Common Lyric Problems and How to Solve Them

For many songwriters, it’s the lyrics that are the toughest to write. A lot of the difficulty comes from not having a clear understanding of the nature of lyrics. And that nature changes from song to song: Some lyrics rhyme, some don’t. Some lyrics are comprised of sentences, others seem to be more fragments of […]

Songwriting, pen, music, lyrics

Adding Lyrics to Music: Solving Rhythm and Timing Problems

For those of you who find setting lyrics to be the easy part, you can more or less ignore this post and go on with your regularly scheduled life. But if you find the whole issue of setting lyrics to music — especially with regard to rhythm and timing — to be one of the trickiest parts […]

Gregorian Chant - Rock Music

How Gregorian Chant Reminds Us Of a Vital Principle for Setting Lyrics

A number of years ago I wrote a blog article called “Pop Songs: What Checking the Fossil Record Can Do For Us“. In that post, I made a comparison between how Gregorian Chant (the music of the early Christian church of about A.D. 500) bore certain similarities to the way melodies are written today. You may […]

What Songwriters Say About Writing Lyrics

Stuck for words? Here’s what the pros have had to say about how they write lyrics. ______________  Looking for good songwriting content for your iPad, Kindle, laptop, desktop, or other PDF-reading device? Gary Ewer’s eBook Bundle, “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, will show you why good songs are good, and how to apply those lessons […]

Creating Song Lyrics With a Double Meaning

Creating double meaning lyrics usually means finding a first, superficial topic, and then a deeper, more profound one to partner with it. ____________ What do you use your iPad for? Why not let it help you improve your songwriting skills? Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. For desktop, laptop, iPad, iPhone, or any other mobile […]

Creating Song Lyrics That Make a Powerful Connection to Your Audience

At a minimum, a song lyric is working if it connects to the listener on an emotional level. Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 10-eBook Bundle, and increase your song’s HIT potential. Every song communicates something to an audience, and not everyone will necessarily pick up the same message. For example, you may hear a song where the lyric is all about […]