How to Set Your Lyrics to Music: 8 Tips
I’ve never met a songwriter for whom each element of lyrics, chords, melody or groove came equally easy. For many of us, one or two of those elements falls more easily into place, leaving the other elements lagging behind.
Where we begin in the writing of a song can show us the ‘driving element’—the part about which we feel most confident. Vocalists might start with a melodic motif, whereas instrumentalists with chords and groove. Poets may start with a concept or lyric couplet, focusing more on story. However we begin, starting with our strength can give our songs a distinct stylistic stamp. But it can also leave us feeling unsure about how to fill in the missing elements to match the integrity of our driving element.
When I set off on my songwriting journey, lyrics were a thorn in my side. I had years of classical piano background, a decent sense for melody and cadence, phrasing, and other musical considerations. What I didn’t have was conviction about what I thought made a good lyric, how to develop a story in song form, an understanding of the relationship between syllables and stress patterns, creativity around rhyme, or any knowledge of prosody—the emotional agreement between words and music. Lyrics felt like outer space with no up, down, or gravity to ground me.
Now, with a few decades of lyric struggle behind me, I can understand what is so hard about setting lyrics to music. The fact is, choosing a melody, chords, and groove that enhance the meaning of our words and marry them all precisely is no small task. So what tips and techniques can we use to set all those lyrics we have lying around? Here are a few things to look at to make the process more efficient and successful in the end.
Consider the overall tone of the lyric as you choose groove and chords. Before you ever start singing, the groove and chords share the sentiment of the song, like body language shares the intention in our words. Keep it simple, and choose the tempo, chords, and groove of those first ten seconds carefully. They are your song’s first impression, and the lens through which we will hear the lyric message.
Lean Down a Wordy Lyric. When lyrics drive our songwriting process, we might find we’re quite verbose. There’s no problem with being wordy, and indeed some songs thrive on it. But when the lyric feels cumbersome to sing or the wordiness is a reflex rather than a stylistic choice, it’s time to consider cutting syllables. A major issue with wordy lyrics is that the stress pattern changes from line-to-line, making repetition of a melodic theme nearly impossible. Check to make sure your song’s melody is being served by the stress pattern of the lyric and vice versa.
Look for repeating rhythms within the lyric to develop a melodic motif. The rhythm of the lyric determines the rhythm of the melody that pairs with it. A lyric rhythm that changes from line to line results in a watered down melodic theme. Look into how you can make small adjustments to the rhythms of the lyric lines of a single section to reinforce a single melodic motif so that both the melody and lyric can work together for a strong section.
Break longer lines into shorter phrases for stronger melodic motifs. Long lines of lyric can be difficult to manage, and result in winding, aimless melodies that might be okay for verses, but could be death for choruses. Breaking lines in two can help us see our melodic phrasing in a new way. Similarly, simply aiming to add rest space between certain words encourages us to put rhythm in the front of our melodic mind instead of always relying on pitch to do the work.
Control line length and rhythm for contrast between sections. Memorable songs rely on contrast to pull us forward, keep us interested, and teach us their musical themes. If each section carries the same basic melodic rhythm, chords and frequency of chord changes, each section may sound basically the same. By changing the rhythm of the lyric line that establishes our melodic motif for each section, we give each section its own identity. The changes that occur right away in each section make the biggest impact.
Choose melodic shapes that emphasize the emotional message of the words. When it comes to shape, the pitches we sing and how long we hold them are key. Moving from a verse melody that is quite static to a chorus melody that is quite dynamic is a major contrasting tool that gives each section a fresh sound. Drawing our basic shapes on paper like a topographic map is a wonderful way to see the melodic themes we’re working with and how different they sound from one section to another.
Look beyond your vocal abilities to write the melody. Our instrumental abilities can inform our writing style, from our groove vocabulary to the chords in our toolkit. Our melodies are affected, too, by how well we believe we sing. Whether or not you feel you’ve got the right vocal for your song, imagine someone singing it who absolutely does. What intervals and pitches would they sing or hold out? What rest space would they take to allow the production or accompaniment time to breathe, or lyric message to be truly conveyed? Take the opportunity to write what you can’t necessarily sing.
Be flexible with the lyric to conform to new musical ideas. As you set your lyric to melody, allow your musical side to play. If you feel a different rhyme scheme coming on, follow it. Lyrics were your strength to start, so don’t hesitate to engage your skills again to conform your words to that new melodic motif and section structure. If you find the chorus is better left as the title repeated rather than all seven lines of lyric you wrote, record that version and keep it as an alternate possibility. Cater to your musical ideas, knowing that you’ve already got all or most of the lyrical ideas you need.
To learn more about lyric-writing, read Getting Past Second Verse Troubles.
Stay creative,
Andrea Stolpe
