Thanks to Ian Stewart for providing a free PDF with 20 ideas for composing.

It is now available in our “free ebooks” section, on the right side of the screen (scroll down a little if you don’t see it).

The PDF features simple ideas to compose music, and even more crucially, to help you finish your compositions. So if you feel you are a bit stuck in a rut, it’s a quick read (3 pages) and well worth it.

20 ideas for composing

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Last week-end, I was chatting with my friend Mark from Wilberforce and we discussed the subject of using a thesaurus when writing lyrics. He felt that perhaps it was cheating and he wasn’t comfortable with the idea. So is using a rhyming dictionary or a thesaurus when writing lyrics cheating?

I use both a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus when writing, or rewriting, lines for my songs. Do I feel like I am cheating?

No.

Writing a song is all about the words YOU choose and about how YOU use them. The fact you might get the idea to use a word because you saw it in a list of rhyming words will not make the line good, even if it rhymes. It’s all about the words fitting in with the context of the lyrics and being able to use the words well so the lyrics flow, make sense and sing well.

Yes, perhaps there is some value in having a huge amount of vocabulary in your head but I don’t think the value of a lyricist comes from his or her ability to be a walking human rhyming dictionary or thesaurus; to me, the value of a lyricist comes from the ideas they convey and the style they use in their writing.

Who are your favourite lyricists? Do you admire them because they are walking dictionaries or because they express in words what you feel in your heart?

So do not hesitate to get those rhyming dictionaries and thesaurus out!

There are quite a few around on the market. For hard copies, I recommend the Concise Oxford Thesaurus and the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary. I have used the Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary by Sammy Cahn before but I found it very difficult to use so I do not recommend it. Online, I recommend http://www.rhymezone.com and I also use http://www.answers.com to check on pronunciation if I ever have a doubt.

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… how do they react?

In my experience, you get 3 types of reactions:

1. “I’m thinking about learning how to play the guitar” (you can replace “guitar” with any other instrument, though “guitar” is the most common)
2. “But what do you REALLY do?” (note the emphasis on “really”)
3. “Cool. I’m a musician too.” (you can replace “musician” with any other creative activity)

#1 and #2 used to annoy me big time but now, I’ve got a response for each.

1. I could give you a few lessons if you want, my rates are cheap (this only works with “guitar” in my case because you certainly wouldn’t want me to give you piano lessons!)
2. I write and record songs. And what about you, do you LOVE your job? (note the emphasis on “love”)
3. Cool. Are you looking for a song to perform? (ideally, a full conversation will emerge from this and you will exchange email addresses at the end of it)