Come Up With a Main Melody
The first step in the process of writing a melody is to go to your writing space. In this
space, your instrument or instruments are housed. It should be a place that is really
quiet, not distractive and disruptive.
The second step is to go to your favorite instrument and set it up. Set up your recording
software or device.
Start playing chords that come to mind that could possibly go with your idea. Once you
come up with the basic chord structure, pick a melody that could go with the chords.
The chords are the fundamental first building blocks to songwriting especially fast
songwriting.
Pick up a melody that will instantly ring with lyrics. Know your own range or the range of
the singer that you are writing for. The melody demonstrated in the pictures to the side
gives a demonstration.
Pick a Phrase That Lends Well To Lyrics
The first part of writing fast lyrics requires a process of quick rhyming. Thinking of lines
quickly is essential in the thirty-minute writing process, but the art of doing this well
takes some practice. In the first part of this chapter, I hope that I can help you make that
practice a bit easier.
How do you think of fast rhymes? Think back to step one. What was the thing that made
you first have the spark for the time. Say it was a brown coffee table. Look at some of
the things that are physically around the table and try to see if you can rhyme the the
first item and subsequent items.
If this doesn't work, lyrical phrases taken directly from personal experiences do. Maybe
your first phrase or spark makes you think back to a time when you had a flat tire on
your way to a job, your finances were in the toilet and you just learned your girlfriend
walked out on you. It sounds like a pretty desperate situation, but it makes for a great
filler of lyrics for your song. Don't be afraid to pour out frustration, anger, sadness or any
other emotion into the lyrics. Often, when you do.
this, you'll find some interesting lyrical matches that could really stick.
Take the above situation for example. Start with the first line. Your first few lines could
be:
On the way to work,
I just got the word,
My girlfriend left without a note,
She kicked me out of the house,
Got no money for town,
Got no friend's place to go.
Do a similar process with the remaining verses. Then, work on the chorus.
Example Chorus:
Dreaming of a better life,
Ready to stop living a lie,
Not knowing where God is showing
Faith from within,
Wishing of course to party with all my friends,
Wish to go far away
From this hell I'm in.
Come Up With Middle Eight
Once you have your two or three verses, come up with a middle eight which is a 4 to 8
line segment that is different from the verses or choruses. After that, youʼre pretty much
done. Replicate this process with many songs and youʼll see grand success in no time!
Until next time use your musical ears and be inspired
No comments:
Post a Comment