Songwriter Exercise 7 - Songwriter Rhythm
Create Your Section's
Songwriter Rhythm
(Part 1)
[IMPORTANT:
The following songwriter exercise applies to one
(1) songwriting section at a time.]
Preparing your songwriting
section for lyrical delivery
Let's start with the
songwriting
section you've chosen to work on.
Rhythm is a very powerful part of your song.
Lyrical delivery is
singing or reciting your words at a pace that’s in sync with
your songwriting tempo and beat.
While a song's words are pretty important in
expressing a songwriter's target emotion, they're slightly less
important than lyrical delivery.
We - as the audience - only truly hear the words
to a song after we memorize how the words are sung.
So as a songwriter, you must deliver your lyrics
in a repeatable way to help your audience understand them.
[WARNING:
The following songwriter steps require a LOT of writing, so be
ready.]
"Step 1: Find your section’s line pattern (if one
exists)."
Look at your songwriting section for
a moment
(sample lyrics are the property of "LightBulb")
Notice you have
longer lines, some
shorter lines, and a few lines
in-between long and short.
"Step 2: Rewrite your section in syllable format. Split
your words into their syllables."
“Syllables” are the number (#) of
speech sounds a word has when you say it.
- Car
has 1 word sound (1 syllable).
- Party
has 2 syllables (par-ty).
- Exterminator
has 5 syllables (ex-ter-min-a-tor).
- The sentence, “John
went to the ex-ter-min-a-tor”,
has 9 syllables.
Rewrite your songwriting section into syllable
format, and then count the syllables in each line.
So on a scale from 1 – 10, which of your lines
would you consider long,
short, and
middle lengths?
So what's the blueprint of
your songwriting section?
The blueprint for my sample lyrics is:
...my section's pattern looks like it repeats
every 5 lines: long,
long, short,
short, middle...
It's best to clearly define your
songwriting section’s blueprint - if one exists - so you can
use it to create the best delivery.
Knowing that my pattern repeats every 5 lines I
can create a delivery for each of my first 5
lines...and then just repeat that model for my remaining
songwriting sections...creating my
rhythmic theme.
What if you can't find your
section's line blueprint?
Just make your own! Again, you’re the
songwriter; this is your song. For example:
If I was unable to find section line blueprint,
I could just rearrange my words until I create one I
like.
Could be rewritten as...
Final Word:
You have complete freedom to rewrite your song
however you choose...but it’s important to understand your
line pattern so you can add lyrical delivery and create your
songwriter rhythm.
Let's continue with
part 2 of songwriter rhythm.
Songwriter Exercises
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