Adding rythm to your lyrics.

People often ask me when we will start to discuss putting words to music. I always answered them it would come in later lessons and that was true, but in fact in all of the lessons we were already busy with it. Writing lyrics is part of writing music. Try to put a short story to music and you will find out it's impossible. Try to put a poem to music and you will be surprised how easy it will be. How is that possible?? When you start to write lyrics for a song and you don't have any music for it yet you are in fact doing nothing more or less than writing a poem. Most rules that apply to poems also apply to lyrics. There are certain similarities:

• Most poems and lyrics use rhyme
• You will always find a certain rhythm in poems as well as lyrics

This lesson I will try to make you see that writing lyrics is in fact composing music or at least part of it. I will do so by discussing the influence of rhythm on a song. In the upcoming lessons we will discuss the use of rhyme and style in your lyrics.
These elements of songwriting have been mentioned earlier in the first lesson but this month we will dive deeper into it.
So put on your bathing-suit and lets dive!!!

Rhythm

In my opinion the most important element of a song is the rhythm. If the rhythm isn't right, the song is nothing more than garbage. Rhythm is the first sort of music ever produced by human beings. Long before Jimi Hendrix made his guitar screem and howl like a haunted ghost the drums were echoing around the world. Rhythm can be found in many things: ever had the strange experience you heard a song in a running engine? That rhythmic humming sound can stay vivid in your head like the latest hit-song you heard on the radio.
So there must be something about rhythm that is so strong it can almost wash your brain. What would that be? It's obvious not it's melody because it's simply not there. And certainly not it's changing of patterns. Almost everybody knows a song with too many changing rhythmic patterns won't work. So it must be that repetetive, hypnotic pattern that is present in almost every rhythm. Listen to a reggea-song: the first thing you encounter is the rhythm, bringing you in an extatic mood. Listen to a heavy metal-song: the hectic rhythm is THE element that brings metal-worshippers to extacy and metal-haters to madness.
So rhythm is a very powerful thing in music. But not only in the musical part of a song. Rhythm plays a very important role in lyrics too!

Adding rhythm to your lyrics

Most songwriters struggle with their lyrics. Most songwriters also struggle with their music. What a horrible job.... But let's discuss the struggle for good, rhythmic lyrics!
How do you write lyrics that fit into a song??? The most important thing is that the lyrics should go along with the music without sounding out of pace, or even worse: hasty to keep up with the music. The trick to accomplish this is adding rhythm to the lyrics. This brings us to an important issue of writing songs: which should I write first, the lyrics or the music?
The answer is simple: there is no answer to this question. Some like to write the music first, others like to write the lyrics first. It really doesn't matter much and you should decide for yourself what's best. But keep in mind the following remarks:

If you write the music first, keep the music initially simple

It's much easier to write lyrics on a simple theme. You won't get distracted by all those freaky breaks so you can concentrate more on the lyrics and the interaction between music and lyrics.

If you write the lyrics first, concentrate on one part at the time

Don't try to write the whole song at once; try to work out one verse or chorus first. Try to make this sound rhythmic before you proceed with different parts.

Let me explain:

First the music?

Writing lyrics on an existing musical piece can be very hard. There is already a rhythmic pattern so the lyrics should be adjusted to that pattern. Unless the music is very basic it's very hard to find the right words to fit the rhythm. So try to make a simple, basic version of your new song and make a recording of it. Then learn that part by heart as much as possible. Try to hum along with the music to find the pattern. After that, you should be able to hear the rhythmic pattern of the words almost automatically.

Or first the lyrics...

If you write the lyrics first, you have much more freedom to write what you want. But you must avoid the risk of writing too much and loosing the rhythm. You could easily, struck by one of those delightful moments of inspiration, end up with one large piece of text, with no obvious distinction between verses and chorus. If that happens, you must rewrite it to divide the song in workable parts. That is, parts which you can write music on.
So it's better to write piece by piece, beginning with the chorus or a verse. That way, you can build that piece carefully, considering that important rhythm-pattern. Of course, there's nothing wrong with writing down your thoughts quick and without thinking too much about it, but for beginning songwriters that method often proofs to be too much when it comes to rhythm.
Working piece by piece makes the job much easier because when you have finished one verse you have an example for the other verses you are going to write. That first verse can be used as a reference for the other verses when it comes to the rhythmic patterns. Think of the various verses as some sort of mirrors of each other. "Mirroring" the rhythmic pattern of the verses makes the song sound much more sturdy and consequent. That way the listeners will remember the song easier.

