Putting lyrics to music

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6StringMelody

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« on: August 29, 2017, 01:05:48 AM »
Hi Everyone :) first post here as I’m a beginner when it comes
To songwriting, I’m currently writing a song inspired by my baby
Girl, I’ve wrote the lyrics which I’m fairly pleased with, but now
I need to start writing the music for it,

I play guitar and a bit of piano would you recommend just working
out a melody first or a chord structure?

Also my 3 verses have different amounts of syllables to each other
Do you think this could be an issue?

Really enjoying doing this and hopefully I can get a decent end product
For her to treasure as she’s growing up

Thanks for reading
Kev

CaliaMoko

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« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2017, 02:03:31 AM »
Hi Everyone :) first post here as I’m a beginner when it comes To songwriting, I’m currently writing a song inspired by my baby Girl, I’ve wrote the lyrics which I’m fairly pleased with, but now I need to start writing the music for it,
Welcome to the forum. I've been here a couple years now and I think it's the best one. :)
Quote
I play guitar and a bit of piano would you recommend just working out a melody first or a chord structure?
Either way is "right". There are any number of ways to get started. You could:

1. Take a chord progression you know you like (maybe from another song or part of one) and that suits your lyric, noodle around with it and see what happens.

2. Decide if you want it to be in a major or minor key (or even another mode) and start experimenting with melodic intervals within that framework.

3. Try listening to some rhythm tracks to see if they give you any ideas.

Other members will, no doubt, have other ideas. One of my favorite ways is to play loops in different styles and keys and get ideas from those.
Quote
Also my 3 verses have different amounts of syllables to each other Do you think this could be an issue?
Yes, it could. If they're drastically different from each other, you'll have a hard time getting a melody to fit all your verses. If the difference isn't too great, you can likely get away with using melisma to fill in the gaps in the shorter lines.
Quote
Really enjoying doing this and hopefully I can get a decent end product For her to treasure as she’s growing up
She will surely treasure it, because you wrote it for her.

I hope this is a little helpful. You'll find the active members of the forum are usually willing to help each other out when someone gets stuck.

Vicki

Neil C

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« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2017, 07:43:26 AM »
Hi and welcome,
To add to Vicki's thoughts I'd start with melody first. I's sing them or whistle first, then work out the chords over with guitar or piano.
However there are no fixed rules, so whatever comes naturally.
Good luck and look forward to hearing how you get on.
 :)
neil
 
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pompeyjazz

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« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2017, 09:20:24 AM »
Hi there. As Vicki and Neil have already said there is no "right" or "wrong" way to approach this. I would add that when you have a melody then you may have to slightly compromise your lyrics so that they fit the melody. There are plenty of guys on here that will be able to help you so my advice is to try a verse or chorus and post it in the WIP section. Good luck  :)

6StringMelody

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« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2017, 03:56:48 PM »
Thanks for your reply’s, I was fearing you’d say about changing
The lyrics :( lol as I like what I’ve written, but I’ll have a tinker. And play about with
Some melody ideas,

Also another question, does anyone use any apps
On their phone to help with writing ?

Thanks everyone again
Kev

jacksimmons

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« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2017, 09:31:27 PM »
If you want to write songs with interesting, catchy or intricate melodies, I would always recommend coming up with the vocal melody first, before chord structure. Maybe choose a key you want to write in first (though this can and often does change during the writing process), start with a melody line, and go with the chords where the melody takes you. This is my method and I think it's a great piece of advice to new songwriters.

On the rare occasion when I have a full lyrics before a melody, I will cut and chop away at the lyrics to fit a melody, rather than the other way around. I think unless you're writing with a very strict form, or folk, changing the lyrics to fit the tune is always better for the song than changing the tune to fit the lyrics.

Just my two cents. I know a lot of people come up with chords or a whole track before they begin on a vocal melody, but I don't think it's a great way to work.
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Bernd

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« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2017, 04:09:08 PM »
Nobody can possibly comment on the lyrics as you haven't posted them (as far as I can make out).

It is not the number of syllables that are important but the number of stresses (stressed syllables). The stresses define the meter, that is the rhythm of the tune.

