Ok,so I'm really awesome at the keyboard but i can't figure how to put lyrics in music.I feel like I'm the only musician who can't do this.Man,I need some help.Whats are some simple ways to start out?And what are some not so simple ways?Anything will do,I'm going crazy here!It seems like it's so much harder to write a song on keyboard than on guitar.I feel like I'll never be able to do this!Please,anyone,help me!

Adding lyrics to music is a little more challenging than the other way around. Most of the time, if I've got music and want to throw lyrics over it, it's no different than the usual task of writing lyrics without the music.

With few exceptions. Sometimes, the lyrics just fall out of your head because the music and words work so tightly together - either because of the vibe of your music, or that you're already working on a theme with the music - anger, love, passion, frustration, etc.

The basics to solid lyrics: (from Jimmy Webb's book Tunesmith)
Write the theme in big letters on the top of a blank page. Then write one sentence that tells the entire basis of the song. Before you've written one line of lyrics. You want the theme and the core idea of your song. If you don't have these things, your lyric process will be frustrating and limited at best.

Next, write out some thoughts/ideas/phrases that would work in your song. This is where you start to come up with some lines that might appear in your final lyrics... don't worry about rhymes, meter, storytelling, etc, you're just freestyling right now. These parts will become the roots of your final lyrics, from which you'll add more lyrics around them.

If your song is a story, try to break the story into 4 parts so you'll have a topic for each verse, including a bridge. If your song is a non-story, (like Brick House, which just sings about how awesome that ass izzz) it's a little harder because each verse is just another example to re-enforce your basic theme... the challenge here is to make each verse better than the last one, so that the last verse is the best one, most memorable. So, just, go over your freestyles lines and try to arrange them in a level of best to good-enough.

Lastly, start to write your lyrics. With all the preparation you've done before you actually start to churn out the lyrics, hopefully you won't have such a hard time on the second and third verses (the second verse is always the hardest - it's not the setup, it's not the deal-closer - it's just the transition...) Lay out those great phrases that you came up with, and then write additional rhymes to match THOSE lines. (instead of writing linearly, where you'll come up with a great phrase but then beat your head against a wall trying to complete the sentence with a rhyme, if that makes sense).

And lastly, when you win that grammy, my name is BEAU Hall. I expect to hear it in your speech.

busterbrown said:

IM a lyricist, not a good one though, really but i can try, i can help u out.

missmad said:

I allow the music to saturate not only into my mind but my emotions and what ever I feel from the music usually the words follow from those feelings. But if you give me a topic, I can write lyrics to that as well.

I just think of something that really pisses me off, basically.

Trish said:

im more of a poet than a lyricist i think. agreed!!!!! I can try, lol.
[Edited 3/24/06 14:33pm]

Sometimes the mood of the music dictates the theme. Allow the music to soak into u and see what happens. Be vulnerable to your own feelings. Don't be afraid to feel and let the world know what u are feeling. The fear of letting someone else look inside of your heart, mind, and soul is what hold most writers back from writing lyrics. In my early days of songwriting, this was my problem. After a few hundred songs u will get over it. Maturity will help in this area. Are u embarrassed to cry in public? If the answer is yes, u need to get over yourself and not worry about what people think. Who cares. Bare your soul and be proud of it.

talmuzic said:

I feel you Talmuzic! As you see the purple one himself writes from within, his thoughts on issues, political, religious, personal, and sometime it just too deep to know where he's coming from, but still its all him. All one can do when listening to his music is relax, relate and release yourself.
[Edited 3/25/06 4:30am]
[Edited 3/25/06 4:33am]