LYRICS

1. Use Specific Sense-Bound Writing

The senses include:
Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste, and Smell
Organic Sense: the sensations inside the body
Kinesthetic sense: the sense of motion
Example:
When adding specific sense-bound wording to your lyrics, a line such as
"It was a tiring walk home in the rain"
can become
"The dark raindrops echoed across the hillside as my aching feet dragged across each
crack in the cobblestone walk"

2. Metaphors

3. Similes

A metaphor, stating this thing is that thing, is in reality

an impossibility. But when blending and juxtaposing
two incongruent objects, a third one emerges in the
listener's mind that adds a deeper layer of meaning to
the lyric.

A simile is stating this thing is like that thing, or this is

as that.

Example:
"The sidewalk cracks are canyons to cross"
The third thing that emerges is the idea of struggle and
challenge overcoming obstacles. Walking along a
sidewalk with cracks between the blocks becomes
symbolic of challenges that are being depicted in the
story.
In a metaphor, our attention is transferred to the
second thing. In this case, the canyons stand out more
than the sidewalk cracks.

Example:
"The sidewalk cracks are like canyons to cross"
"The sidewalk cracks are as wide as canyons"
In a simile, our attention remains more strongly
focused on the first thing. In this case, the sidewalk
cracks stand out more than the canyons.
So one of several reasons to chose a metaphor or a
simile would be deciding which word needs more
emphasis, and which idea, the first or the second, you
would want to develop further in the next line.

4. Rhyme scheme
A really quick way to add many possibilities to a song section is to change the rhyme scheme.
For example, if the following are the ending words of a four line section,
Line 1: "June"
Line 2: "Moon"
Line 3: "Love"
Line 4: "Glove"

A
A
B
B

try
Line 1: "June"
Line 2: "Love"
Line 3: "Moon"
Line 4: "Glove"

A
B
A
B

or
Line 1: "June"
Line 2: "Love"
Line 3: "Road"
Line 4: "Glove"

X
A
X
A

or
Line 1: "June"
Line 2: "Moon"
Line 3: "Soon"
Line 4: "Glove"

A
A
A
B

and possibly rhyme "Glove" with "Love" in Line 4 of the next section.

There are many other rhyming possibilities, especially when there are more than four lines in the section, or
when rhyming lines between sections.

5. Internal Rhymes
within a Line:

6. Rhyme Type: Perfect versus Imperfect

Rhymes

Rhymes within a line create a more

complex rhyming pattern.

Perfect rhymes have the same ending vowel sound and ending consonants, but
different beginning consonants.
Perfect rhymes sound stable, and should be used for stable moods.

Example:
Examples:
"She seemed so shy when she winked
her eye and left just after dark"
"I've forgotten my sorrow and dream of
tomorrow's blue eyes in the park"
If you are utilizing internal rhyming in
the lines of a verse, it works even better
if you can use internal rhymes in the
same places in every verse.
Also, notice here that we would expect
"blue skies" to go with "park," but
instead we get "blue eyes," which
usually causes the listener to envision
both blue skies and blue eyes. This
enhances the lyric by adding multiple
layers of meaning.

June, Moon, Soon, Cartoon, Basoon

Imperfect rhymes have the same ending vowel sound but different beginning
and ending consonants. Imperfect rhymes should be used for less stable moods
Examples:
June, Rude, Boot, Soothe, Juice, Caboose
There are certain families of consonants that share similar sounds. The further
your imperfect rhymes get away from similar sounding consonants the more
unstable they will sound. Determining how unstable a mood your lyric is
depicting can help you determine whether to use perfect rhymes, imperfect
rhymes with similar ending consonant sounds, or imperfect rhymes with
dissimilar ending consonant sounds.

7. Rhyme Type: Masculine versus Feminine Rhymes

Masculine Rhymes: can either be one-syllable words, or words that end on a syllable that is stressed.
Example: Star, Car, Guitar
Feminine Rhymes: these will always have two-syllables that rhyme, and the ending one will be unstressed.
Examples: Sorrow, Tomorrow, Borrow, or Running, Stunning, Cunning
Utilizing both masculine and feminine rhymes can add much variety to your rhyming. However, if you have matching
sections, such as verse one, verse two, and verse three, once you set up a rhyming pattern it is a good guideline to repeat it
in the next section. For instance, if you use feminine rhymes at the end of the lines in verse one, it is good to also use
feminine rhymes at the end of the lines in the other verses as well.
This is because music and lyrics are very much about creating patterns. When you repeat a pattern the same way from
section to section, the brain of the listener, often subconsciously, understands the music. Variety is helpful, but only after
you have set up a pattern to vary, by repeating it. If you deviate from a pattern before you have repeated it for the listener, it
has not become a recognizable pattern yet, and the listener will not understand the music or lyrics as well, and it will have
less of an emotional impact.

