Writing Music That Fits Lyrics

[ShimoHkun1]

So I have a slight issue:

 

I am (if I do say so myself) an excellent poet and lyricist, with no limit to my writings. My problem is that I write a considerable amount of lyrics with no music attached and I am in a slump when it comes to attaching music to them. So, does anyone have any advice as to how I should go about writing the music. The genre I would like to sit in is in the spectrum of Rock-Metal, however I am open to any ideas.

 

Thanks a ton!

[Captain Murphy ☆]

why don't you just write to the music?

[ShimoHkun1]

I do, but I have lyrics without music, which is my issue.

[Hippocampus]

I'm no professional songwriter by any means, but I've written music to standalone lyrics that my friends have given to me before, so I may as well throw in my two cents here.

First of all, you should probably analyze the flow of your lyrics. Read them aloud to yourself. Does your voice fluctuate at different points? What syllables do you stress? Does it have an even meter, an odd meter, or did you make the mistake of writing in free verse?* Can you group your lines into couplets or stanzas? All of these things should be considered when adapting lyrics to music.

The next thing would be to determine what kind of vocals and vocal delivery you're going for. Are the lyrics going to be sung in a high range or a low range? Based on how you read your lyrics aloud, you can experiment with setting words to relative pitches to create a melody. I know screamo or rap are always options, and unfortunately this step doesn't apply if you choose to utilize either of those. But they do tie into my next step.

After figuring out how to sing or "vocalize" your words, you can try to think about the kind of sound you want the song to convey. When you hear the lyrics being delivered in your head, do you hear any other instruments playing alongside? Is there certain imagery in your lyrics that can be best invoked by a particular sound or instrument? Do you hear multiple voices providing backups or harmonies, or just a sole lead vocalist? Are the vocals the forefront of the song, or should the music have equal weight? Rock is a cool umbrella genre in that you can really incorporate any kind of sound you want because there are so many different kinds of rock music. But I'm sure you knew that already lol

After determining your sound, now it's finally time to write the music. Pick a key and chord progression(s) that best fits your desired vocal range, and layer in the other instruments you thought of above.

At least, this is how I would go about it.


Other times, it can be as easy as just taking a totally unrelated instrumental musical idea you had in the past and fitting the lyrics over top of it. It may not be as desirable, but it could lead to something you really like in the end.


*Btw there's nothing wrong with writing in free verse. It's just a lot more difficult to write music when you don't have an established meter - but that doesn't mean it can't be done ;)

[ShimoHkun1]

Thanks dude, I'll try out your method and see what I come up with.