The 5 Levels of Lyric-Writing | The Lyric Tree

[@f1rebreather123]

Glad you're back. Your old videos were super useful for me. Will be great to see you stick around a while.

[@andy_et_cetera]

Instead of asking chat GPT to write you a love song, ask it to give you examples of 30 situations where you can tell two people love each other, without them saying it. “Show, don’t tell” it’s called and it is the next level to making your songs feel immersive. 💪

[@rafamacamp]

So glad you're back, dude. Your videos were always a cut above the others when it comes to teach.

[@SeanConway99]

I've missed Holistic Songwriting. Glad it's back.

[@3volvemusic]

Your videos are the only educational videos that I don't watch on 2X speed. Each one is a creative masterpiece and I savor every second

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Thank you, I appreciate that! :) I'm also a 2Xer

[@justinshelton5815]

Glad you're back!

[@coastercook]

Great lesson! Good to see you making videos again. I'll be on the lookout for more. Thanks

[@biohazard9503]

"Show, don't tell" is such a simple but powerful concept, that final tree is that basically just that and it's fun, you can spend a lot of time just doing that visualization and writing it down, great excercise for writing lines

[@A.J.99]

Welcome back to KZbin!!

[@PamelaMary]

…”verse 1 with a fake mustache!” 🥸🤣

[@CollectiveLightYoga]

thanks for sharing your feelings while also giving gems 💎 not too happy about the light scare at the end tho 😅 glad to see you back, you’re always helpful with my lyrics so thank youuu

[@Gongasoso]

Light scare it was not, wtf

[@jordanreed7]

Man, thanks for this. ive been beating my head up against improving my lyrics and this video has got some things to click into place for me. Ive been writing short stories that sort of orbit my concepts lately before going in for the kill and am finding the song writing quite improved. Perhaps mine is a less efficient way, but it does help. I can use this to hone in more directly.👍

[@justgracetbh]

"this is actually the first time I'm having a beer" so real for that tbh

[@gitsurfer27]

That choking cough is the worst case scenario when you sip something in public, i respect it for keeping that in 😂

[@CorneliusMagnus]

Very nice! Nothing is more sure than Holistic Songwriting yt video every Wednesday 😝 Hope things are going to stand that way.

[@aoingraham]

great great great stuff!!!!! I really appreciate your expertise, time, and fresh ideas

[@music.__.skylar]

Great video!! I have been using rewrite dumps for quite a while which does help…but was often lacking direction and structure making it quite frustrating at times. I am SO looking forward to giving this technique a try instead now!!

[@omidardalan2278]

Glad you're back. 😍😍😍😍

[@markuskopter]

I'm not a lyrics writer, but I feel you left out the most important step to get to finished lyrics: turning your scratchpad stories into lines that match the meter and actually rhyme. I guess that would be the hardest part of it?

[@Holistic-songwriting]

That part comes easily to me, actually. But it's a separate part of the process :)

[@tonoormusic]

Welcome back!

[@kajetanpaduch685]

Happy you're back. Would you show us how to press the lyrics into form? Fitting it into melody seems a daunting task, but I believe in your process

[@Holistic-songwriting]

I might make a video on that at some point. But we have a whole course on that called Lyrics In Motion, in our Lyrics Bundle: www.holistic-songwriting.com/the-inceptionist-lyrics

[@RisingJ]

Welcome back Friedemann!

[@eyewonder8697]

Incredible job as always brev

[@riptideL]

I loved this, i also think your first book is great. It hasn't gone unnoticed at how much quality is in your video including production since you came back. An unrelated question however, have you scripted these videos out and auto cuing them, i don't get how good your speaking flow is through the topics. Thanks again.

[@Holistic-songwriting]

They're (mostly) scripted. Thank you!

[@OnyxSkiesXIX]

Gotta come back to this video in a day or two when I have time to get back to lyric writing. I used to love writing lyrics but I hate it now. Maybe this will ease my process a bit.

[@ArtFreex]

Finally new stuff! Thank you!🥰

[@thesuncollective1475]

Great ideas. One thing I noticed when I wrote about relationships I rarely got on blogs. When I wrote non love songs I got on many blogs. Bloggers love to write about non love songs. Give those journalists something to sink their teeth into.

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Yes! Lyrics is one of the few things which non-musicians have the vocabulary for to talk about your music.

[@keithmoreau710]

Excellent technique, Ive never fleshed out the bones of a song so quickly. thanks!

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Awesome, happy to hear that :)

[@uppbeat]

What an amazing way to get rid of the 'blank page' fear!

[@gitara-plus]

Tęskniłem za Twoimi filmami. Robisz je jeszcze lepiej!😮 mam Twoje Songwriting Decks i książkę! Inspirujesz! Dziękuję❤

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Dzięki!

