and compare repeated consonants, vowels and pauses.
Create a short notation for volume, silence and overlapping sounds, with a plain-language key.
Write two versions of a sound poem, one anchored by a recognisable sentence and one organised by a sound pattern.
Prepare a short performance or text score with a transcript, cue description and a rights record for every sound.
THE TEACHING PLAN
Your next 4 weeks
A clear route through the subject, with something to make, test or reflect on at every stage.
01
MODULE 1
Listen to language as material
Make an original sound inventory and compare repeated consonants, vowels and pauses.
Your practical activity
Make an original sound inventory and compare repeated consonants, vowels and pauses.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding
Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind listen to language as material. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.
02
MODULE 2
Write a readable score
Create a short notation for volume, silence and overlapping sounds, with a plain-language key.
Your practical activity
Create a short notation for volume, silence and overlapping sounds, with a plain-language key.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding
Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind write a readable score. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.
03
MODULE 3
Test meaning and interruption
Write two versions of a sound poem, one anchored by a recognisable sentence and one organised by a sound pattern.
Your practical activity
Write two versions of a sound poem, one anchored by a recognisable sentence and one organised by a sound pattern.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding
Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind test meaning and interruption. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.
04
MODULE 4
Publish an accessible sound piece
Prepare a short performance or text score with a transcript, cue description and a rights record for every sound.
Your practical activity
Prepare a short performance or text score with a transcript, cue description and a rights record for every sound.
How the plan proposes to check your understanding
Provide the original draft, a revised version and a short craft note explaining the choices behind publish an accessible sound piece. Include a source-and-rights note and identify what you chose not to share.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Your final project
Prepare a short performance or text score with a transcript, cue description and a rights record for every sound. Show how the first three module experiments informed the final result. Personal disclosure and public performance are optional.
What you’ll produce
Make an original sound inventory and compare repeated consonants, vowels and pauses.
Create a short notation for volume, silence and overlapping sounds, with a plain-language key.
Write two versions of a sound poem, one anchored by a recognisable sentence and one organised by a sound pattern.
Prepare a short performance or text score with a transcript, cue description and a rights record for every sound.
A concise reflection, revision record and source-and-rights note.
What good work looks like
Intent and craft: 30 marks for purposeful choices that the submitted work demonstrates.
Development: 25 marks for meaningful experiments, revision and an explained response to feedback.
Coherence and usability: 25 marks for an integrated portfolio or practical pack suited to its intended audience.
Reflection and sources: 20 marks for clear process notes, honest attribution and appropriate privacy boundaries. Completion requires at least 70/100, all exercises and correction of any unresolved source-rights or privacy issue. Literary taste, personal disclosure, publication acceptance and sales are not marking criteria.
Resources for your learning
An original text-first lesson and worked example for listen to language as material.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for write a readable score.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for test meaning and interruption.
An original text-first lesson and worked example for publish an accessible sound piece.
A course-specific workbook, source-and-rights ledger and a completed project reference.
Captions and transcripts for any recordings produced before launch.
A course you can access
Provide text-first lessons, edited transcripts and captions for every recording.
Support screen readers, keyboard navigation, readable formatting and low-bandwidth downloads.
Offer equivalent written or recorded evidence; live attendance and rapid spoken responses are not required by default.
Allow an invented or indirect writing route and private tutor submission where a subject feels personal. Provide content notes and a clear support boundary before enrolment.
FINISH WITH SOMETHING USEFUL
How you’ll complete the course
Complete the four original exercises and a revision or testing record.
Submit the capstone with a source-and-influence statement and meet the published 70/100 rubric.
Respond to feedback or explain a reasoned decision to retain the original choice.
No public performance, personal disclosure, external publication or commercial sale is required. Completion is internal recognition of assessed work, not external accreditation.
Completion will describe the work you have done. No external accreditation or professional qualification is claimed.
BEFORE ENROLMENT OPENS
What still needs finishing
Course materials and delivery are not ready yet. We’ll update this page before enrolment opens.
Produce and review the four original lessons, exercise sheets and reference submissions for this course.
Confirm tutor availability, relevant experience, feedback arrangements and realistic study time through a pilot.
Clear source and media rights, provide accessible equivalents and keep personal disclosure optional.
Approve the final fee, access period, support, cancellation and refund terms before sale.
Verify paid entitlements and private submission boundaries before enrolment opens.
FURTHER READING
The ideas behind the course
Our poetry curriculum draws on public subject research and our original writing exercises. Linked external sources retain their own authorship and are background references, not our course materials or an endorsement. The full teaching pack still needs production and review.
Photograph: