How to Set Words to Music

Setting words to music can be a complicated process - until you realize that the underlying common element between the two is rhythm. By breaking down your chosen words into rhythmic constituents, it becomes easier to turn those words into a musical idea.

Rhythm in music refers to the way the beats are arranged, the stresses that give us strong and weak accents. Rhythm is what makes the difference between a march and a waltz, between a polka and a ballad. And just as a piece of music has strong and weak accents, so does a phrase or sentence.

To set words to music, start by breaking the words up into their constituent syllables. Any phrase or sentence you come across will have its own metre, such as the iambic pentameter so prevalent in Shakespeare. But even blank verse and prose will work, because the words themselves contain everything you need, whether or not they've been written for the purpose.

The real secret behind setting words to music is discovering where the strong and weak accents lie within the words. For example, take a look at this excerpt:

• My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

If we break it down into syllables, we get the following:

• My mis - tress' eyes are no - thing like the sun

Taking the process one step further, the next task is to highlight the strong and weak accents as below. Strong accents are represented in bold:

• My mis - tress' eyes are no - thing like the sun

This example uses a line from Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, written in iambic pentameter where the strong-weak accents are regular. To prove this is not always necessary, here's an excerpt taken from a random page of the dictionary - i.e. part of a definition:

• An object bent so that it can catch or hold something

This is part of the definition for the word "hook." Let's see what it looks like when broken down into syllables only:

• An ob - ject bent so that it can catch or hold some - thing

And now, let's identify the strongest accents:

• An ob - ject bent so that it can catch or hold some - thing

You can see immediately how it differs from the Shakespeare example. The accents are no longer regular; but far from being a bad thing, this variety could be the impetus that helps you produce a great new melody

Whichever words you use, the process is the same. Once you've identified the strong and weak accents, the next step is to turn the syllables of the words into a suitable rhythm.

If we take the example from Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, the rhythm might look something like this:

This might be the easier rhythm of the two to construct as it follows a regular pattern of strong and weak accents. The second example is far less regular and can be approached in a number of different ways. Here's one example of how it might be done:

The final stage of the process involves turning your rhythm into a melody. As with the words you choose, this will be a personal decision. The best way to go about it is to experiment and try out lots of different options. Remember there is no right or wrong solution: when you come across something that works, something that sounds right to you, keep working on it until it's as good as you can get it.

Here are some quick tips on how to get a melody going quickly:

1. Base it on a scale pattern - that could be a major, minor, pentatonic, blues or whole tone scale, going up or going down
2. Try jumping around - ignore the scale idea and try the opposite, moving from one note to another with plenty of gaps, i,e, not smoothly as in a scale
3. Combine 1 and 2, using scale passages and leaps together
4. Repeat certain notes - every syllable doesn't need a different note. Try using repetition to see if that produces a memorable result.

When you get something you're happy with, why not take it one step further? Try to harmonize your tune at the piano or keyboard. This can help keep you focused and make sure your melody doesn't start wandering all over the place.

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