Songwriting 2 - How To Create A Great Lyric
Tips and tricks that show you how to write a great song: this is the second of a series of articles about how to start your song, the secrets of what's important, what doesn't matter and how to tell when you've done a good job.
This one is about developing the words from an initial idea, and you could use the same tips for developing a poem.
Feelings If you followed my advice in the first article (SONGWRITING 1) you will now have an idea of what your song will be about, and probably two or three lines will already have suggested themselves.
But if your song doesn't involve a strong emotion, you should probably start again.
It's got to be about feelings.
Okay, maybe your song is meant to be funny - well, that's about emotional response too.
The hook Your favourite line, the one line that stands out, will probably turn out to be the hook, which will be the main part of the chorus, and it will be the title, too.
You are going to build the whole song around that important line.
This hook will sell your song: whenever people see or hear it they will start thinking about the song (and wanting to buy it!) The hook is the part of the song that hooks the listener, like a fish on the end of a line.
The strongest and most memorable part of the music will be there too.
It doesn't have to be complicated - it needs to speak from the heart - it could even be a single emotionally-charged word like "Help!".
One other tip: try a bit of alliteration in the hook - two or three words that start with the same sound.
Develop the lyric Write lots of related lines.
Write down everything that comes into your head, whether you're going to use it or not.
The more you write down, the more you're going to unlock those creative juices (that's what English teachers call a mixed metaphor, by the way, which you should not have in your song!)...
Tell a story Although you can structure it however you like, the classic pop song takes you through a story, verse by verse.
Each verse is looking forward to the chorus (or refrain) (which starts with the hook).
Sometimes the meaning of that chorus will seem to change as you go through the story in the song, even though it actually sounds exactly the same each time.
Examples of this include "Message in a bottle" or "Tie a yellow ribbon" - in each of these, the words of the chorus become more emotionally charged as the song progresses.
In "Clouds across the moon" there is a clear tear-jerking moment ("I'll try again next year") just before the last chorus, which lifts it into a totally new realm - and it's accompanied by a key change at that moment too.
More of that another time! Put it all together That's what we are going to look at in the next article, as well as some great tips for what to include in the song.
This one is about developing the words from an initial idea, and you could use the same tips for developing a poem.
Feelings If you followed my advice in the first article (SONGWRITING 1) you will now have an idea of what your song will be about, and probably two or three lines will already have suggested themselves.
But if your song doesn't involve a strong emotion, you should probably start again.
It's got to be about feelings.
Okay, maybe your song is meant to be funny - well, that's about emotional response too.
The hook Your favourite line, the one line that stands out, will probably turn out to be the hook, which will be the main part of the chorus, and it will be the title, too.
You are going to build the whole song around that important line.
This hook will sell your song: whenever people see or hear it they will start thinking about the song (and wanting to buy it!) The hook is the part of the song that hooks the listener, like a fish on the end of a line.
The strongest and most memorable part of the music will be there too.
It doesn't have to be complicated - it needs to speak from the heart - it could even be a single emotionally-charged word like "Help!".
One other tip: try a bit of alliteration in the hook - two or three words that start with the same sound.
Develop the lyric Write lots of related lines.
Write down everything that comes into your head, whether you're going to use it or not.
The more you write down, the more you're going to unlock those creative juices (that's what English teachers call a mixed metaphor, by the way, which you should not have in your song!)...
Tell a story Although you can structure it however you like, the classic pop song takes you through a story, verse by verse.
Each verse is looking forward to the chorus (or refrain) (which starts with the hook).
Sometimes the meaning of that chorus will seem to change as you go through the story in the song, even though it actually sounds exactly the same each time.
Examples of this include "Message in a bottle" or "Tie a yellow ribbon" - in each of these, the words of the chorus become more emotionally charged as the song progresses.
In "Clouds across the moon" there is a clear tear-jerking moment ("I'll try again next year") just before the last chorus, which lifts it into a totally new realm - and it's accompanied by a key change at that moment too.
More of that another time! Put it all together That's what we are going to look at in the next article, as well as some great tips for what to include in the song.
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