As a musician, composer, and songwriter, I am often asked in interviews: “Do you write the music or the lyrics first in your songs?”
Most of the time, I’m a music-first person. It makes sense; I’ve always been dedicated to developing on my instruments (primarily piano and keyboards).
That said, good lyrics have always been important to me. So much so, that when it came time to write and record my first solo album, I packed my bags (and studio gear) and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2010. I lived in the city for four years, and immersed myself in the songwriter culture there, which I found was generally lyrics-focused.
My style of music is quite different from what mainly happens there, but I was instantly affected positively by the fact that I was surrounded by songwriters who crafted their lyrics with the same detail that I’d focused on the musical side of things.
One of my best friends had moved to Nashville to pursue the songwriting thing years before I, and shortly upon my arrival he lent me a book called Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison. Pattison is known as a professor of songwriting courses at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Frankly, I’d resisted any structured training in songwriting; I think this is how my self-taught musician friends felt about learning an instrument. There’s a certain allure to figuring it all out yourself, but as someone who has been both a student and teacher of music for years, you can guess how I feel about lessons. I think they’re great. So why was I resisting any kind of training in the art of writing songs, namely the lyrics?
get Writing Better Lyrics on Amazon
The fact is this: I started as a musician. Writing lyrics came later, almost out of necessity. Over the years, however, something strange happened: I starting having things I wanted to say. Funny how that works.
My goal was to make an album where every note and every word counted. I accepted the book and decided it was time to grow as a writer. I followed the tips and exercises and I have to say that, even though it still took a long time to write my album, I’m proud of the results. I’m not saying I became Bob Dylan, but I achieved my goal of effectively expressing what I wanted to express. And that’s what it’s all about, right? Whether it’s folk, hip-hop, rock, country, pop, whatever. Self-expression is key. And I found that the advice given in this book, when put into action, helped me unlock my creativity and improve my craft.
The purpose of this post isn’t to give a TL;DR of that whole book. There are, however, 2 tips I got from it that have helped me greatly:
- Get a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus. I like The Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary. There are also good online ones like rhymezone.com that are useful.
- Practice OBJECT WRITING each day. More on that below.
Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary: Quick, Simple & Easy to Use; Rock, Pop, Folk & Hip Hop
The jewel here is “object writing”. Pick an object, any object. Set a timer for ten minutes, and start writing about that object. It doesn’t have to be in lyric or poetic form. It can be free-form. What you want to do is write about how the object pertains to the senses; touch, taste, smell, sound, sight, body senses (like heartbeat, pain, etc), and kinesthetic senses like moving, dizziness,etc. Go go go and don’t stop the pen (I like to handwrite my object-writing). When the timer is up, you stop.
Here’s the kicker: it doesn’t matter if it’s good or not. You don’t have to use any of this material. Sometimes I don’t even look at it after I’ve written. The act of doing it is where you get the growth. Pattison recommends doing this every day, in the morning. By doing it early, you awaken your inner writer, become more perceptive about the world around you throughout the day, and become more inspired. I can say that for me, this is true. It works!
The Steemit Lyric Writing Challenge
There’s an object writing forum at objectwriting.com that gives a new object word each day. People can post their writings and discuss if they wish. I’m more of a lurker (like I said, sometimes I don’t even look at the object writing I do). I would, however, like to share their word of the day:
champagne
Will you join me in 10 minutes of object writing about this word? You don’t have to share it. If you do, reply with your writings and I will upvote the first 5 sharers at 100% Steem Power.
I’m still relatively new to posting here so please resteem! I’m all for developing a STEEM songwriters support group, and would be happy to host more songwriting challenges! It could be a nice counterpart to the openmic (and who knows, it may inspire some future entries there too).
If you’re curious, please have a listen to my song “Your Favorite Day” for free on musicoin.org . The lyrics are very sense-based, no doubt influenced by the object writing.
Good luck and happy creating!