What is Songwriter Sanctuary?
Songwriter Sanctuary is a songwriting and music production-focused music school headquartered in the Chicago area. The Sanctuary offers a variety of programs and lessons, including private one-on-one songwriting coaching, online courses, free video resources on YouTube, and more.
Songwriter Sanctuary caters to students of ALL ages and skill levels- from true musical beginners to seasoned professionals. No matter a student’s background or trajectory, we believe that with the proper support, they can improve their songwriting and musicianship beyond their wildest dreams!
Although the seeds had been planted long before, Songwriter Sanctuary was officially born in 2023 as the result of a simple question:
“Why is it so easy to find piano lessons and band programs, but so hard to find programs for young songwriters?”
This is the question that drove founder Konner Scott, a lifelong musician and songwriter, to begin to develop his own songwriting courses, curriculums, and classes. While working at a private music lessons studio in Atlanta, he workshopped his songwriting education with his students, developing systems and structures to help students learn the skills they needed to confidently write their own original songs.
Our Story
In 2023, he founded the Songwriting Sanctuary YouTube channel, a platform devoted to learning about songwriting principles, as well as unpacking the secrets of successful songs and understanding what makes them work. The channel found success early, garnering thousands of subscribers and pulling in hundreds of thousands of views.
The rest is history: Songwriting Sanctuary has since evolved into a comprehensive songwriting education school with dozens of students and a variety of flexible program options.
Whether you want to learn to write songs from scratch, need help punching up and editing your existing works, or you want to learn to produce and mix your own original compositions- we’re here to help!
Our Mission
Songwriting Sanctuary was founded under the core belief that ANYONE can write a song.
Our mission is to push back against the idea that only the “chosen few” can create beautiful musical works- that musical creativity is something you must be born with.
We believe that songwriting skills can be taught, can be learned, can be practiced, and can be developed.
Anyone can learn- and yes, that means YOU!
Our Founder
Konner Scott is a Chicago-based music educator specializing in piano, guitar, songwriting, composition, and music production. He began his training as a classical pianist at the age of four, and began composing music and playing guitar soon after.
Across nearly three decades of musical experience, he has compiled a diverse and storied musical resume. His musical accolades include winning multiple statewide music composition contests, working with multiple Grammy award-winning songwriters and music producers, composing the title theme for Chris Cander’s bestselling novel The Weight of a Piano, writing original scores for musical theatre productions in New York and Los Angeles, producing music selections for the Miss South Carolina beauty pageant, and serving as the lead guitarist for a Nigerian Pentecostal church in Atlanta for over three years.
Konner began his teaching journey at Highland Music Studio in Atlanta, where he taught from 2019-2026. While at Highland Music Studio, he also served as the school’s studio manager and social media manager.
Since unlocking his passion for teaching, he has pivoted to a full-time focus on music education, he founded Songwriter Sanctuary in 2023 in order to better serve students whose interests aligned more with songwriting, composition, and music production than music performance. He also hosts an educational YouTube channel (also called “Songwriter Sanctuary”) focused on dissecting the craft of songwriting, where his videos have amassed hundreds of thousands of views.
Konner is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Music Education at Northwestern University.
Konner approaches music education with an interdisciplinary and open-ended perspective, constructing each student’s curriculum to fit the intersection of their interests and aptitudes. Having pursued a career in engineering before pivoting to music education full-time, he understands that every student’s trajectory is unique, and works to find creative ways to fuel each individual student’s musical passion.
In his free time, Konner enjoys watching competitive swimming, playing chess (poorly), running (slowly), and reading.
