Syllables and Such

One thing that is very important in writing a song is the number of syllables in each line. Remember syllables? If not, try the following exercise. Put the back of your hand on your chin and read the first sentence out loud. Each time you feel your hand drop is one syllable. So, the first line (in syllables) would be something like this: "one" has 1 syllable, "thing," "that," and "is" have 1 syllable, "very" has 2, "important" has 3, and so on.

You must be very judicious in the use of your syllables when you are writing a song. For some reason, songs seem to have around 7 syllables per line. Sometimes 6 or 8, but 7 seems to be the most common. You do not want to vary the number of syllables per line in a section too much. For example, if you start the chorus with 7 lines, don't switch between 7, 4, and 10. All of this will give you the smooth, lyrical sound that you want. Of course, there is a little bit of wiggle room in all this. If you follow all the rules too strictly your song will sound rigid, just a little bit too perfect. It is acceptable, in a section with 7 lines for example, to make one line have 6 or 8 syllables if it will make the song flow better.

Here are a couple of examples with songs of different section lengths. The number of syllables is indicated at the end of each line.

"My Hope is You"
Artist: Third Day
Album: Offerings

My hope is You 4
Show me Your ways 4
Guide me in truth 4
In all my days 4
My hope is You 4

OK, so the chorus of this song doesn't have 7 syllables per line. But it is very consistent--exactly 4 syllables in each line. Also, notice that is has an odd number of lines. It has four distict lines for the body of the chorus, with the first line repeated at the end. Next time you hear this song on the radio (unless you are fortunate enough to own this album), listen to the length of the lines in the verse compared to the lines in the chorus. The lines in the verse are quite a bit longer.

"Praise You in This Storm"
Artist: Casting Crowns
Album: Lifesong

And I will praise You in this storm 8
And I wil lift my hands 6
For you are who You are 6
No matter where I am 6
And ev'ry tear I've cried 6
You hold in Your hand 6
You never left my side 6
And though my heart is torn 6
I will praise You in this storm 7

This song is complex in a lot of ways. The chorus has predominantly 6 syllables per line, with two major exceptions--the first and last lines, which have more syllables. In the first line, the extra words are a matter of timing. Basically the lyrics begin at different times in relation to the drum beat, so that there are 7 words before the beat in the first line. The last line has 2 extra words because of what are called "pick-up notes" which is another issue of timing. Just like in "My Hope is You," the last line is a repeat of the first line. A smaller exception involves the number of syllables in the rest of the chorus. It is a little difficult to say that the rest of the chorus has 6 syllables per line because of the way it is sung--notes are extended, so that it sounds like there may be 7 syllables in some lines.

Got questions or comments? Let me know! I love to hear from you!

Tim Heider



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