Write new lyrics over the old ones

For those who tend to struggle in the lyric writing department, try playing a song that has already been written and write new lyrics over the old ones. Then, once you find a melody you like, try singing the lyrics with the new melody.

Posted by don at 10:07 AM

In songwriting, not everything has to rhyme

Not everything has to rhyme. Even things that sound alike can work. It doesn't even have to rhyme, like a free verse poem, if you have the right beats and rhythm.

Posted by don at 08:19 AM

Songwriting with the 90/10 rule

The best tip I ever got was from an incredibly clever lecturer from my university. He advised me that the most 'successful' music tends to be 90% familiarity, 10% originality.

This helped me to stop worrying about trying to be revolutionary with every rhyme, rhythm and chord change (which, by all accounts, seems to be impossible these days in the wake of so much progress).

I got back to a songwriting style that was more about expressing an idea I believed in, or an emotion I needed to offload, and let the originality come from the fact that it was me saying it. (Ego-alert!).

Also, the online rhyming dictionary kicks arse!

Posted by don at 08:02 AM

How to write song lyrics

Are you curious about how to write song lyrics? I've put together a few tips that might help you. Be sure to go through the free music composition lesson on [the] site [listed below] to gather further information on what will help you grow as a songwriter.

There are many, many approaches to writing a song, and please, don't let yourself be told that you "have" to start with a "title" or a "chord progression" or anything like that. You can start with chord progression, if you like, you can start with a title, if you like. Maybe you already have music and you are singing along to it...allow yourself to begin at what you perceive as the end...and reverse the process. Let enjoyment guide your process.

You can allow a topic to become a song...

Pick something you are very passionate, emotional, concerned, angry, or excited about. It can be something that gives you energy, like love, or it can be something you’re particularly apathetic towards, like “my boring life.”

Let the emotions and thoughts work on your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness.

Write, shape, rinse, repeat...ok, ok, you can skip the rinse part!

Mumble.

Hum.

Feel the song taking shape...you’re even starting to “hear” the chords, the beats, the accompaniment. Do you hear strings, a band, an orchestra, a wind ensemble? What do you hear? An electric drill run through effects to make it sound like a possessed locomotive haunting the railways? A saxophone playfully “talking back” at the ends of phrases, emphasizing the character of your witty lyrics? What do you hear?

You are using your sonic, rhythmic, and linguistic imagination. You are creating.

Music and words are coming to you from somewhere, not really from you, but through you. It feels very comfortable. It feels powerful.

Are you co-creating?

In a way, you “direct” the “message” of the song. From another perspective, your inner self is revealed to you.

Do you hate? Are you resentful? Are you hurt? Do you heal? Do you wish to heal? Do you help? Do you wish to help?

Read and repeat the lyrics until they taste good in your mouth, until just saying the words feels good, or bad, or "right." There might be some “holes.” You might need to leave the song alone for a while...let it rest...then pick it up later and finish it. You might need to work on the music and watch the gaps fill themselves. If you finish the music, you might need to go and perform the song somewhere and see if the missing words come into place.

If it’s not coming into place, contemplate the following: “If it’s hard, there’s something you’re missing.”

Meditate.

Allow your meditation to reveal what’s missing – or what you’re strengths are regardless of what’s missing. Many great songs have been written by folks who had no idea “how” to write a song.

Many a great musician has glaring weaknesses as a musician.

Love yourself and love every note. Love every word. You can easily love your song into being. It will be a song of much greater worth than even you could have conceived of.

Love it into being.

Posted by don at 06:20 AM

If you are stuck on a song, try shifting some verses around.

Sometimes I get a song 75% written and then draw a blank when trying to write the last verse - feeling that I have said everything in the song that needs to be said. Here are a couple of things you can do:

1. Write a new first verse.
Usually the first verse you write is the strongest. So try moving your first verse to the second verse and write a new first verse. Psychologically, this can often spark a new burst of creativity because - let's face it - we all love the creative spark that can come from a kick-ass first verse!

2. Move your second verse to the end of the song.
Sometimes I write a great chorus and two decent verses, but the song is too short and needs a third verse. But the second verse I already wrote kinda sums things up nicely already. In this case what I sometimes do is move that second verse to the end of the song and write a new second verse that adds a new dimension to (or expands the existing subject of) the topic of the song.

