How to Write a Melody From Lyrics
Sometimes a phrase or line or idea comes out of our writing practice or sticks out at us from something we read, a billboard, a line on the radio, something that pops into our head for no reason...and turns into the seed for a set of lyrics. Great! But what happens when we've written lyrics and we have no music? How do we set about writing a great melody for those lyrics?
Most of us might start improvising some melodic ideas, and that can produce good results. But what else can we do? What if we don't like the results we're getting that way?
Actually, there IS more we can do. The words are not just carrying meaning. They are also carrying rhythm, accents, and even a kind of pitch contour. We can use all of this information in writing melodies.
When you speak a line naturally, some syllables land more heavily than others. Those stressed syllables can map to particular pitch and rhythm decisions when it comes to melody.
That is useful for two reasons. First, it helps communication. If your musical accents fight the natural accents of the words too aggressively, the lyric becomes harder to understand. Second, it gives you a starting shape, so you are not creating a melody completely blind.
In normal speech, the most important word is often given a little more time and often a slightly higher pitch. In melody writing, that gives you a practical lever: lengthen the note, lift the pitch, or both. To see this and apply it in your own writing, check out the video.
What makes this approach powerful is that it is flexible. You can amplify the speech shape and let the melody mirror the line more closely. Or you can deliberately do the opposite. The point is not that speech dictates the melody, but that it gives you start points to work with.
That is why this method is so helpful when you feel stuck. Instead of waiting for inspiration, you can start with the accents already inside the lyric, shape a contour from them, and then vary, invert, expand, or transform that contour
If you want more help getting unstuck in your writing process, download free eguide 10 Creative Techniques To Start Writing Songs Faster