8. Reverse Writing a Line from a Rhyme

This is a great technique for editing and rewriting lyrics. If you have a line that you like, such as,
"The sun was soothing on my back" but can't think of the next line, try the following.
Use a rhyming dictionary and create a list of possible rhymes, don't write down every rhyme though, just
choose rhymes that might also add to the meaning of the lyrics.
"Black, Crack, Track, Pack, Wolf Pack, Panic Attack"
Then reverse write lines from each.
"The sun was soothing on my back"
"An ice-cold coke was in my pack"
"My skin was tan with little cracks"
"The DJ played a lively track"
When one of them fits the meaning you are developing, you have cured your writer's block for that line.

9. Mis-accenting Words
This is a technique that is good to check if something sounds awkward within a phrase.
In the English language, words have either stressed or unstressed syllables. Words that are used as connectors, such as
"the," "into," "and," "a," "to," and similar words, should not be stressed within a phrase. If you speak the other way
around it sounds very funny.
Don't place connecting words on strong beats of the music. This causes them to become stressed, and sound awkward.
Instead place the words with meaning on strong beats. These will be your nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
Good Example: "The sun was soothing on my back"
Bad Example: "The sun was soothing on my back"
Similarly, don't mis-accent words with multiple syllables by placing unstressed syllables on strong beats of the measure.
Example:
The word, "Actually," phonetically sounds like this "AC-tu-AL-ly," not like this "ac-TU-al-LY," If the unstressed syllables
are placed on strong beats they will sound awkward. A quick fix for this is to simply shift the placement of the awkward
sounding melody note so that it is not on a strong beat.
Checking for mis-accented words and syllables can be a little tedious, and sometimes hard to hear at first. However, when
you fix one or two of these and hear how much clearer your lyrics sound as a result, you will be really glad that you learned
this technique.

MELODY
10. Pitch from section to
section

11. Starting and Ending Pitches of

Lines

Most common application: sing your chorus higher

than the verses.

Vary the starting and ending pitches of your lines within a section.

However, it can also work singing you chorus lower

than the verses. What you usually don't want to do
though is to have the melodies of both the verse and
chorus in the same pitch areas.

If every line within a song section has the same starting and ending
pitches, your melody will usually sound very dull. You might not want
to start and end each line on a completely different pitch. The melody
could start to sound a little too random. Some repetition is usually
helpful, as it helps to create a pattern. But the most common mistake
is too much repetition of the same starting and ending pitches.

But what if your song utilizes verses, a prechorus, a

chorus, and a bridge? To make each section stand
on its own so that the song does not sound
monotonous, ideally you would want to vary the pitch
range from section to section, and give each section
its own unique range.
For a verse-prechorus-chorus song structure, a very
effective way to implement this is to use a lower
range for the verse, a medium range for the
prechorus, that builds up to a higher range for the
chorus.

12. Rhythm of Melodies

There are many different possible note lengths within a melody, but
these can be simplistically categorized into long notes versus short
notes, or notes that last a while versus notes that go by very quickly. If
one section of your song utilizes faster rhythms, try holding out notes
in the next section for variety. This is a common technique between a
verse and a chorus, where the verse uses faster, more conversational
rhythms, and the chorus holds out notes to emphasize the hook of the
song, which is often only a few syllables long.

13. Phrase Starting Points

Starting your melody on a different beat of the measure from section to section is a very helpful technique . If you are
writing a song with a verse, prechorus, and chorus, for example, you could try the following:
Start your verse melody on beat two or three of the first measure of that section
Start your prechorus before the first beat, so that it seems to lead into the section.
Have your chorus start strongly right on the first beat of that section.
Varying the starting points of your song section melodies will instantly make your song sound more interesting.
Note: these are just a few of the many techniques that can be used to create great melodies. In my book Melody
Madness, available at www.SongwritingPlanet.com, I cover in great detail more than 50 different melodic
development techniques to help you create awesome melodies.

CHORDS
14. Using Chords from the Key
What key is your song written in? When you need more chords, first look to the chords in the key that you have
not used yet.
It is always an option to either
a) mix in chords from outside of the key, or
b) add a 7th, 9th, sus4, and other notes to your chords.
But it is usually a good idea to first check what chords you have not tried yet from the key that you are in,
before trying chords from outside of the key, or modifying chords from within the key. This is due to the fact
that when your melody and chords are both coming from the same scale/key, they will fit each other very
easily. Chords from outside of the key can be a bit more challenging to work with, and often require more
advanced knowledge of chord-melody relationships.
Note: A free chord chart has been provided that lists all of the basic chords in every key at
www.SongwritingPlanet.com. Just log in to your free account to download it.

15. Durations of Chords

To add variety to your chord progressions, try changing how
long the chords last.
Here are some options:
Chords that last two measures each
Chords that last one measure each
Chords that last a half measures each
Asymmetrical combinations in which one chord lasts for
three measure and then two chords go by quickly in the
fourth measure.

