Songwriting #1: Words or Music first?

To quote a colleague of mine: “There are many ways to get to the middle of a circle”.

There is no right or wrong way to go about composing a song. In addition to being a

personal work flow preference, both starting points have their pros and cons. Many

years ago I came to the conclusion that if you want to maximize creativity on all fronts,

then you start with the lyrics. However, for those of us that poetry does not come

naturally to, this can be quite difficult. Let me break down my reasoning. The lyrics and/or melody are the focal point, and the majority of listeners connect strongest with those elements. Theoretically, the harmony, tempo, groove, production, etc. all exist to optimally present or “frame” the lyrics/melody, and function strongest in that capacity. In order to present the strongest gestalt (something greater than the sum of its parts) and leave as many options open as you create, logic would dictate starting with the lyrics first. Going at it this way could take forever, though, and certainly requires a solid

understanding of your musical vocabulary to “audition” minute ideas and variations.

Taking the opposite direction is helpful because it helps to create limitations to work

around. It’s like forming the outline of a figure to guide you while filling it in. Of course,

you can manually create boundaries to work within and as one element changes or

creates challenges, you can always go re-adjust that framework. It becomes a constant

push and pull of auditioning small characteristics. i.e, adjusting the rhythm of a line of

lyrics so they fit or feel the strongest within 2 bars, swapping out prepositions or re-

wording a concept to achieve that same goal.

This also has to be combined with a healthy dose of some sort of impetus or inspiration.

Most songwriters I discuss these things with seem to report most often that their

strongest material comes from a short idea formed spontaneously of both lyrics and

melody that they can hear framed in a tonal atmosphere either in their head or on an

instrument from the start. Then we “pull the string” from there.

Complex subject, this is the tip of the iceberg.