Paul's Writers Dig 7: SECTION 1 (Continuation...3)

CREATIVE SONG LYRICS

Self-teaching Manual

Releasing Soon

Self-Teaching Guide to

WRITING SONG LYRICS

By Paul Rodricks

Have you ever felt the urge to write your own songs?

To compose your own lyrics and melody?

Are you a lyricist wishing to set music to your lyrics?

Or a music composer desirous of writing the lyrics to

your music?

Or a music lover and hobbyist wondering how songs are crafted?

If so, Creative Songwriting is just the right practical

self-teaching manual for you. Because Songwriting has

never been made so easy and simple.

CREATIVE SONGLYRICS

   Is all about Lyrics Composing – Song forms, Title/Hook lines, Storylines and Themes, Rhyme Scheme, Crafting the Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Tag, Song Performing Styles and much more.

The latest in Gospel/Worship Songwriting is also presented in a whole separate chapter devoted to it in this book.

Become a successful Songwriter. Compose your own Lyrics and Music to styles such as Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Jazz and Gospel.

Lyrics: The Composition

Section 1 (Continuation...3)

“The soul never thinks without a mental picture.”

– Aristotle

Here's a Preview of the SECTION ONE (Continuation...3) from the Creative SongLyrics Manual:

Popular Forms of Lyrics (Continued)

Musical Embellishments to Song Form:

Instrumental:

(at times with vocal back-up)

(a) As an Intro before the 1st Verse or Chorus

(b) Lead Ins and Exits of Choruses

(c) Mid-Solo over the Chorus, or after the Bridge, if any.

All popular styles of songs such as rock, pop, R&B, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, Latin or Reggae have their own distinct form structure. Hence, it is best to study the song form/s, including the lyrics of a few songs of the particular genre/style you are aiming for.

The song structure also regulates the duration of your song. Popular styles of Western recorded songs don‟t normally exceed the 3.50/4.00 minutes accepted norm which is enough time to accommodate the ABABAB format, including a 4-bar intro, a mid-solo and the usual 2-bar ending. Of course, there are songs which have more soloing, instrumental riffs back-up and other vocal and instrumental embellishments. Generally, jazz and classical music styles exceed this time-frame.

For an overview of this section remember that, in any kind of a song form - the verse, chorus, bridge and tag, and the instrumental and vocal backups, mid-soloing and endings all serve the purpose of creating an overall contract, including that of tension and resolution - of cause and effect brought about to a successful conclusion through the performance of lyrics, melody and rhythm - by the singer/s and accompanying musicians in a spirit of team-work.

There are a variety of techniques that can be applied to make your lyrics outstanding besides the song structure. Such as, the choice of emotive and graphic words, stressed & unstressed syllables, the rhyme and the rhyming scheme, the rhythmic value of short and long sentences and not in the least the composition of a reasonably good melody. We will be covering these areas in the latter chapters of this book, including the study of simple examples to acquire some level of expertise to transform your efforts into productive songwriting as quickly as possible.

General Song Form Questionnaire:

1. Does your song form suit the story and the genre/style of song?

2. Have you made the Title or Hook-line catchy enough and original?

3. Does your song title convey meaningfully and strongly the essence of your theme or story line?

4. Does your title or hook line repeats at least once in the verse and twice or more in the chorus and the bridge, if any?

5. Is the first line of your Verse A or Chorus B appealing enough, i.e. attention grabbing?

6. Is there a flow or continuity in the story narrative from verse to verse?

7. Does the ending (substance) of each verse connect smoothly with the beginning of the Chorus – which would probably be the Title or Hook line?

8. Is the summary of your chorus content consistent with the story line as developed in the verse sections.

9. For the bridge, have you added a new look, concept or twist, i.e. rather a different feature of the story narrative?