Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you want to know how to transform your poem into a song? Do you need help learning how to write a melody? Setting a poem to music is an incredibly cool way to take your poem to the next level. Keep reading How to Transform a Poem into a Powerful Song to learn how to set your text to music.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission from purchases made through the links. I’ll only recommend products I use, use in lessons, or ones my students or colleagues have recommended.
How to Transform a Poem into a Powerful Song: How Do I Pick the Right Poem?
Back when I was the director of the Boston Songwriters Workshop, we used to have poets come in hoping to find musicians who could set their poems to music.
- However, poems are not the same as lyrics, because songs have a balance between the words and the music.
- Though poems have musical elements in them, often poets write very dense text that don’t leave room for the music to have its say.
- So, if you want to set one of your poems to music, it’s generally a good idea to pick one that doesn’t have a high word density.
Also, it’ll help if there’s a section that can be converted into a chorus that contains the title of the song.
How to Transform a Poem into a Powerful Song: How Do I Start Writing the Melody?
Both songs and poems have rhythm, so that’s the best place to start.
Audio recorders
For more information on pulling a melody from your poem:
How to Transform a Poem into a Powerful Song: What’s the Next Step in Crafting My Melody?
Mobile users: for best results reading the examples, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
To access an online keyboard: click here.
If you started to get melodic ideas as you chanted your text, that’s a bonus.
- This means that you’re well on your way to creating your song’s melody.
- It’s also good, because your melody will probably be more inspired.
- That in turn will make it more fun and engaging.
However, if you didn’t have a melody pop into your head, you need to take this next step in the melody writing process.
- Under the keyboard diagram is a link to an online piano.
- When you get to the piano website, start noodling around on the keyboard while rhythmically singing your text.
- Try to find good, catchy note combinations, and when you create something good, record that too.
If you don’t know much about music, it’s best to stick to the white keys.
For more information on writing melodies:
However, as you grow in your writing, you’ll need to understand how scales and chords work.
If you want to try writing song lyrics from scratch, this next link looks at the songwriting process.
Alternatively, you could collaborate with a songwriter who knows music.
Video: Writing Catchy Melodies
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- Both songs and poems have rhythm, so that’s the best place to start.
- Start noodling around with your rhythm and text. Try to find good, catchy note combinations.
- Alternatively, you could collaborate with a songwriter who knows music.
Have fun writing!
Related Posts
- Writing Well Crafted Songs
- How to Use Lit Slang in Songwriting
- How to Write Music Using Consonance and Dissonance
© 2025 Geoffrey Keith
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