The Zoom Method: Secrets to Better Lyrics Under 10 Minutes
What does the classic Joni Mitchell song, ‘The River’ (1971) have in common with neo-RnB song ‘Super Rich Kids’ by Frank Ocean (2013)?
These are 2 songs from wildly different artists, genres, and eras.
And yet, when we look into the inner workings of how the lyrics deliver the ideas and emotion of the song, there is a common pattern you can see – and this pattern lives inside so many of the songs that you love.
The good news is: once you know what the pattern is, you can practice using it to write your own lyrics that deliver your unique perspective, while connecting with the hearts and imagination of your audience
The Zoom Method
In our tutorial on our YouTube channel, I break down The Zoom Method for generating lyrics, and demonstrate how to turn this lyric material into the verse of a song—very quickly!
Check it out here:
The Zoom Method is based on a key understanding of the different types of language, that when combined together, are a magic combination.
Let’s take a quick look at the first verse of ‘The River’ by Joni Mitchell:
The lines in blue indicate one type of language: Situation Detail.
They build the external world, paint a picture, give us a sense of when, where, and what.
The lines in yellow indicate a different type of language: Feeling Detail.
They zoom the lens into the internal world of the singer.
The Zoom Method is a step by step exercise to help you generate a huge amount of lyric material—rapidly—and then use the different kinds of language to sequence together lyrics that have the magic combination of showing and telling.
Check out the video tutorial for the full step by step process, and to see a song section come to life using this method.
You can also check out our Songwriter Community to watch a live workshop I held entitled “Write a Song in 90 Mins”, in which I take songwriters through The Zoom Method in real time.
Join our Songwriter Community as a Premium member to receive access to this workshop recording now! All info available below:
Other ways to write better songs with us:
- Simply want to write more? ▶️ Join an 8-week Songwriting Sprint.
- Want feedback, community, and resources? ▶️ Join our membership Community.
- Want a self-paced course complete with personalised feedback? ▶️ Check out the Accelerator Independent
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