How To Write Song Lyrics: Number of Lines
I got a question from one of the SongChops Members asking how to write song lyrics, and the number of lines in a verse, chorus and bridge in particular. What a great question – and one I realize I’ve never actually covered! So, how many lines should you...Finding Inspiration Around You
Finding Inspiration is a hard thing to come by sometimes. To help inspire you, try some unconventional sources – your photos, a dictionary or some online image searches! STEP 1: Pick up a dictionary or thesaurus (or head online). Randomly choose a word, or a...Song Sketching Exercise Using Story Arcs
If you’ve ever been in a high school English class, you’ve studied how drama is created in a play, a novel or short story. So you knows the “story arcs” that can occur and the sequence of how drama unfolds. You know, the introduction of...Song Sketching: Tell Stories Like A Movie
Song Sketching is very similar to object writing, and is the next step in the process to craft your song. Unlike object writing, which focuses intensely on a single object and allows for associations to occur, song sketching has a big picture goal: create a vehicle to...Poetry As Lyrics: Using Anaphora
We’ve all heard it: poetry as lyrics just doesn’t work. But, as your songwriting skills grow, and you begin using figurative language like similes, metaphors, anaphora and imagery, you’ll naturally begin writing more poetically. After all, if...Change Perspective But Keep Your Point Of View
Perspective isn’t a common songwriting topic. Most songwriting conversations revolve around Point of View (POV), but there’s more to creating a unique song idea and story than just the main speaker’s point of view. Perspective is something you can...Texture In A Song: What Is It?
Texture is what helps tie your lyrics to an emotional connection for the listener. Texture is the particulars that give your scene something more than simple visuals. It delivers on something that pulls your listener in and helps them identify with the song. In its...Songs Using Allusion: Joel To Swift
While it’s one thing to know what an allusion is, applying it to your songwriting is easier to grasp if you can study songs using allusion well. By understanding how songs use allusion to add to the basic song idea, you can bring the tool into your own...Allusion: What Is It?
You probably see or hear an allusion in use a couple of times a day, but do you use it in your songwriting? Have you had a moment when you’re hanging out with friends, and to jokingly give you a hard time, one of your friends references something indirectly you...Can A Three Character Song Work?
A three character song doesn’t work. We’ve all heard it, and if you haven’t, you will. In song feedback sessions you’ll often hear that you should keep your songs to one or two characters. A three character song is too confusing. And, usually...Song Outline: Church’s “Kill A Word”
To help learn more about what is one of the biggest challenges in writing a song – story line or thought progression – we’ll take a look at a song outline using the song outline worksheet. This week we’ll outline “Kill A Word”...What’s A Simile In Songwriting?
A simile is a type of “figurative language” used in creating imagery. Wait . . . figurative language and imagery aren’t the same thing? So what is imagery? Put simply, imagery is the representation of one thing by another thing using vivid, or...Point Of View (POV) Switch Exercise
One of the easiest ways to increase your understanding of point of view (POV) is to take a song you’ve completed and work through each of the POV alternatives. Changing up your point of view will help you see how the song’s message can shift simply by...Lyric Basics: What’s a Metaphor?
A metaphor is a type of “figurative language” used in imagery. It’s best used to make a connection between things your listener can easily identify with quickly. The first thing in the comparison adds context and meaning to the second thing for the...No More $900 For Pitchable Demos!
FREE Song Demo “Quick Class”
FOLLOW MY BAND ON SPOTIFY
Get Gig DatesFREE Social Media Class!
My Song Pitch Demos
Named a Top Songwriting Site!
Thank You!
We've been named a top songwriting site three years in a row thanks to you!
YOU'RE PROTECTED
Our Privacy Policy
We've been named a top songwriting site three years in a row thanks to you!
YOU'RE PROTECTED
Our Privacy Policy