Petra Jordan
Every song has a message. I help songwriters find theirs, and make sure the music serves it.
…I stopped and asked myself: what am I actually repeating? What beliefs am I reinforcing, in myself and in others, every time I play?
I’m a Slovak-born singer-songwriter, pianist, songwriting coach and producer, based in the Netherlands since 2010. I’ve spent over three decades writing songs, making records, and learning how to hone this craft with every step.
Through Message of the Song, I work with songwriters and emerging artists who want to do the same: write stronger songs, find their creative voice, and step into their identity as recording artists. I also work with non-performing songwriters and music producers who simply want to understand songwriting craft better.
From a first demo to stages across Europe and the USA
My recording life began with a first demo in 2001 and has carried me from small venues in Slovakia to stages and studios across Europe and the United States. Three albums mark different chapters of that journey: The Other Side (2011), Surrender (EP, 2021), and Skin Hungry (2025), made in close collaboration with Brussels-based producer Bai Kamara Jr., one of the most formative creative partnerships of my life.
Alongside my own recording work, I’ve sought out international experiences that shaped how I think about songwriting. A retreat in California with Judy Stakee, whose work helped launch the careers of Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and Gavin DeGraw. A jazz course in London earlier in my career. And in 2018, an independent open mic tour across the United States, performing my own songs and learning from the ground up what it takes to build real connection with an audience.
These experiences didn’t just make me a better songwriter. They made me a better teacher.
Listen and watch
One-on-one work, workshops, and the craft of songwriting
Artist Development & Coaching
In my one-on-one work, I bring together songwriting coaching, music production, and artist development into a single sustained creative relationship. This is not just about writing better songs. It is about understanding who you are as an artist, where your music wants to go, and building the craft and confidence to take it there.
In 2025, I produced the debut EP of Kristof Vesely, guiding him from raw song ideas to a finished, recorded work. That process, from first chord to final master, is the heart of what I offer through Message of the Song.
Teaching, Workshops & Courses
After returning from the United States, I created the Essential Songwriting Course and have delivered workshops based on it at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam, Haarlem Conservatory, SAE, and Max Guitar in Den Haag. I continue to teach lyrics workshops at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam.
I also work as a Student Adviser at Abbey Road Institute Amsterdam, a leading music production school, supporting applicants through the application process and working within a broad network of sound engineers and producers.
Why Message of the Song?
Songs are not just music. They are short stories, mantras, beliefs set to melody. We perform them again and again. Our audience hears them again and again. And through that repetition, the message sinks deeper, into us and into the people who listen.
When I understood that, I stopped and asked myself: what am I actually repeating? What beliefs am I reinforcing, in myself and in others, every time I play?
That question changed how I write. Before I start a song, I try to inquire a little, into the point of view I’m holding, the story I’m telling myself, the belief underneath the lyric. Not to impose a message, but to write something more conscious. Something that might leave the listener, and me, a little freer than before.
I don’t bring this to my students as a rule. Everyone is entitled to write from their own level of awareness. But I do like to bring it to their attention. Because sometimes the most powerful thing a songwriter can do is pause and ask: is this the message I actually want to send?
I don’t impose a vision. I help you find your own.
What defines my work is deep respect for the individual creative process. Craft, structure, and production are tools in service of your voice, not rules that override instinct or personal truth.
Intentionality
Every song has a message worth finding. My role is to help you uncover it, not to decide what it should be.
Craft
Strong songs are built on structure, melody, harmony, and language. I teach the tools that give your instincts somewhere to go.
Transformation
The goal is not to produce a track. It is to develop you as an artist: someone who knows what they want to say and how to say it.
Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey, or feeling stuck further along the road.
Book a free 30-minute intro session and let’s explore where your creativity wants to flow.