Have fun,
Bernd
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hardtwistmusic

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« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2017, 11:35:13 PM »
Hi Everyone :) first post here as I’m a beginner when it comes
To songwriting, I’m currently writing a song inspired by my baby
Girl, I’ve wrote the lyrics which I’m fairly pleased with, but now
I need to start writing the music for it,

I play guitar and a bit of piano would you recommend just working
out a melody first or a chord structure?

Also my 3 verses have different amounts of syllables to each other
Do you think this could be an issue?

Really enjoying doing this and hopefully I can get a decent end product
For her to treasure as she’s growing up

Thanks for reading
Kev
www.reverbnation.com/hardtwistmusicsongwriter

Verlon Gates  -  60 plus years old.

hardtwistmusic

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« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2017, 11:43:39 PM »

Really enjoying doing this and hopefully I can get a decent end product
For her to treasure as she’s growing up

Thanks for reading
Kev

I have no doubt that you will come up with a "decent end product". 

From personal experience, I wonder about you finding a song "for her to treasure as she's growing up." 

Many people have "treasured" the songs I have written.  But not either of my own children.  It's all "oid guy stuff" that they (and their peer group) wouldn't be caught dead listening to. 

My very musical daughter calls everything I write "eighties music," even though it is actually much closer in origin to sixties, seventies and nineties music which I enjoyed, while I simply could not enjoy much of the stuff from the eighties.  So what made it "eighties music?" 

Well, "eighties music" was the first "old people music" my daughter can remember.  Anything that sounds retro is "eighties music" to her.  Stuff from Django Rheinhardt, and/or Bob Wills, and/or even The Beatles  is (in her mind) "eighties music." 

Regardless of which "old music" my stuff resembles most, neither of my children are impressed with it.  I'm not complaining.  Just trying to prepare you for one of the possible outcomes, no matter how well you write this. 
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Verlon Gates  -  60 plus years old.

Bernd

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« Reply #9 on: November 02, 2017, 03:39:45 PM »
> Also my 3 verses have different amounts of syllables to each other
Do you think this could be an issue? <

Yes.



;-)
Bernd
Bernd
good lyricist, mediocre songwriter, lousy musician
likes rock but writes for anybody anyway ;-)

Martinswede

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« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2017, 08:34:45 PM »
The two things that come to my mind are reading the lyrics out loud and see if it gives away some melody.
And to see the lyrics as the first step in a creative process. Maybe in two months your stuck with this melody but you have no lyrics to go with it. An adaption of your current lyrics could work. Having a goal in mind is good but sometimes you have to reconsider your options.

Laptop Philharmonic

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« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2018, 07:27:06 PM »
Hey,

That's cute writing for your little girl :)

As several have already said, there's no one correct way to do this. Most others here seem to like starting with the melody, but I thought I'd share my thoughts since I nearly always start with chords.

The chords are the basic architecture of everything you're trying to say. The way they shift and change is part of the fundamental feeling of the song. I'd suggest just playing around with different combinations of chords. When you find something that sounds like what you're singing about, then think about how you can lay a melody on top of the structure you've just come up with.

Or do it like everyone else does - your call :)
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junkman

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« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2018, 11:09:52 AM »
Also my 3 verses have different amounts of syllables to each other
Do you think this could be an issue?

Hell no, it's a virtue! It's an opportunity to introduce variation to each verse. Find a melody you like for the first verse, then you can add little extensions or abbreviations of that melody to incorporate different numbers of syllables in subsequent verses.

Little details, variations and eccentricities are some of the reasons people love the classic songwriters. Words that don't scan perfectly or verses that don't match perfectly are an opportunity to include these kinds of things, whereas if you change what you've written you'll be squashing what you've done into a more conventional box, as well as potentially reducing the purity of your original expression.

Johnnyuk

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« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2018, 08:10:14 PM »
If i have lyrics written but no music for it i always sit at the piano and simply play block chords and sing melody line ideas over them to find a suitable melody for my lyrics to sit on. Get it working at that stage and you can then move onto a more advanced stage of bringing in drums,bass etc... Also NEVER tell yourself that these lyrics will EVER change. Always be open to re writing your lyrics because if you do this you will end up with a much stronger song.
Johnny :)