Originally Posted By: Noel96
Originally Posted By: rockstar_not
To those who say they prefer to avoid quantity and focus on quality, you have made an error in thought process and that is that you think these two words are mutually exclusive. That is not the case. Ask any person involved in learning any instrument or sport. Practice, and lots of it, results in improvement. There are very few home run hitters who take just one pitch per day, hoping for a home run from that one pitch

Hi Scott.

I've been pondering your comments since I first read them a couple of days ago.

While there's some truth in what you say, I'm not sure that songwriting is as straightforward as you make it sound.

For example, if I define a "song" as melody + chords + arrangement, then I could comfortably write a song a day. However, if I define a "song" as melody + chords + arrangement + lyrics, I would be unable to consistently write songs on a daily basis.

Lyrics for me are my slow point.

I can create a first draft of complete lyrics usually within a hour. That draft, though, is just a starting place. I then use dictionaries, rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses to modify words and dress-up phrases so that I have: (a) the best prosody possible; (b) the best syllable strength alignment with a note's rhythmical stress; (c) the most sonorous linking of words through rhymes, inner rhymes, assonance and consonance; (d) the best possible metaphors, similes and connotations. This all takes time. And with every change that I make, I need to let the words rest for a day or two so that I can come back to them with fresh ears and hear how they fit together.

In this regard, lyrics are like mixing for me. Aural fatigue sets in after a couple of hours and it's difficult to appreciate how well or not the lyrics flow.

Right now, I've been working on a single line of lyrics for three days. While I've certainly had a few 'adequate' lines that more-or-less work in those days, they have not grabbed me. This morning, my brain finally put a phrase together that says everything I want to say and the words flow with elegance. For me, lyric writing is more like the fermenting of beer. There's no way to hurry the process. The best I can do is to mix everything together, give it a good stir and then wait for the magic to happen as my brain works through various permutations and possibilities.

Just my two cents worth!

Regards,
Noel


Noel you implied that I said that songwriting is straightforward. I said no such thing. I did say that is an incorrect thought to presume that quantity is exclusive of quality. I said that they were not exclusive to each other. You take several days to write a line of lyrics. But I know that you have been through Pattison’s class and you don’t have time to take that long for each line to complete the assignments.

Some of my own favorite lyrics have come nearly without effort. But it takes practice. Practice of writing without worrying. Practicing “the Boxes”. Practicing prosody. Practicing writing a song in one sitting.

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