16. Vary Chords from Section to

Section
Certain styles of music may utilize as little as one chord
for most of the song. However, in typical verse-chorus
songs it is often helpful to vary the chord progressions
between the song sections, and use a different chord
progression for the verse, chorus, bridge, prechorus, or
any other section type.
Combining Using Chords from the Key and Durations of
Chords in different ways will supply literally thousands of
different chord progressions for your song sections.

SONG
STRUCTURE
17. Resetting the
Phrasing in Different
Sections
Symmetrical number of measures in song
sections, eight measures each, for
instance, is very common, and often this
works perfectly with a verse and a chorus.
However, adding or deleting a measure
from the verse can sometimes help the
melody of the chorus to enter on an
unexpected beat, which often can add an
interesting melodic transition, in addition
to removing monotonous phrasing. This
technique can help to reset the phrasing of
the melody.
Example:
If you use a seven measure verse, the
melody of the next section will now enter
earlier.
If you use a nine measure verse, the melody
of the next section will now enter later.
Sometimes this can fix the problem of a
verse and chorus starting on the same
exact beat of the section, and sounding
monotonous. And even if you only add or
remove measures of chords, keeping the
melody where it was, resetting the phrasing
by adding or deleting a measure of music
can similarly add an interesting transition
between sections, and keep the music
moving ahead.

18. Verses Develop The Song

Concept

20. Prechorus is a Build or a

Transitional Section

Each verse ideally should be about a different sub-topic

that develops the main concept of the song. It is a
common mistake to have each verse discuss the same
thing in a different way.

Use a prechorus as a short build or transition between a

verse and a chorus. An effective prechorus will commonly
have these three characteristics: shorter length, lyric
transition, and a musical transition or build.

19. Verses Use the Same Melody

It is usually a good idea to keep your melody exactly the
same from verse to verse. This sets up a pattern that
listeners can recognize musically, that will enhance their
ability to follow and enjoy the changing lyrics. If you vary
your melody from verse to verse you could lose the
listener's attention.
If you want to vary a melody, vary it significantly, and use it
for another section type, such as a bridge.

Shorter Length: When a verse and chorus are both eight

measures long, for example, a prechorus in between
often works best if it is only three, four, or five measures.
If it becomes too long, it usually will not really function as
a prechorus any more.
Lyric Transition: Use a prechorus when the meaning is not
clear between the verse and chorus lyrics, and the
connection between the sections needs to be explained.
Musical Transition: Use a prechorus when musical
transitions or builds are needed between a verse and a
chorus.

Prechoruses are especially effective when used as a climb in

pitch to the chorus, if the chorus melody is a lot higher in pitch
than the verse melody. But they can also be useful to break up
the verse and chorus with contrasting melodies.
Keep in mind that you do not always need a prechorus. It is
best used for the reasons above.

21. Bridge is a Contrasting Section

A bridge is a contrasting musical section that usually occurs
after the a verse and chorus have been repeated twice, about
half way through the song. The reason why you would want a
bridge here is because once your repeat anything twice, the
pattern has been recognized by the listener, and the third
repeat will commonly cause the listener to subconsciously
stop paying attention. If you bring in something new here, the
listener will continue to pay attention, and then if you bring
back a verse or chorus it will be familiar, but sound fresh rather
than monotonous.
The reason why you would want a bridge at all (you could easily
put in a guitar or piano solo to break up the repetition) is
twofold.
A bridge works if you need a contrasting lyrical perspective,
often a character's point of view that had not been expressed
in the song yet.
A bridge works if you need contrasting music. Sometimes an
interesting new melody and chord progression, which uses
pitches, rhythms, and chords that have not been used yet, can
create a perfectly fascinating new section to add variety to the
repetition of the verses and choruses.

BONUS SECTION
The 6 Characteristics of a Hit Chorus

A chorus literally means a group of people singing together. The chorus section of your song is the part that everyone sings along
with and can easily remember. To make your chorus stand out and allow large groups of listeners to more readily sing along,
follow these general guidelines. Note: You do not need to use all of these common characteristics, but if you do not use any, it
will be very difficult to create a catchy chorus.
Hook : place the hook, or title, in the chorus.
Repetition : use repetition and repeat the hook or title at least two times in the chorus.
Space : There is often more space between the phrases in a chorus than there are in the verse.
Simplicity : use simple phrases that are not overly wordy which summarize the verses: simple, to the point, and easy to sing
along with.
Higher Pitch : the chorus is often set at a higher pitch level than the verses.
Long Notes : the chorus is often a good place for holding out notes longer.
Note: these are just a 21 of over 347 Awesome Songwriting Techniques explained step-by-step in our songwriting video courses
at www.SongwritingPlanet.com.
Thanks for sharing your passion for songwriting!
Kevin Thomas
2014 Songwriting Planet