How To Start Writing Lyrics

Learning songwriting is tough enough, but writing lyrics can be downright scary. It’s not that writing lyrics is any more difficult than writing a song on the piano, guitar, or harp per se, it’s that everyone knows how to speak your language. At least with other instruments, many people listening to you play won’t be able to tell if you mess up or do something unoriginal.

All that being said, lyrics are incredibly important and coming up with them is equally rewarding. Expressing yourself through your art and connecting with a wider audience is well worth wracking your brain for the next line.

The best way to start writing better lyrics is to learn from the best, so watch Desmond Spann (AKA DLux The Light ), our resident lyrical expert, take you through making a Flow Map in the video below. If anyone knows how to work on lyrics, it’s an online rap and lyrics teacher, right?

Draw A Flow Map

Writing good lyrics isn’t easy, but it’s essential, so here are five other easy suggestions to get you started:

Just Write

No one is going to see your lyrics if you don’t share them. That fact should help provide you with the sense of calm needed to stop procrastinating and just write. Whether you use a napkin like Eminem did in “8 Mile” or your iPhone like Bun B said he wrote his verse in Drake’s “Uptown” on, the important thing is to get started. There are many ways to structure your lyrics, but you have to start somewhere.

Create a Rhyme Scheme

Sometimes it can be helpful to create a simple rhyme scheme and see where it leads. Try using AA/BB for four lines and then switch it up to AB/AB. This would look something like this:

The is a sample rhyme scheme (A)
So you’ll understand what I mean (A)
Writing lyrics can be hard (B)
But you can’t finish if you don’t start (B)

Forget Rhyming

Sometimes it’s better to forget rhyming altogether and focus on your content. Just write out what you want to touch on and then go back and see if you can make it rhyme coherently.

Here’s an example:

Line A: What’s the problem we’re all dealing with?
Line B: How do we know it’s a problem?
Line C: Why does it matter to me?
Line D: What can we do to change it?

Record Yourself

If you’re having problems figuring out what you want to say, just turn on your recorder (you can get a free one on your smartphone if you don’t have any other sort of device) and get going. The fact that you’ll be required to fill silence should help you begin, and then you can listen to what you said afterward and turn it into something worthwhile. This is actually one of the ways Tool, a multi-platinum-selling rock band, does its songwriting.

Start With Your Favorite Song

Whether it’s a John Denver or Snoop Dogg track, you know you’ve got a favorite song. Find an instrumental version and then start rapping or singing the lyrics. After you’re warmed up and feeling comfortable, switch things up and start freestyling without worrying about rhyming perfectly. This would be a good time to record yourself, because there’s no sense in missing the chance to make a record of any successful lines.

The most important part about practicing music is to make it fun. So, if you don’t enjoy these options, try something else until a smile starts to form.

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