LYRICS: Write a Strong Opening Line

“I have trouble coming up with the first line of a song. I try not to write something obvious and cliche  but I can’t seem to figure out how to start.”

Five Ways to write a strong opening line

A strong opening line for your song is essential – it may make the difference between keeping a listener tuned in  or losing them. You’re right about not wanting to be vague! Here are a few ideas…

1)  Use a line from later in the song

After you have a first draft of your song, check to see whether your second verse is stronger than your first. This can happen as you get deeper into the song and know more about what you want to say. Try opening with your second verse then replace it with a new one or use your original first verse there.

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Do Your Songs All Sound the Same?

by Robin Frederick

Q & A

Q: I have one big problem and I’m wondering if you can help.  I have written over 160 songs. My words, melody, and my voice all seem to sound the same.  What am I doing wrong?

A: If you have a “signature sound”—your songs have a recognizable style and sound—there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. To my ears, many of Jackson Browne’s songs sound very similar in terms of music and vocals, and he’s certainly successful. He relies on powerful lyrics to tell unique stories filled with emotion and character. Vocals and music are secondary, while the lyrics hold the listener’s attention.

So, the real question is, do listeners respond to your songs and your sound the way you want them to? If you feel you’re not reaching them, then it’s a matter of upping your skills in one or more areas to make your songs more original. 

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How Is a Lyric Like a Movie Script?

Desmond Child, producer and hit songwriter

Desmond Child, hit songwriter and music producer, put it this way: “The lyric is the script, and you can’t shoot a movie without a script. The score is actually the last part that comes into a movie, in the same way that the music on a record should help bring out the meaning of the lyrics.”

I love Desmond Child’s comparison of a lyric to a movie script. While music truly does have the power to move us emotionally, it’s the lyric that draws us into the song, paints a picture in the mind, makes us identify with the singer or with the people in a situation.

Not the same old story

Like a good movie script, a song has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And a lyric, like a movie script, tells more than just the facts of a story—I met you on Monday, we fell in love on Tuesday; broke up on Wednesday, etc. This doesn’t really work well for today’s listeners – and it’s not enough for movie-goers either.

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Write Your Song in a Genre

Most of the time when you start writing a song, you’re thinking about what you’re feeling and what you want to say. Good! That’s the best way to approach your songwriting. But it’s also a good idea to keep a little corner of your brain focused on the song genre you want to aim for. Knowing your song’s genre right from the start, will make it much easier to find an audience for it down the road, and possibly a music publisher or record label.

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How to Write a Song If You Don’t Play an Instrument

If you want to write songs but you can’t play piano or guitar, don’t let that stop you. There are plenty of online resources and useful tools for creating tracks to write to or accompany your existing melody and lyrics.  Even if you’re a musician, it’s fun to use some of these songwriting tools to break out of old habits and get inspired.

1. WEB SITES

Here are some online music creation web sites you can use to create accompaniment for your melody and lyrics or provide a music track to write to. I like to write to a guitar or drum groove to get a feel for the energy of the song I’m writing.  It puts me in the mood. Or you can create a track to fit what you’ve already written.

Splice.com – If you’ve got a computer, tablet, or smartphone with a music app you can create current-sounding music tracks with Splice. For a low monthly fee you can download loops, beats, and samples and play with them in any music app, or use their online Beatmaker to create loops to sing to. Just record your voice while the Beatmaker plays.

Loopcloud.com – This website is somewhat similar to Splice. Loopcloud provides royalty-free lookps, samples, and beats. It also has a good array of plugins and effects to play with. Try out a few loops, get inspired, play creatively and see what you end up with. You can get a monthly subscription for under $10.t

2. PRE-RECORDED SONG TRACKS

You can buy pre-recorded song tracks from DrumsOnDemand.com. These are laid out in Verse/Chorus form and are available in a range of music styles. Most are fully produced with drums, bass, guitar, etc. There are some limitations on uses so read the FAQ sections.

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