Bob will lead a dialogue (and give handouts) about poetic meter and what a powerful tool it is, hoping to develop an awareness in students both of the prevalence of ballad meter in folk song and all of its modern derivatives, and the fact that it’s there because it works. With practice and exercise, we’ll also become more aware of the meters the class participants generate spontaneously in the first drafts of their songs and learn to honor those meters and use them, both as guidelines for honing their lines and koans for unlocking their imaginations.