Songwriters Corner: Language is Percussive, You Must Use It to Your Advantage.

Within the world of songwriting there are small decisions we make when writing lyrics that weigh heavy on the final product. Oftentimes we add meaning to our songs that may be lost on our audience. What I can guarantee is never lost is the way the words sound against the beat of the music and how they ride along the melody. Today I argue that the way the words are sung and how they interact with the music is more important than even what is said. 

Simply put, if you want the audience to understand your emotion, you must give them enough information. This information comes from delivery, delivery, delivery and it is best to think of words as vehicles of syllables before emotion. You will find as you adopt this way of thinking, you will be more apt to write lyrics without assigning them meaning beforehand, freeing yourself from the binds of writers block. 

This idea is essentially in an extreme form, scatting. Although scatting has been written off as a silly bygone form of song delegated to jazz enthusiasts, it completely exemplifies this way of thought. When scatting, no real words are sung, but it cannot be denied in how it added to Jazz music. 

Without learning a horn instrument, vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald turned her voice into a vibrant piece of brass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Kf-eTkn7Y

She said nothing yet in those moments scatting but pumped out raw emotion through the way the syllables hit against the beat. Imagine if you began coupling this use of syllables with words that touched the audience. Whether or not you’d like to sound like Ella Fitzgerald, the results are irresistible. 

Example: Listen to this standard rock beat in 4/4 at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ceiFrrHlbI

Using words which begin with letters such as T,K,C, CH, for example allow a feeling of sharpness if used swiftly. Using words which start with letters such as E, A, Y, H, S and others that do not require your tongue hitting the roof of your mouth can sometimes be conducive to a softer delivery. Alternating these two examples can lead to a dynamic percussive beat of Sharp>Soft in any order that aligns with the music. 

If you wanted to enact a sharp delivery of words you may choose to use words that are easy to sing fast such as “To Catch a Cat Trying to Kill a Crane” versus a soft delivery of words, elongated to two words a measure such as “Houses Everywhere, Somewhere Afar”

Although this may be a rough example, I implore you to experiment with the concept. You may find your write songs from a place that is less forced by the confines of context and subjectivity and rather from a more technical approach to lyricism.