Chapter 13: Meter

[cool_E]

From Pat Pattison's "Writing Better Lyrics"

 

Pat discusses meter, what common meter is, and

how making changes from common meter can add

emphasis to parts of your lyric.

 

Pat explains that common meter is characterized

by 8 bar systems comprised of 2 or 4 bar sections.

Each 2 bar section will have either 4 or 3 stressed

syllables.

 

Like so...

 

Mary had a little lamb

It's fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go

 

stresses per line (in bold): 4,3,4,3

 

Pat goes through several examples and variations

to illustrate how this works. The total number

of syllables in a line doesn't matter so much

as the number of stressed syllables.

 

Pat then demonstrates how variations on this

structure can create imbalance and draw the

listener's attention to a specific part of

the lyric. Pat calls this a spotlight.

 

For example (From Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All these Years"):

 

Four in the morning, crapped out, yawning (4 stresses)

Longing my life away (3 stresses)

I'll never worry, why should I (4 stresses)

It's all gonna fade (2 stresses!)

 

The short ending leaves us hanging, supporting

the emotion of the bridge.

 

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Your exercises:

 

1) try turning some simple thoughts into

8 bar sections of common meter (4,3,4,3)

 

2) examine some lyrics. How many use common

meter? Which ones use variations? What effect

do the variations in meter have?