[@LimeGreenTeknii]

It's funny, because I feel like I and many other people question whether we should go specific in the first place. If I talk about my specific experiences being an autistic musician who loves learning foreign languages, not a lot of people can relate, but if I talk about being a human who wants to be loved, a lot of people will. I remember Todd in the Shadows talking about Photograph by Nickelback, talking about how he got at the general idea of looking back at memories through the specific details of specific photographs he had. I think the thing that was bothering me about this approach is that it makes it sound like you have to tell a story with a story arc about yourself or a character. It doesn't have to be; Schoolhouse Rock managed to make a banger of a song about blood circulation, about how blood is a life-giving potion, and if you're not getting up and exercising, you're not doing justice to your circulatory system. A fricken song about the circulatory system makes me want to get up, dance, and enjoy the gift of having blood in my body.

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Fully agree that no song HAS to do this, and there are countless counter-examples of songs that have been successful despite being abstract. What I will say is your unique experiences about being autistic or your love of travel is much more interesting to me than being loved. Don't get me wrong, you can still talk about love, but it's much more unique AND engaging if you use your autism or travel as a specific metaphor for your want to be loved.

[@LimeGreenTeknii]

@@Holistic-songwriting Haha, as a side note, I said foreign languages and not specifically travel. I do *want* to travel more often, and I'm going to Barcelona real soon and try to speak Catalan and Spanish there, but this will only be my second time out of the country. I do most of my learning and practicing at home, with the help of Internet resources. But yeah, speaking Japanese at 2 am with someone on the other side of the world is a surreal experience that feels like there could be a lyric written about it. It's easy to forget how the Internet can make the world smaller like that.

[@gitsurfer27]

If you're a person that thinks lyrics don't matter that much, i challenge you to listen to some AI generated music. There's only so many "under the neon lights, we move through this night, under the stars, we find our might" you can tolerate before you realise that the bad lyrics literally make the song unlistenable, even if the musics good.

[@blackgyde]

It’s always about neon lights 😩

[@gitsurfer27]

@@blackgyde And echoes...please make it stop!

[@LennySugiono]

I really feel like this is a missing link in my toolbox so far... I've consumed a LOT of content about how to write good lyrics that are in themselves quite lofty and abstract and this idea of breaking down the abstract is a light bulb for me (I dislike abstractions in conversation at the best of times) ... I've just tried a bit of writing using this method and I can safely say this is a lot more inspiring then writing an AB section and "verse 1" and trying to fill an empty box. Also read fill that page and really resonate with the "tension" you write about in lyrics. Thank you

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Awesome to hear that Lenny! :)

[@ChromeArray]

I definitely empathize with your love for Michelle Yeoh.

[@avivlevymusic]

You’re great.

[@hackfraud7842]

Does the bridge go before or after the guitar solo, or is there any need of a bridge if theres a guitar solo?

[@Holistic-songwriting]

They could be the same thing. If you want both, I would put the one that is higher energy second.

[@SoraiaLMotta]

Thanks for the tips

[@jayd.o.t]

Nice, good video

[@MrSatoou]

" reflecting a bearded guy " ..... come on! That hurt ;( how shall I sleep now?

[@Holistic-songwriting]

He's behind you right now!

[@tombuur]

As he admits himself, he has been away for some years. That's my problem with Friedemann. He is a great educator. I bought a couple of his courses years ago and his Songwriting Decks. However, it is like any follow up never occurs once he has launched his next project. E.g. the Songwriting Decks was only supported by some short basic videos. He could have made a more extensive course on using them available for purchase. I would have bought it if he did.

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Hey man, thanks for the feedback. That's what happens when you're a one-man business I suppose. I have to be very careful with how I spend my time.

[@hunteroverstreetnox]

Is it just me or does that page in your description not have a sign up link? Says to sign up but there is nothing to fill out and sign for the dl

[@Holistic-songwriting]

You may have to wait a little for it to load. It should be right at the top.

[@Gongasoso]

I tried downloading it but couldn't...

[@Holistic-songwriting]

I just tried it and it works for me. Could you give me a few more details at what doesn't seem to be working?

[@Flobyby]

Downloading the PDF doesn't work

[@Holistic-songwriting]

I just tried it and it works for me. Could you give me a few more details at what doesn't seem to be working?

[@Flobyby]

@@Holistic-songwriting I gave a name and my email address and got a mail with a link back to the site and it's asking again for my info

[@Flobyby]

Also don't worry, your beard is fine looking

[@DADDIE_DEE]

Should you still write lyrics in a note book

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Of course! You can do whatever works for you!

[@SupineWayRecords]

honestly what is he doing with his hidden hand?

[@RH-vl2wy]

Holding his beer….

[@huffenagle]

To be fair, I can think of at least one particular long-haired, plaid-bedecked bozo that made millions off of half mumbling, half screaming nonsensical phrases into a microphone.

[@Holistic-songwriting]

Totally, and there are no rules in songwriting, only ideas that help :)