Happy songwriting!

Posted by don at 08:28 AM

How to use your notebook of ideas to write songs

Singer/Songwriter Mike Doughty talks about the songwriting process for his latest record, Haughty Melodic:

"..what I ended up doing was just journaling; making sure that I spent an hour every day journaling, just sort of free writing."

He continues:

"As time went on, two things started to happen. One was that I started listening to music really intensely again—being on the road alone in a rental car, I had all kinds of time to listen to music—so I started getting influenced by stuff again. And then the other was that I went back to the notebooks and started picking out phrases, which isn’t something I had really done before. There would just be three or four words together which were sort of mysterious or resonant, so I would take them out and keep them. I ended up with a long list of all these little phrases, and as songs started to come to me, I would just go to the list and plug them in as they seemed appropriate. That’s how the songs took shape."

Posted by don at 04:56 PM

Use books as a lyrical source for songwriting

I've been reading books with a pen in hand, underlining interesting and/or rhythmic words, and then writing them down the next day--over several columns on several sheets of paper, to put them in an order other than that in which they appeared in the books--and then when I go to the guitar and the drum machine I use those words to plug into the lyrics.

Posted by don at 04:52 PM

Lyrics are not poetry

Lyrics are not poetry.

Most great lyrics do not read well on paper so don't get too caught up in the flowery language and imagery. Depending on genre much of today's music uses real-life down to earth words.

Posted by don at 10:06 PM

Lyrics songwriting exercise with a friend

This songwriting exercise is best done with a friend.

Write down 50 two word adjective/noun phrases.

"Hot Lava"
"Blue Sky"
"Fiery Eyes"

Have your friend do the same.

Now take his adjectives and combine them with your nouns, try different combinations and your nouns with his adjectives.

Makes for some excellent phrases to use in songs.

Posted by don at 10:01 PM

Learn the rules of the songwriting game

You probably think that since you can come up with a nice theme, that your are on the right track ...WRONG ;). It is true that songwriting has no specific rules, but here you are looking for "Ten Steps To Improve", eh?!!.

A song is music + words...

As much as you can, learn music theory and the basics of lyrics/poetry writing. Learning never stops and it's a fact that as you learn more about the rules of the game, you become more skillful bending those rules..!!

And never forget that creating catchy melodies and smart lyrics requires lots of practice.

Posted by don at 09:55 AM

Songwriters should just let it flow

When you have an idea that you begin writing on, don't be afraid to just let flow what comes out. Don't expect every line to be perfect, but put them down anyway. A line or verse that isn't up to par can sometimes be magically transformed into somewith great, sometimes without hours of laboring.

Posted by don at 08:18 PM

Try an online rhyming dictionary for your songwriting

On-line rhyming dictionaries rule.

Related: Top ten tech gadgets for songwriters and musicians.

Posted by don at 05:26 PM

All roads lead to the hook

Make sure that everything in your song points to the 'hook' (the idea, the story). Each verse, each line, each word of the song has to point to where you're trying to lead the listener - with the payoff being the chorus.

Posted by don at 04:11 PM

Try to keep your rhyming words from becoming too predictable in your songs

Use fresh rhymes. Rhymes occur at the ends of lines. These positions are natural spotlights. Since your listener has time to consider what you just said before the next line begins, make it worthy of the spotlight. Avoid cliche rhymes and boring rhyme schemes. Learn how to find fresh rhymes that stick in the mind of the listener and that help you say what you mean in a unique way.

Posted by don at 04:08 PM

Don't just tell. Use lots of detail in songwriting

To move someone's emotions requires sensual detail. Emotions are experienced in the body and great writers know how to make you laugh and cry through sensual imagery. Lyric writing is no different. Show, don't tell.

Posted by don at 03:58 PM

Write just for the sake of writing

Write just to write. Only edit once you have enough material to work with. Don't try to write the next timeless masterpiece. Just figure out what it is that you want to communicate and then write, write and write some more.

Posted by don at 03:55 PM

Be real with your song lyrics

Write something 'real'. Write lyrics the way you would speak. You don't have to sound like an intellect.

Posted by don at 08:09 AM

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General Advice/Tips
Inspiration
Lyrics Tips
Melody Tips
Song Structure Tips
Song Title Tips
Songwriting Exercises