Co-writing can be a truly freeing experience. In a good co-writing relationship, we can expect to come upon ideas together we wouldn’t have normally thought of on our own, broaden our lyrical and musical scopes, finish songs faster much less finish them at all, and just plain have a good time. Even co-writing relationships that last only a short time have monumental benefits for each writer. It’s not unusual for two writers to come together and without a previous meeting Continue
Songwriting thought of the Day
Uneven Lyric Length
Have you thought about your lyric phrase lengths? The Golden rule- Keep things EVEN. Ninety percent of mainstream commercial pop music is written with four beats to each bar (4/4) time, meaning the music is divisible by 4. This needs to be considered when writing commercial pop lyrics. If you write consistent song sections-verses, chorus, bridges, etc, that are grouped into 4 or 8 lines, you are on the right track. If you write lyrics with sections containing odd phrase lengths, e.g., 3 lines, 5 lines, 7 lines, or phrases with notable uneven syllable lengths, etc, they will not work well rhythmically, and will almost always be overlooked by composers looking for lyrics. Here is a great article on this very subject >>