Building rhythmic patterns in a line

As stated before, it can be very convenient for both the composer and the listener to use the same rhythmic pattern throughout a song. Of course the chorus could use another pattern but that's why it's a chorus. But how do you build all those rhythmic patterns? After all, a songtext usually has many lines so keeping up a certain pattern may sound easier than it is. Here are some tips on how to achieve those patterns.
As you could expect there are as many different patterns as there are songs... You can use or build whatever pattern you like. The only hard rules that apply are that the pattern must be rhythmic in a logic way and that it must go along with the music. I will discuss some sorts of patterns to show you some possibilities. There are three kinds of patterns that can be considered the main patterns. Most other patterns are derived from one of these. These are:

• Simple, regular pattern
• Regular, but broken pattern
• Sluggish, loose rhythmic pattern

I will discuss these kinds of patterns using examples from some songs of mine.

The simple, regular rhythmic pattern

This pattern is a very basic one. Advantage of this is that it's rather easy to use. But the big disadvantage of this one is that your lyrics may become quite boring and predictable when you misuse this pattern-form. This pattern can be described as words written in a very steady, regular rhythmic pulse. Rap-artists really love this pattern and use it a lot. If used correctly it can achieve a very hypnotic or hectic effect. It can make your lyrics sound like a machine-gun! Therefor, this pattern is used most commonly for uptempo songs and/or lyrics, like rap. But it can also be used for less fast songs.
Let's take a look at "Talent Scouts Watch Out!". It's a song I wrote in 1991 for The Stag. It was released on the cassette "Reset", which can be ordered using the form, but this recording was the original demo I recorded myself using my 4-track cassette-recorder. It was written as a comment on all those bands playing mixtures of rap and rock and winning all contests. At some points in the song the lyrics have a very regular pattern, making it sound like a MG45, especially in the chorus. The regular pattern is used to fill up the spaces that exist in the music: each verse is kind of a question/answer-play between music and lyrics. Listen to this excerpt of a verse of Talent Scouts Watch Out! (80kb, 10 secs.) and notice that the lyrics fall in the gaps left by the music. Because the lyrics are so regular, those parts of the verse sound very tight.
The chorus goes even beyond that! It's a school-example of music and lyrics going along in the same rhythmic pattern: listen to the rhythm-section accompaning the vocals in the chorus of Talent Scouts... (142kb, 18 secs.) and I guess you'll know what I mean!

The regular, but broken rhythmic pattern

As I said before, you must take care with using the regular pattern too much. You might begin to sound predictable when you use that pattern too much! This is where you can start using the regular, but broken rhythmic pattern.
Basically it's the same as the pattern we discussed first, but it's kind of cut in pieces. The lyrics use a regular pattern but every now and then rests, accelerations and stuff like that are built in. The trick is not to do it too much so that the lyrics sound as if they don't have any rhythm at all. The effect, if done properly, is that you keep a very rhythmic songtext that doesn't sound to dull or stiff.
Listen to this example (200kb, 26 secs.) taken from my song "The Last Unicorn", also released on "Reset". It's a long song with lots of different rhythmic patterns, but in the second verse you can hear a clear example of what I mean. It goes as follows:

We fear the creep behind the curtain of fear
We're paranoid and think the monster is near
We kill the killer, we spy the spies
We burn our hope with our selfmade lies

The first two lines use the simple, regular pattern, while the third line suddenly sounds very different. This trick is easily achieved by cutting the line in two parts, seperated by a comma which represents a rest in the middle of the line. The listener doesn't feel this as a break of the rhythm; he can "feel" the rhythm going on. Thus, the illusion is created that the third line has the same rhythmic pattern as the first two, yet it sounds different and refreshing.

