Writing Lyrics and Melody Lines Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (03:38) Introduction Introduction to Songwriting
We’ve been talking a lot about the use of different techniques to give simple chord combinations life. Changing one’s strum from soft to hard, being passionate about what you are playing and selling that passion to your audience, and building the song gradually can all be integral elements to writing a song. But what about words? What about breathing lyrics into a lifeless series of chords? How does one go about writing lyrics and making them “good.” Today, we’ll begin talking about that.

Lyrics
The word "lyric" has been passed down, in part, from the concept of lyric poem, which was a short poem of sorts that was often set to music and was intended as a vehicle to express personal feelings. It has frequently taken the form of a sonnet, a 14-line composition, and has appeared in a variety of forms throughout history. But today, the idea of lyric is much more flexible and can take on just about any form.

There is certainly a strong subjective element when it comes to writing lyrics and is dependent upon the insight and introspection of the writer. Most “good” writers claim to write from personal experience and spend many hours collecting experiences either in their heads or in a journal for later perusal. Journaling can be a helpful way to keep one’s thoughts and experiences preserved for later especially if you are the type of songwriter that writes from past experience, rather than from spontaneity. That is not to say that you cannot do both as most people tend to collect song ideas through contact with people and things and change as a result of those experiences. So, the question still hangs in the air “how do we write good lyrics?” Getting started can be one of the biggest hurdles, and I feel there are two schools of thought to this conundrum:

1) Write chords first: coming up with a good set up chords, a moving set of chords, a rocking set of chords, a-whatever-gets-your-juices-flowing set of chords, can be a great first step. You see, ingrained in every chord is a series of notes that just seem to “work” or what you might call a melody. Go to lesson 11 in my Voice and Performance series and look at the last exercise. This exercise looks at singing the notes that are in a chord. Let’s rehash that exercise here just for grins, shall we? Chapter 2: (04:17) Singing in the Notes Exercise 1: Singing the Notes
Humming the notes in a particular chord can be very helpful when trying to find the connection between strumming and singing. What I mean to say is, listen to the notes that you are playing in a particular chord, and try to hum them as you go. If it helps you, pick each of the notes in the Am chord:

Am
E_0_
B_1_
G_2_
D_2_
A_0_
E_X_

Hum each note as you play. Start slowly and then pick faster and faster as you go. Once you feel more confident and warmed-up, then go back to strumming and listen to how the notes in the chord can be translated into hummed notes. Watch me in the video for more on this!

Now, you can take the notes that you have been given in that chord and extrapolate on them. In other words, go off of the beaten path, go outside of the box etc., etc. Take the notes that are right in front of you and add on to them as you see fit. You may add notes that don’t sound quite right or may be out of “key,” but experimentation is the key to this process. Keep trying different combinations until you feel you have found something that moves you.

Once you have done that, listen carefully to what the melody (a pleasant or agreeable arrangement of notes) or the notes that you have pulled out of the chord might sound like. This can be kind of tricky as notes can sound like just about anything. But what do they sound like to you? Chapter 3: (03:26) Exercise 2 Exercise 2
Using an open C chord:

C major
E_0_
B_1_
G_0_
D_2_
A_3_
E_X_

go through the same process as in Exercise 1 and sing the individual notes as you pluck them. Now, using the strum "or down down-up down-up down," play the C chord and quietly and slowly hum the same notes. Now, once you feel warmed up and comfortable with singing the notes, play them a little faster and a little louder. Now, this is the point at which you will need to summon your creative juices. Sing notes other than the ones contained in the C chord and try to find a melody line. Do you like what you have come up with? Does the melody line sound cool, different, moving, funny, ridiculous? Any of these are acceptable options depending upon whether you like it or not. Chapter 4: (03:14) Exercise 3 Exercise 3
Now take the two chords above, Am and C, and put the two series of notes together. That’s not to say to just throw them together in a jumble (although that might be pretty cool too!), but sing the melody lines that you’ve found for each chord. What do you think about your song so far? Remember that this is a work in progress, but I have news for you…you’re writing a song!

Pulling Lyric From Melody
Okay, so you’ve got a couple of chords that you feel pretty good about and a working melody line. That’s a great start but….we still don’t have any words yet. How do we make that jump? Here’s how:

Play the melody that you’ve come up with for the Am chord and LISTEN! Active listening is extremely important and requires quiet and concentration (for most people). You may need to turn off the t.v. and drop the X-box controller for this portion of the procedure. Strum the Am chord while singing your melody and listen for what words might go well with those notes. Watch me in the video for more on this. Chapter 5: (03:37) Exercises 4-6 Exercise 4
Pick two more chords to go along with the Am and the C chord. You can use what you know about I-IV-V progressions, or about relative minors, or about any of the facets of music theory that we’ve discussed up to this point, or you can just pick two chords that you think sound good. Go through the same process that we went through with the Am and the C chord and find melody lines that work with the two new chords. Then listen to what the new melody sounds like or what words are coming out of those chords.

Exercise 5
Pick four new chords using your knowledge of songwriting and theory up to this point. You don’t need to adhere to any of the rules that we’ve established up to this point unless you find them to be helpful. Find melody lines for each chord and then attempt to combine them in “song” form. Next, try to find words that sound like the chords or more accurately, words that you feel fit with the chords.

Exercise 6
Using your four chords from above, write a chorus for your new song. Go through the same process in finding melody and extrapolate or pull words from those chords. Are you picking chords that might give your listeners (or you for that matter) the feeling that the song is building? Is there a progression of sorts or are the chords just “there?” Next, write a bridge for your song. Remember that a bridge can be in almost any form including one note, one chord, or an entire orchestrated section of music. Look back at the last two songwriting lessons to refresh yourself on some of the ideas we’ve been talking about if you need to. Chapter 6: (01:21) Subjectivity The Nature of Subjectivity
Because songwriting is a personal and subjective type of activity, there are truly no right or wrong ways to go about it. Yes, there seems to be a formula that “works” and gets the most radio time and exposure, but aren’t the best songs on the CD sometimes the ones that never saw any air play? Sometimes the best songs of all are not commercially successful and I personally thank heavens for that. You cannot measure all things creative or otherwise, by the amount of money it makes. With this concept in mind, go forth and write, write, write!!! And most of all, be creative.

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