SONGWRITING STUDIESWeek 2a - Starting on Titles and Lyrics

“How do I come up with things to write about?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

➤ By the end of today’s session, students will be able to:

➤ Be aware of popular and effective strategies for actively collecting lyrical ideas

➤ Identify and construct effective song titles

➤ Plan out and write a song lyric from a title

REVISION/HOMEWORK

➤ Find the lyrics to your favourite song, answer the following questions:

➤ What is the theme of the song?

➤ What is the song structure?

➤ What is your favourite lyric line in the song and why?

➤ Discuss your homework findings with a classmate

➤ Share highlights with the class

ASSIGNMENT 1A

➤ Write a complete lyric to a song

➤ Answer the 6 questions in the brief

➤ Due Wednesday Week 4 (in two weeks)

HOW DO I COME UP WITH THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT

➤ A lot of songwriting is working hard

➤ Only a little bit are those magical inspiration moments

➤ In pairs or small groups, brainstorm how you come up with things to write about.

Lyric Ideas

COLLECTING LYRIC IDEAS

➤ Starting with a theme

➤ Starting with a title

➤ Find-a-Title Game

➤ Listen for interesting phrases when:

➤ Reading Newspapers/Books

➤ Watching TV or Movies

➤ Having a conversation

➤ Sitting in a coffee shop

EFFECTIVE TITLES

➤ Compare the following titles

➤ Which ones are effective? Which ones are not?

➤ Why?

➤ Share your ideas with the class

➤ Relationships are Difficult

➤ Poison and Wine

➤ Heartbreak Warfare

➤ Couples Fight

➤ Party in the USA

➤ Road-trips are Fun

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE TITLE

➤ Based on your thoughts from the previous exercise, write down a few words or sentences to describe what makes a title effective

➤ Share with the class

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE TITLE?

➤ 1-5 words

➤ Contains images

➤ Uses action words

➤ Is about someone

➤ Uses common phrases

➤ The title makes the listener ask questions about what will be in the song

➤ Most importantly, it creates an emotional reaction

WORKSHOP ACTIVITY 1

➤ Complete workshop activity 1

PLANNING A SONG LYRIC FROM A TITLE

➤ An effective title will have the listening asking questions

➤ We can plan a song lyric by first finding the questions the title asks, and then answering them

SHADOW WOMAN

➤ What kinds of questions does this title ask?

➤ Who is this woman?

➤ Why is she a shadow woman?

➤ What or who is she hiding from?

➤ What is she hiding?

➤ What is her relationship to the you?

➤ How do you know her?

USING THE QUESTIONS TO SKETCH OUT THE SONG

➤ Use these questions to sketch out the layout of the song:

➤ Verse 1: Who is this woman?

➤ Chorus: What is she hiding?

➤ Verse 2: What is her relationship to you?

➤ Chorus: What is she hiding?

➤ Bridge: Why is she a shadow woman?

➤ Chorus: What is she hiding?

WORKSHOP ACTIVITY 2

➤ Complete workshop activity 2 on the Moodle page

REVIEW

➤ By the end of today’s session, students will be able to:

➤ Be aware of popular and effective strategies for actively collecting lyrical ideas

➤ Identify and construct effective song titles

➤ Plan out and write a song lyric from a title

HOMEWORK

➤ Use the Workshop activity to begin your lyric for Assignment 1

➤ Once you have structured the song with questions, start answering them in loose prose

➤ Work on turning your sentences/phrases into lyric lines, starting with a chorus or refrain that includes the title