Hi SDC RADIOWORKS,
Hit songwriter and songwriting coach Alex Forbes shares ways you can take your song dynamics to the next level! In this first installment, read how you can thrill your listeners in the first 60 seconds of your song.
The Spring 2022 Songwriting Contest is open for entries. Alex Forbes is judging multiple categories (Lyrics Only, Pop, Folk/Acoustics, Rock). Enter your songs and get her personalized feedback for your songs.
Be sure to check-out the Contest Entry discount codes at the end of this email. | | CREATING LYRICAL SONG DYNAMICS
An excerpt from Write Songs Right Now by hit songwriter and songwriting coach Alex Forbes CreativeSongwriter.com
It’s almost always the most dynamic, thrill-ride-type songs that become the most successful. Why? I think it’s because all of us, even listeners who’ve heard it all before, want to be moved emotionally, spiritually, and physically. We want to be transformed for the better, preferably in the next three minutes. And our bodies, minds, and hearts respond most strongly to well-crafted lead-ups and payoffs, dramatic highs and lows, and unexpected twists and turns.
Sure, a little bit of predictability is fine—in fact, it’s rather comforting—but to be truly effective, a great song has to deliver some real punch, too. So if you want to create killer singles rather than album cuts, consciously strive to keep your listeners’ blood pumping. A skilled lyricist has available all of the tools we’ve discussed to magnify a song’s dynamic peaks and valleys. The three-minute radio-ready single is where all of these elements need to pull together to deliver the goods.
For the sake of brevity, let’s assume you’re writing in the classic Verse/Chorus form. Many of these guidelines apply equally to AAA and AABA songs as well, but by definition both of those simpler forms lack the sustained adrenaline rush that a full Chorus provides. And the vast majority of the new songs making a splash today are written in the Verse/Chorus form.
THE FIRST 60 SECONDS OF THE RIDE, LYRICALLY SPEAKING
Starting with the first few lines of Verse 1, your purpose is to “suck ‘em in” and begin to “build ‘em up.” This is like the part of the roller coaster ride where you pull away from the platform, then start inching up the first steep incline. In your song, this is where you set the scene, quickly establishing a bit of the Who, What, When, Where, and Why Should We Care. How can you make your listeners sit up, fasten their seat belts, and hold onto their hats? Make sure all of the following elements come together to create magic:
- The speaker/listener relationship. Clearly define who’s speaking to whom. Am “I” addressing “you,” are “we” addressing a larger “you,” or is the singer speaking in the third person about “them”? Are the characters in the song in a romantic situation, a friendship, a family, or some other type of relationship, or is the speaker having an internal conversation? Make the strongest possible choice to suit your original spark of inspiration. Also, let us know right off the bat what’s in it for us, as listeners.
- The tone and mood. Is your song’s tone formal, slangy, conversational, arty? Is the mood you’re evoking edgy, soothing, romantic, rowdy...or something else entirely? Again, don’t hold back! Wimpy is much less likely to hold anyone’s attention than bold, so take some risks.
- Reveal who YOU are. This is often the most challenging aspect of songwriting—it requires that you actually delve beneath all clichés, all of your fondest influences, in fact, the rest of the known world, and “show us some leg.” The best song lays its writer’s butt on the line, proudly and unreservedly. Are you willing to do the same?
- The song’s architecture. Is it a story song, a “laundry list” song, a novelty song, a “state of being” song? Is there a clear arc of tension and release written into the DNA of your lyric? Do your first few lines establish your song’s essential nature? Does each successive line add momentum, deepen listeners’ curiosity, and then reward them with insights and other goodies?
- Your use of literary devices. Have you used repetition, imagery, alliteration, metaphor, wordplay, symbols, humor and more to enhance and amplify your meaning? A great lyric doesn’t just plod along; it makes your case in the most colorful, exciting way, like a star defense lawyer presenting an opening statement to the jury. Force us to see it, feel it, taste it, touch it—you know the drill.
- Rhythm, rhyme and meter. Have you made the most of the rhythms and sounds inherent in our great language, using vowels and consonants, heavy accents and metric patterns to enhance your meaning? Experiment with a variety of line lengths to force your melodies into unpredictable shapes. Tend towards rhyme schemes that are not “aabb” or “abcb,” intentionally tossing in lines that don’t rhyme at all, or that rhyme within the line instead of just at the end. Avoid those same-old-same-old boxy patterns that we’ve all heard way too many times. Form-wise, you’ll generally start off with a single Verse, an A-Verse followed by a B-Verse, or a Verse followed by a Pre-Chorus. No matter which structure you choose, less than a minute into your song, listeners should know where the singer stands, what’s going on, and why this song matters. Keep it lean and meaningful, editing out any excess verbiage.
(To be Continued...) Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article later this week!
Read more about the Alex and all of this year's contest judges here |
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