Do any of you know of some good sites or resources for getting better at lyric writing? I know AI is becoming a widely used tool, but I’d love to learn a bit about the art for myself.
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I guess every songwriter is different but I think every song needs a starting point, could be a lyric or a riff or a painting or almost anything really. One approach is to do exercises, like I’ll write a line and then you (or anybody else) write another line and see where it goes. My line (can’t promise it’s original but so what) is:
I wish I was an action star.
If you don’t like my line pick another one.
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I’ll play along.
…an actor on the screen.
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…but not the kind in skintight suits,
some things can’t be unseen
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GOLD!!
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I may already have the chords for this song.
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Great stuff here, now what about form? What we have could be a short verse or we could extend it or maybe write a second verse and then a chorus?
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Let me look at the “song” I wrote tonight and I’ll lay out the chords and structure I gave it. We can use it if you like or take the song in a different direction. I’m good either way.
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That sounds great @BigAlRocks . I guess @holster 's point here was to look at different ways of songwriting, particularly the lyrics. But of course lyrics have to work with harmony and melody so it’s cool that you’re giving us that! And one beauty of songwriting is you can always make adjustments later on if you want.
Here’s a line that could start a second verse?
Some say I’m just a dreamer
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Key of D Major
Intro: Bm, G, A, D
Verse: G, D, Bm, A
Chorus: Bm, G, A, D
Bridge: (Bm, D, G, A [2x]) G, D, Bm, A
I was feeling the standard intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus pop/rock style song layout but am open to other ideas.
Disclaimer: I’ve only ever written lyrics. If you all think this musical structure sucks, it won’t hurt my feelings.
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I think what you have here will work fine Al. The chords sound good and the form is standard and you can’t go wrong with that. Of course my name is neither Lennon nor McCartney but IMHO this is good stuff. So what we have so far is:
I wish I was an action star
An actor on the screen
But not the kind in skintight suits
Some things can’t be unseen
Some say I’m just a dreamer
If you take and hum or speak the lyrics while strumming the chords it will fall into a pattern. You’ll probably want to space the chords evenly, say either two, four or eight beats on each one, there’s probably one pattern that will sound better to you. You’ll probably run out of chords before you run out of lyrics so you can either repeat or add more chords, whatever sounds right.
Again, just my suggestion here!
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Good stuff guys! Keep it going!
And @ingolee, you’re right. The thread did go in a different direction that what I intended, but I actually love it. I was initially meaning to ask if anyone knew of some good resources (websites, instructors, etc) for learning lyric writing, but I love it that you just kind of threw me in the water to learn how to swim 
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There are a lot of approaches to and tools for songwriting and we can talk about it all, although I certainly don’t know much about it. There’s thesaurus’ , rhyming dictionaries, theory sites to help choose that next chord, scansion of poetry to learn lyrical rhythm, and many exercises (teachers) and such to help with the whole process. The big thing now of course is ChatGPT and I know songwriters are using it and I think we should try it too, just because.
I don’t like the idea of just letting AI run wild with a whole song but we all get to a point where we don’t know what to do next. So at that point you can collaborate (like we are now) but to have AI suggest some options is not a whole lot different really so feel free to try it if you want. I haven’t messed with it so I can’t give any advice there. From what I understand it does take some tweaking to get it to be productive.
But yeah, you’re already doing it so keep going!
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Holster, this thread took on a new identity for sure which is great!!!
I wanted to share what I use in case you may not have the help of these awesome guys. I use a program called “Master Writer”.
It’s unreal, man! It has every rhyme word known to man, thesaurus, dictionary, urban words, phrases, it’s just amazing. For example, you’re writing a song and need to rhyme with the word “book” as an example.
It will show you all the rhyme words for book. Single words, compound words, and sound alike words. Say the word you decide to use to rhyme is look, crook or outlook. It will give you loads of phrases using those words. You either use them the way they are, or you make the phrase work in your own words so it fits your flow.
I actually bought their software for it years ago when it was pay once and done. Now it’s a monthly charge but even if I didn’t have the version I have, I’d pay for it. There is supposedly a free version of something like this, but I couldn’t tell you what it is. If you search, you may be able to find something close for free. Hope this helps.
Danny
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Do we want to break this song writing project off into its own thread?
Nope! All is well
In fact, we should do more of these. It’s good practice!
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Right on. I intend to return to this tread some time next week. Annual year end fun at work takes it out of me. LOL
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Thanks for the reference @Danny_Danzi ; that’s a great collection of tools. I’m kind of OD’d on subscription stuff right now but if I got involved in a songwriting project I’d definitely consider signing up.
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@ingolee you’re welcome. I’m the same as you. I’m so tired of these monthly subscriptions. I actually got rid of all mine. If it’s not something I can purchase and HAVE, I want nothing to do with it.
The newer technology isn’t really for me these days. Most of it replaces good, honest work with AI style work flows. The greatest thing about music and everything else that goes with it for me, is the act of creating the art. Even if it sucks, it’s mine and a creation.
I got a buddy who is a pretty good musician. He writes a few words down, feeds the words into some AI site, it writes the song, adds the instruments, mixes and masters, and he puts his name on it. How can people be ok with this? Plugins are starting to do this too. Anyway…way off topic, sorry. Lol!
Danny