Chapter 10
Songwriting
Objective: Building your own unique style to express your thoughts and ideas to your audience through lyric writing. Watch a video to understand what songwriting is all about.
Descriptive writing
Descriptive writing means describing an object, place, experience or thing in detail to create a clear picture in the mind of the reader.
1. Describe in depth the details of the object of your song to help your listeners picture it easily.
2. Use all your senses — describe how it looks, smells, feels, and so on.
3. Use your imagination to describe (in detail) something unfamiliar.
4. Share your writing to get better at it; open yourself to feedback. This is an important part of the process.
5. Read other people’s writing as well to learn different perspectives. Watch the video to learn how to write descriptively.
Songwriting Tip
Think of writing as collaboration, not competition, and try to be constructive and positive while leaving feedback for others.
Activity 1: Try it Yourself!
Write descriptively about a tree.
Activity 2: Write a Song based on Familiar or Popular Melody
Watch the video to understand how to write lyrics for existing melodies.
Let us take the example of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We have all heard this song multiple times. It is interesting to know that this melody is similar to Baa Baa Black Sheep and the popular alphabet song, A B C D. Make your own song to this popular melody.
Watch this video for a few examples of the lyrics to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Listen to this popular Indian song (nottuswaram) Shyamale Meenakshi. Go on and write your own words for this popular song.
Nottuswaram or Nottuswara is a term used in carnatic music to refer to a set of compositions created by the renowned composer Muthuswami Dikshitar. The word nottuswaram comes from the combination of the English word ‘note’ and the Tamil word ‘swaram’ (which means note). Most of these compositions are based on western melodies. Dikshitar composed 39 nottuswarams in total.
Activity 3: Write a Song based on Unfamiliar or Uncommon Melody
Listen to the melody in the audio and write your own lyrics to it.
You can also listen nottuswaram and write your own lyrics to it.
Learn to Rhyme
Rhyming is a very important part of a song or a poem. One reason is because rhymes help our ears understand where the line changes. Rhymes also help highlight the idea that our song is trying to convey. People tend to listen carefully when words rhyme.
Examples
cat, bat, mat
love, above
hand, understand
Watch the video to learn to rhyme.
Activity 4: Listen to the Rhyme in the Solar System Song
The Solar System Song
Verse 1
I’m Mercury, the smallest,
I’m closest to the Sun
I take eighty-eight days
to complete my yearly run.
I’m Venus, the hottest,
I’m very, very bright
I look like a star
when you look at me in the night.
I’m Earth, your home,
the only place with life,
I have water, air, and food
to keep you all alive.
Chorus
(The planets, the planets,
revolve around the Sun
Don’t forget the solar system
Once this song is done.) × 2
Verse 2
I’m Mars, I’m red,
I’m smaller than the earth
My moons are like potatoes,
They’re deimos and phobos.
I’m Jupiter, the largest,
I have a reddish spot;
Sixty-three moons surround me,
Which really is a lot.
I’m Saturn, I’m sparkly,
My rings are made of ice;
I can float on water
As I’m very, very light.
Chorus
(The planets, the planets,
Revolve around the Sun
Don’t forget the solar system
Once this song is done.) × 2
Verse 3
Uranus, the coldest,
I’m tipped onto my side;
Thirteen rings surround me
But they’re very hard to find.
I’m Neptune, I’m blue,
I’m farthest from the Sun;
When you stand on me it feels
Like a cloud and that is fun.
Bridge
We know our rocky planets,
They are the first four;
After that the gas giants and
Then many more.
Pluto is a dwarf,
He wants to join them all;
But the problem is that he is
So so so so small.
Chorus
(The planets, the planets,
Revolve around the Sun
Don’t forget the solar system
Once this song is done.) × 2
Indian music has many genres including classical music such as Hindustani and carnatic as well genres such as folk, semi classical, devotional, patriotic and film music. Learning songs from various genres is not only fun but also helps you understand the local culture and tradition! Pick a few genres, learn a song from each genre and present it as a class to your friends and family!
Activity 5: Fill in the Next Possible Verse with the Rhyme Scheme
The sky was dark in the morning, The sun didn’t shine as bright. The day is set for mourning, I miss the warmth of the light.
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Creation
Many people like to learn and sing existing songs but some others also like to create their own songs. If you like to express your emotions through writing, consider writing your own lyrics and setting it to an original tune.
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REMEMBER
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming at the end of lines in a section of a song or poem.
For example, let’s say that a poem’s first and third lines rhyme and we label them A, and the second and fourth lines rhyme and we label them B. Then, the rhyme scheme will be ABAB.