How To Write Lyrics from Poetry

Ever wondered how musicians can seem to write hit after hit with ease and how genius lyricism flows out of them?

Well there are a few tricks you can use to improve your lyric writing skills to create the songs you can be proud of.

First of all you have to discover what type of song writer you are. Look back on a piece you're proud of and ask yourself how it came to you.

Did the melody come first or the lyrics? Once you know what is easier for you, this can become your 'process' of writing.

As an artist you will gradually evolve and pick up more skills along the way and become more well rounded, but if you're just starting out stick to one method which does not impeed, but helps your creativity.

As long as the final product is good, your method can be any, as long as you feel comfortable with it.v

Step by Step

Pick your genre. Either country, jazz, hip hop, rock, reggae deicde upon what kind of sound you’ll be writing for.

Write a poem. Learn to write a poem and writing lyrics for a song will become easier. If you know the genre beforehand, you can consider your subject more easily, if it’s about romance, social issues or a story.

Choose your chorus. Read your poem and put it in lyrics form. Use a line that you think would make for a good ‘hook’ and use this as the chorus.

Decide on your Lyrical Breaks. Look the lyrics over and decide the breaks you want the song to have.

Read your poem out loud and notice when you

pause to breathe, these are usually good indicators. Explore how many choruses would fit, (1 or 4) and put it in.

Explore lyric structure. Learn song structure and what options you have. Including chrouses, bridges and what you can play with to create an original song from your poetry.

Tips

Put the lyrics to music by sitting down at a piano or guitar and exploring avenues to take your lyrics.

Try recoding the lyrics on a tape recorder and sing or rap them the way you envision.

Changing adding or subtracting words to fit the tempo of the music might be necessary, don’t worry about tweaking your lyrics, this can be an improvement.

Notes

•Not every poem will turn into great lyrics to be accompanied by music, some pieces are best left for what they are good for. Try again and grow and mature with your song writing.

•Explore poetry, listen and read about it and try and turn these words into songs. Practice this so you can get the hang of it first. Learning all you can about this art form could save you allot of time and frustration.

•Choose a genre of music you’re familiar and comfortable with so your song sounds ‘legit’ and if you want to explore either genres you can do this when you know you’re ready to explore other styles.

•First attempts at anything aren’t usually great, they are only the first steps to greatness so don’t be afraid to take them.

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