Turning Lyrics Into Melody

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There are many ways to start the songwriting process, and you’ll find that whichever element of the song you start with — chord progression, melody, lyric, etc. — is the one that will often be its most important and engaging component. Songs that you start by working out the lyric first will often highlight the lyric as its most appealing part.

If you’ve got a lyric, creating a melody for it and adding chords to that melody requires you to become as familiar with the many ways to say your lyric as a first step.

Check out the following set of steps for turning a song lyric into a melody:

1. Be sure you’ve got the lyric right. Good lyrics should “flow off the tongue”, using common, everyday words. Speak your lyric over and over; it should be easy to read, and should sound like someone could say those words naturally.
2. Find the natural pulse and rhythm. There’s a natural rhythm in how we say English words. Some syllables are naturally longer than others. For example, say the word “open” several times, and notice that the “o” syllable can be elongated considerably. But elongating the “-pen” syllable sounds forced and unnatural. So speak your lyric, and become familiar with every word’s natural pulse.
3. Find the natural pitch. English isn’t a tonal language, but it is certainly a language that makes use of higher and lower sounds. Using the word “open” again, notice that the “o” syllable is spoken at a higher pitch than the “-pen” syllable. But try to say the “o” syllable lower in pitch and it sounds unnatural and forced. You’re starting to find the melodic component of your lyric.
4. Speak your lyric melodramatically. Say each line, allowing your voice to move up and down in an almost exaggerated way. You’re not ultimately going to sing it this way, of course, but it will help you identify the basic direction of the inherent melody.

Now to create the melody. Here are some tips that can guide you:

1. If you’ve identified that part of your lyric is the chorus, you may want to start there. Getting a good chorus melody can help make the rest of the song a bit easier.
2. Try playing a few chords over and over, and speak the first line of your lyric, allowing your voice to move up and down as the natural pitch dictates.
3. Don’t get locked into those few chords. At some point, early on, you need to expand your musical landscape by building longer progressions (especially for the verse), and create a more interesting melody.
4. Turn the ups and downs of your reading into actual pitches. Remember that repetition of melodic cells (short 3- or 4-note ideas) is common in melody-writing, so try the same short melodic ideas using different lines of lyric.
5. Remember that memorable melodies have a good deal of contour — an engaging shape — that helps them to be easily remembered.
6. The toughest part is starting your melody. Once the initial melodic ideas start to come together, you’ll find that other bits of melody become easier.

When you’re done, sing your melody to yourself, and be sure that every word is placed in such a way that its natural pitch, rhythm and pulse are honoured.

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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

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