Many instrumental musicians, and instrumental composers, struggle with songwriting.
There’s plenty of discussion in the chicken-and-egg variety – which do you do first as a songwriter – melodyA sequence of single pitches perceived as a unit, usually the main theme or tune in a piece of music. or words? When that question is even asked, the core point is being missed.
Lyric Drives the Song
Lyric first. American popular song comes from 2 sources, mainly – troubadours – that is, singer-songwriters of roots, folk, popular, blues, and rock music – and musical theater.
In the case of the troubadours, songs emerge from stories to be told. In the case of musical theater, songs emerge from moments in the book calling for an emotional expression words alone can’t achieve. The lyricist goes first in bringing the moment to song. In both cases, the melody is a product of the lyric.
Music First?
We’ve learned from hard experience that the converse is exceedingly difficult to pull off. Some lyricists are able to do it, but that’s the exception to the rule, because melody is already telling an emotional story, and finding words to match the pre-existing story requires tremendous imagination and a huge vocabulary.
For a really clear illustration of what songwriting workflow might look like, the recent Beatles documentary “Get Back” has some clear illustrations of the process of the most successful pop songwriting team of the 20th century.
It starts with a lyric. Sometimes melody emerges simultaneously, when the songwriter has internalized the relationship between lyric, rhythmThe pattern of beats and accentuations in music, which gives a piece its sense of movement and flow. and melody.
The Melody Inherent in Speech
Speech already contains a sort of melody and rhythm. Words are pronounced with accents on certain syllables. Questions rise in pitchThe perceived highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of the sound wave., and answers tend to fall. Lines written in a metric formThe structure or organization of a piece of music, including its sections, repetitions, and overall shape. will dictate their own rhythm to those who are aware of this property of speech. From this awareness, it’s a short path to turn the lyric into melody. Sometimes it feels as if there’s only one natural choice. OK, then…Major or minor? That depends on the mood of the lyric underneath.
Song lyrics are (traditionally) poetic in form, and follow formal conventions.
Here’s a terrific article on poetic meter by Billy Collins.
Each line tends to follow a rhythmic/metric pattern.
Accents in Music
Musical meter is an organizational scheme comprised of units (bars) containing beats and subdivisions of those beats. It’s traditionally accepted and common practice that the first beat is the strongest beat, a natural place to land with an important word, and the third beat. Second and fourth are “weak beats,” despite being accented in Jazz, particularly.* Natural songwriting means aligning the musical melody with the metric scheme, and melodic implication of, the lyric.
Form in Song
Songwriting tends to follow some standard formal schemes:
- VerseA section of a song introducing ideas, images, or story elements being conveyed by the lyric, setting up the chorus then Stanza Stanza BridgeA song section type common in American Songbook tunes, usually containing a markedly different chord progression; commonly the "B" section of an AABA or ABA form. Stanza (AABA)
- Verse Verse ChorusA section of music usually referencing the title of the song, also known as a "hook." Also can refer to a type of ensemble consisting of a collection of singers, or in Jazz, one time through the entire progression of a song or tune, which repeats with variations or solos throughout the piece. Bridge Verse Chorus Chorus (or any recombination of those elements)
and many more. Here’s an article on song form
Each section type tends to have the same melody and rhythm. There are variations:
A A1 A A1 B A1 etc., where the varied section starts the same but ends with some variation. Repetition creates familiarity. It helps the listener learn the song, and makes it memorable, if not “catchy.”
Start with a Good Lyric
If you start with a good lyric, with a story that needs to be told, and let the lyric dictate your melody, you’re most of the way to a good song.
Footnote
* Accents on 2 and 4 assist dancers to pick up the feet to get to the next downbeat. It’s propulsive, and frequently in response to (or opposition of) a downbeat accent in the melody line
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