I recently got a message from one of the songwriters in our membership Community, Leigh Ann, who expressed a very common frustration:
“I create melodies but get stuck with putting lyrics to them – or visa versa.”
I get it. Finding the right words to a pre-written melody can feel awkward, and often feels like we end up with lyrics that aren’t quite expressing a thought as eloquently as we’d like.
Let’s unstick this.
A Quick Story…
In my early days as a songwriter, I was very lyric-driven. I would write a ton of lyrics, and once they had a loose form, I would start playing around with melodies. It simply didn’t make sense to me to start with a melody, before I had an idea of what the song was about.
I remember sharing this with another songwriter friend of mine – someone I really admired as a songwriter, and she looked at me, frankly, like I was an alien. She said, “Oh wow! I always start with the melody! I wouldn’t know what the song was about unless I had the melody there from the start!”
I love sharing this story: It goes to show there is no ‘right’ way. If you are struggling with lyrics or melody, you’re not doing it wrong – this is just songwriting!
Making Lyrics and Melody Dance
With that said, there are absolutely methods and techniques for making this marriage of lyrics and melody less tortured and awkward.
In the most recent video on our channel, I demonstrate a 2-step method specifically addressing the challenge of finding the right words, when you already have a specific melody in action.
I explain the core problem: that both lyrics and melody have a rhythmic pattern to them, and trouble stirs when their rhythms aren’t in sync.
We then workshop how to write an abundance of lyric ideas, and how to use them inside the rhythmic structure of the melody you have.
Watch the video right here:
And if you are a songwriter who hasn’t yet fully finished your first song, come and join us at a special Workshop coming up, just for you:
It’s for you if you:
- Struggle with lyrics (and feel like anything you write isn’t “good enough”)
- Can’t find the right words to fit a melody
- Wrestle with creating or structuring melodies
Other ways to write better songs with us:
- Simply want to write more? ▶️ Join an 8-week Songwriting Sprint.
- Want feedback, community, and resources? ▶️ Join our membership Community.
- Want topic-specific info? ▶️ Check out the free Resource Library
