Taking Steps To Mastering Your Songwriting #3
Exploration is the joy of expression.
Welcome back to another songwriting tip n kick! I hope you have read the other two blogs so you can move on with me and develop your songwriting.
Last session, I introduced a new method of mine called W.A.V.E . A struggle I faced in songwriting was the lack of draft variations and a lack of deep exploration in my lyricism. So I wanted to capture my habits and moments whilst I write to see where I can dissect and overturn ‘surface-levelled’ lyrics into deep storytelling. Is this something similar to what you’re facing too?
A classic school method would be ‘show not tell’, forcing us to think in alternative ways to get our message/meaning across to the audience/listeners.
W- Witness
I notice that I loved to have an umbrella word or phrase to repeat throughout the choruses of my songs that sums up the topic and vibe. It does sound nice and can be catchy but I was after descriptive lyricism for listeners to dissect. So when I do catch myself in the rhythm of chorus repetition, I unpack that word/phrase’s feelings and implement the essence of ‘show not tell’. This helped me explore different meanings and metaphors that the listener would piece together as that one umbrella term. For example, on a chorus, I wanted to repeat an umbrella phrase like “no effort” but the way I would describe that phrase would be “met you by the shores, 50/50 but I call and you never respond”.
A- Ask
So why do I resort to a repetitive chorus? maybe it was the instrumental that restricted me or maybe I shy away from full choruses, in fear that they might be boring or overpacking. Im not sure still! I am also still discovering and dissecting my habits.
V- Vary & E- Expand
This is where experimentation comes in to play.
vocabulary has a big role in songwriting. A wider vocabulary allows you to covey more emotions and expands your descriptive writing. There are many ways to add to your vocab. The most efficient way (for me) is through reading books. Cliche I KNOWW but effective! Books are so creative in the way they describe settings and emotions, implementing the essence of ‘show not tell’. I always finish a book feeling inspired to write.
What helps my songwriting
When reading, there’s always a handful of vocabulary that was unknown to me, describing emotions and meanings that I already knew. I would note them down in my notes app with the word and description next to it, aiming to use them in my next conversations (when it aligns ofc). To create a dynamic melody, I hit two birds with one stone by using an unfamiliar word in my songwritings. Not only do I implement better vocab, I experiment with different flows in how I pronounce sentences and/or the word.
As much as books inform me of new vocabulary, they structure sentences in ways that are interesting and different from day-to-day speech. I highly recommend reading to strengthen your descriptive lyrics.
It’s a wrap 4 u babyy
From the next lesson onwards, I will be analysing a song that I wrote, using the W.A.V.E method. Hopefully, you could use this method as a template to strengthen your songwriting!
