Week 1
Sonic targeting is a lyric writing technique I found whilst on You Tube. It is a rhyme based technique where you pinpoint a specific word in the title or some word that repeats in a song and then find plenty of rhymes for that one word. The idea is once you have the word and the rhymes you can use it as a foundation for lyrics in your song. I can imagine a lot of people use a method like this as I can see why it would be helpful.
E.G: Long Hot Summer. Hot, jot, not, cot, clot, knot, rot and millions more.
A Step by Step Summary of Sonic Targeting
To sum things up, sonic targeting consists of a total of 6 steps. They are:
- Decide on a title or repeating line. Try to ensure it’s between 6 to 8 words, and contains at least 3 strong vowel sounds. The vowel sounds also all need to be different. Otherwise, the effect of sonic targeting won’t be noticeable.
- Pick one of the vowel sounds but ensure it’s not the last word of your line.
- Generate a list of rhymes for your chosen word. You should try to make the list as long as possible so that you can have various options to work with. Resources such as Rhymezone.com or a physical rhyming dictionary will be helpful.
- Write a 4 – 6 line section where at least one or two of the words in the other lines in the section rhymes with the word that you are sonic targeting.
I got this information from a helpful website by the same person who made the video.
I plan on practicing this technique from now in my lyric writing and I will show my practice on the song ideas page.
In my research of Paul Wellers song writing techniques I found that a lot of his lyrics include:
Sensory Details
In the song Thats Entertainment Weller talks about the things that he can smell, see and hear around him. “A police car and a screaming siren” These are things he can hear and see. “Opening the windows and breathing in petrol” this is his smell. I think this is a great lyric writing technique because it helps paint a picture or build a scene in your mind about the relatable story he is telling of his everyday life.
I would love to use this technique in my writing as I feel I can definitely learn from it and upgrade my lyric writing skills.
https://genius.com/The-jam-thats-entertainment-lyrics
Metaphors and similes
I know this is a commonly used technique in a lot of songs overall but I am quite drawn to the way Paul uses them in Wild Wood.
“High tide, mid-after noon” I feel he is talking about a busy city/place when rush hour hits and its a busy time for all who work.
“People fly by in the traffics boom” sort of makes the picture clearer of a busy life in a crowded place.
“Climbing forever trying
Find your way out – of the wild wild wood
Now theres no justice
There’s only yourself – that you can trust in” This to me sounds like he is talking of being stuck in the money game of work, always trying to dig yourself out to find a new life away from the work and stress of living to work.
The way his songs make it easy for us to paint a picture or relate in some way I think is what makes his use of metaphors so addictive to listen to. I want to be able to use similar techniques in my lyrics so I will practice this method and see if I make any progress.
When researching The Beatles I found they commonly use:
External Inspiration
In a lot of their songs like “a day in the life” or “paperback writer” Paul and John would often take inspiration from books, newspapers, films and even every day objects to write about them in the lyrics. I think this is a great idea for many reasons like obviously if your stuck writing a song or need help coming up with something to write about or if your struggling to chose different topics for your songs this would be helpful.
I can easily apply this to my lyrics and see what kind of a difference it makes in my writing.
The Cut-Up Method
This is where you would find or write some words, cut around the words and put them in different places to see what sentences you can make. This has to be an effective method as the lyrics write itself the only job for us would be to arrange the words which is rather easy.
I am exited to apply this to my work as I would like to see a range of topics in my writing and not just stick to a few that I know works, I would like to experiment as soon as possible with this.
https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/re-noted-the-beatles-collaborative