This is the first
article in a series of Christian
hymn lyrics
and articles that cover the steps a lyricist
should take in order to convert his lyrics into actual
complete songs
So you write
lyrics...but are you a real lyricist? I mean have your
words been put to music? We all know that lyrics are the
words of songs. So if your lyrics didn't end up as
Gospel songs, it means they have just been
wasted!! The question now becomes: What steps should I
take to convert my lyrics into a full-functional song?
Well, there are two same
situations. First, you might be a Christian
music lyrics musician too and then you have the
choice of writing music for your own lyrics. Second, you
might not be able to write music for your lyrics, which
is OK, but you will have to "sell" your lyrics for
another songwriter who is willing to write music for it.
Considering the first of
many situations; this one being a musician besides being
a lyricist, you first need to know how to write music
for existing lyrics. Many musician songwriters compose
some music first and then go ahead and fit some lyrics
into it, but what about the other way around with
free Gospel music lyrics?
It's fairly easy, if
you got enough will and patience. The idea is simply to
keep reading your Southern Gospel music lyrics
until you totally "absorb" the lyrics and be able to
understand the rhythm that already exists in them. Then,
you start "trying to sing" the lyrics until you come up
with some melody for the chorus. This usually takes
time, until you finally find a melody that's good enough
for your lyrics. There are no particular rules or steps
to follow, although are a couple of things to watch for
Gospel music lyrics.
