How to Write Vocal Melodies and Lyrics

In my new video on how to write vocal melodies and lyrics I cover my approach I use for most of my own music, and some other approaches I know are used. My writing process for vocals and lyrics is inspired from my approach to writing instrumentals and guitar parts. I typically will loop the section of the song I want to write vocals to, and try to 'gibberish sing' a melody (singing notes with fake words). Often a few words that flow well, or a phrase will develop. At this point I decide what I want to write about and start generating new lines of lyrics I know will work with my vocal melodies.

This process continues for each section of the song, but often once you get that first vocal idea it will lead into the next vocal idea. Each lyric line inspires a new lyric line and then you have to complete the puzzle of trying to find words that both fit the meaning of the song and sound good to sing.

Some singers will write full lyrics ahead of time and try to sing those lyrics over the instrumental song. Then when certain words don't flow well or the rhythmic pattern doesn't line up they will go back and tweak the lyrics to fit the song. This process works well for the singers who use it, but I always found it too time consuming and I hated the process of writing lyrics without any musical context. My method allows for the music to inspire the lyrics in a somewhat 'live' fashion.

Check out the video for more information, and let me know what process you use for your vocal parts.

#vocals #writing #lyrics