Is becoming a lyricist right for me?
The first step to choosing a career is to make sure you are actually willing to commit to pursuing the career. You don’t want to waste your time doing something you don’t want to do. If you’re new here, you should read about:
Still unsure if becoming a lyricist is the right career path? Take the free CareerExplorer career test to find out if this career is right for you. Perhaps you are well-suited to become a lyricist or another similar career!
Described by our users as being “shockingly accurate”, you might discover careers you haven’t thought of before.
How to become a Lyricist
In order to be a successful lyricist, you must be a creative person with the ability to put your thoughts down on paper in an artistic manner. Often, songs are full of different types of meter, rhyme, or imagery. Many songs are poetic pieces with a musical overlay. If you are able to write poetry, there is a good chance you would be able to write lyrics.
The key to being a writer in any field is simply to write often. You should always be working on your writing skills by keeping a journal, or having ongoing poetical works, stories, articles, or essays. It is not good to let your cognitive creativity go into atrophy, as it will affect your success as a lyricist.
It would be a helpful first step for a beginner lyricist to find instrumentalists to whom they can submit their lyrics to, and see how they are able to be meshed together with a song. This would be excellent practice, and it would also help to have connections with people who may be able to help further your song writing career.
Another advantage for a promising lyricist would be to take a few musical theory classes and learn the basics of a common instrument such as the piano or guitar. The main focus of a lyricist's career is obviously the words in a song, but being able to strum a few chords and intelligently discuss the musical progression with the composers you work with is definitely a bonus.