The sluggish, loose rhythmic pattern

The third pattern is different from the first two in a way that this pattern sounds rhythmic in a more poetic way. The rhythm seems to flow along the lines and is already very obvious while only reading the lyrics, as is the fact with good poetry. This pattern tends to be more connected to the melody and feel of a song rather than the rhythm of the music. It's often far less mechanical and much more fluid, thus demanding fluid, less harsh music.
As I stated before, you can find rhythm in everything and so also in poems. While reading a poem you actually are forced to read it in a certain manner, a certain rhythm. If you ignore that "force" the poem sounds very clumsy. This is also the case with the sluggish, loose rhythmic pattern. Because it's rhythm resembles that of a poem, it forces you to obey to it's rules and follow! If you don't, the lyrics will sound hopeless out of pace with the music...
The next piece of music, taken from the song "Too Late", which was the opener of the second side of The Stag's cassette "Winds of Pain", demonstrates the use of this pattern. Notice that the lyrics of Too Late by themselves allow you to read it as if it was just a poem. Listen to the sound-excerpt (225kb, 29 secs.) by clicking on the picture and you will hear that the music is totally in service of the lyrics; the rhythmic pattern of the lyrics force the music to stay on the background and follow. The result is a mellow, easy piece of music, which can be heard best during the verses.

TOO LATE
Lyrics and Music by Rein Menke

Stop haunting me.....
Leave me alone.......

Silver bird, you blind my eyes
with your shiny skin
Reflections of those who've been delivered
and of those who've never been
The tide runs fast some didn't last to see for what they've paid
'cause they're too late

Memories, please don't haunt me
while I want to celebrate
You make me dwell in those early days
when we all suffered from the chill of hate
Can't live in glee now that I'm free, the past will never rest
The tide runs fast some didn't last to see for what they've paid

'cause they're too late...
'cause they're too late...

This pain is a reflection
and reflections never live
so why is this one living in my mind

Torn apart between two senses
fear and pain when daylight fades
Happyness when we see a smile
but we'll always live with the ghosts we've made
Can't live in glee now that I'm free, the past will never rest
The tide runs fast some didn't last to see for what they've paid
'cause they're too late......

---

This kind of rhythmic pattern is best for improvising. Because of the loose feel of it the singer/reader can feel invited to give the lyrics his own interpretation. A good improvisor can thus give the song an extra dimension. But it's very important that the improvisor doesn't loose track of the pattern.

To make things more clear I've made a table where you can see most of the information about the most common rhythmic patterns I've given you in this lesson at a glimpse.

Common Rhythmic Patterns
Type of rhythmic pattern	Advantages	Disadvantages	Remarks
Simple, regular	Easy to use	Danger of becoming boring and predictable	Suitable for fast songs. Hypnotic, mechanical and tight effect
Regular, but broken	Not too difficult to use, refreshing	If used too much rhythm disappears	Creates illusion of different patterns while using just one
Sluggish, loose	Pattern already interesting without music, good to improvise on	Pattern possibly difficult to interpret by reader	"Takes over" the song; music must follow the lyrics

Finishing the rhythmic feel of the song

After all your efforts to build rhythmic patterns in the lines of your songtext, you definetly don't want to ruin it by loosing track of the overall view of the lyrics. Rhythmic patterns are very important but they don't stand to themselves; they are part of the total lyrics and they can only play their role if you manage to organize all those patterns in such a way that all those rhythmic pieces come together.
As I stated before mirroring can come in very handy when writing lyrics without knowing the music yet. But mirroring is also a useful tool to give your song that finishing touch when it comes to rhythm.
It's very important that the audience recognizes parts of your song. Most of the time they will hear your song for the first time or during difficult conditions, for instance during a concert or a noisy party. So if you bomb them with pattern after pattern they will soon loose track! Mirroring your verses can help avoiding this. When you build a pattern in the second line of the first verse, and you use the same pattern in every second line of the other verses, the audience will recognize it and thereby get the chance to appreciate it more.
Using this technique brings a distinct structure to your song. This structure is very important to make your song actually a song instead of a collection of lines, rhythms, riffs etc. etc. This structure is also important to make composing the music easier; a songtext which lacks a certain structure is a horrible thing to put on music!

Conclusion

As we saw in this lesson rhythm is very important in lyrics. It can give a song a certain feel and bring structure to it.
Don't make the mistake to think rhythm is only a matter of music; lyrics do play an important role when it comes to putting rhythm in a song. Remember: not only drummers need to be rhythmic. As all other musicians, singers and songwriters need to be rhythmic as well! And this brings us to the end of the third lesson of the Online Course in Songwriting. I hope you enjoyed it and that you learned something from it, or at least that there were some moments during reading this lesson that you thought: "Well, maybe he's made a point, let's try that out!". Remember, this lesson is only meant to help you make writing songs easier, NOT to tell you to do it my way. After all, you're the songwriter and you'll have to do it yourself.