There is an exception to every rule, and there is one to this. You can sometimes get away with being one syllable out either side of the actual count. Though you need to be careful when doing this because it has a chance of not working. This will not work for all songs, so you will need to be careful when applying it. This technique can help give you a little more freedom to work with, however, I strongly suggest leaving this technique until you are more familiar with lyric writing.

# If a lyric has a specific rhyme scheme, try and stick with it. Just like poetry there are different styles that are used. If a piece uses freestyle rhyme, you may be able to get away with using free verse for your lyrics.

# Try to stay away from the lines or phrases used in the original song especially if you are doing something drastic like converting rock influenced lyrics into that of say Christian lyrics. That in itself could be a very effective song [genre mixing is very popular these days] but only if it is done correctly. Remember what you are writing about, I recently saw a piece that tried to convert a piece about street racing into a Christian based song. This would have been very effective if they didn’t use the same phrases that were in the original song that conflicted with what the author was trying to say.

# You can, if you like, use a prompt from the original song if you are writing about a similar topic. As in the first examples given on types of alternate lyrics, both the Guns n Roses and Staind songs mentioned, the chorus’ stay the same and ties the two sets of lyrics together. You can use a line or two if you like to ‘tie’ your piece to the original song and to compliment to your ‘new’ song.

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By using alternate lyrics you are able to teach yourself how to accompany words with music. Once you feel comfortable with the accompanying of words and music in this form, you can take a go at a little harder technique found in the next Part 3 of this series, Sampling and Ghost Songs.