Writing Tools for Lyric-Leaning Artists and Songwriters

In my last article, I asserted that it isn’t in the way that genres are different that make it difficult for artists, and songwriters, to see where we belong, but rather what makes genres the same. We struggle to understand our sound and exactly who our listening audience is, when actually, who we are is fully expressed in the personality of the music we make, regardless of genre.

I went on to describe the similarities between styles of music that position the lyric in the foreground, a style I’m calling “lyric-forward.” I’d like to take those ideas a step forward and summarize what I believe are the essential songwriting skills or tools artists who are lyric-forward embody. When we artists and songwriters who identify with the lyric-forward style focus on these tools, we no longer need to concern ourselves with every tool -  just the ones that amplify the expression, and the listener’s emotional reaction, to what we’re making. 

Below are what I believe are some of the most essential songwriting practices to thrive within ‘lyric-forward’ song styles. If it’s helpful, consider building your own daily or weekly routine off these practices.

Harmonic Rhythm

1. Build a vocabulary of grooves/feels/harmonic rhythms. Spend a day building a groove bank - 5 grooves/feels at particular tempos that you hear from other songs you could write to. Add to it monthly or whenever you hear a new groove/feel you like. 

2. Learn the Nashville number system. Then, once per week, study the chord progression of a song you enjoy by transcribing it. Map out the number of measures in each section. For example, Intro 4 bars, verse 1 8 bars, chorus 8 bars, turn-around 4 bars. Intro chord progression is 1 4 5. Verse progression is 4 4 5 5, chorus progression is 6- 4 1 5.

3. Don’t be concerned with learning new chords, but rather new rhythms of moving between chords. For softer, more sincere characters, involve inversions of chords. For more secure, confident characters, utilize root positions of chords.

Lyric

1. Create a title bank. Set aside 1 hour to add to it weekly, or whenever ideas strike throughout the week. 

2. Create an outline for all the titles in your title bank, but be discerning enough to only see 20% through to a full song.

3. Practice writing with imagery. Draw from your background and life experiences, and aim to write what feels true to you. Rely on conversational tone, writing lyric as you would speak, in full sentences and with conjunctions and prepositions.

4. Keep your character as grounded as the direct and simple tone implied by your music. For more nuanced characters, appropriately adjust your musical ‘container’ to imply more intricacy.

5. Practice writing lean lyrics to leave room for the melody to become distinct, with rest space to enhance the distinction.

6. Practice writing two sections that contrast using a full vs. empty approach, even at the lyric stage. This means fewer syllables and shorter line lengths, perhaps longer notes or more rest space for an emptier effect. Flip that for a fuller effect in the next section.

Melody

1. Melodic hooks - Set each title you come up with to a melody and groove, feeling the rhythm of the words and how well they sing. Adjust the melody so that the words feel inherent to the melody and vice versa.

2. Phrasing and content - For awhile, write your choruses first. Sing the title 4 times and record it with harmony underneath. Then write another chorus by alternating the title line and a developmental line. For the developmental line, write a completely different rhythm than the title line, so the title line stands out. Then, take 10 minutes and write the chorus again at a slower tempo with a different groove. Record it all, no matter how rough it seems.

3. Develop your ability to write pleasing melodic pitch shapes. More rhythmic melodies that are static work well over deep country grooves or acoustic landscapes, but when paired with driving grooves the sound becomes rock. Instead, lean on melodic hooks that are at least a combination of pitch shape and rhythmic interest, not rhythmic interest alone.

4. Rhythmic melody - practice using rhythmic repetition throughout your verse sections. This includes using exact repetition, using a segment, balance or imbalance between sections, wrapping lines around the bar-line to reduce cliche and add unpredictability, and starting before or on or after and observing the emotion it creates.

Additional Practice:

1. Each week, listen to songs written by others. Search online for major publishing companies for writers, and labels for artists and their rosters, listening to the songs on their site and assessing for the above tools. Look for demos, rather than major releases, as these will reflect the writer or artist’s raw vision better without the polish of a record to smooth over song inequalities. Also, check out the songs on the profiles of SoundBetter.com for a more accurate look at strength of song within your desired sound.

2. Reach out to any independent artist you enjoy on social media or via their website. Make a connection, no matter how small. Keep track of the connections you make, and follow up at a later date.

Songwriting is a beautiful art form, not a science. Strive to understand for yourself what defines your edges as an artist, and lean into the character traits that most express it. 

Stay creative,