A
Guide to Writing Lyrics - Page Three
6.
Yeah, but I'm a guitarist. When you're flashing
up and down scales or bashing out a few power
chords you're writing sounds into the air. Being
a guitarist doesn't mean that you can't write
songs. Of course, if you're the kind of guitarist
who's working out songs on the acoustic then you've
probably realised that the guitar is about more
than just showy sound. That said, the guitar is
an instrument like the human voice, and it can
verbalise your music for you. I am a fan of all
kinds of wild guitar playing, and I believe that
the technical expertise of modern guitarists is
taking us to a mind-body-guitar connection that
in the future will lead to a whole new generation
of more 'human-integrated' instruments. Advanced
guitar playing is finding its own lyric, and words
will come more into play in relation to this music
rather than just as some textual after-thought.
Writing words for the guitar is different; you
can't really ever get away from that troubadour
feel. Most of us know that many popular songs
are written within simple, predictable chord sequences;
what is fascinating is the diversity of melody
and lyric that can come from this limitation.
The human voice plays no small part in this; as
does the inventiveness of the songwriter. When
I write for guitar I enjoy using unusual chord
shapes, particularly those with lots of open strings
happening! You must experiment with your playing
as much as your lyrics to open up new avenues.
7. And finally! The best
way in which to improve your lyric writing is
to listen to as many different kinds of music
as you can and hear how these pieces have been
put together. Write down your ideas and thoughts
whenever you have them, in a notebook near at
hand that you will not lose! If you have the chords
for a song worked out but no words, run through
as many melodic variations as possible, trying
out dummy lyrics or nonsense words as verbal experiment.
Check whether you can sing in the key of the music
you're writing! Have the confidence to write down
any words to bring to the surface the words you
are searching for. It's a process of patience
and faith. Happy lyric writing!
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©
John Brewster 2004
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