Ignore the Words, Feel the Melody
45sChallenges conventional songwriting wisdom by prioritizing melody over lyrics, sparking debate among creators.
▶ Play ClipAI Summary
Tory Lanez presents his raw and intuitive approach to songwriting, emphasizing that during the initial creation phase, the focus should be on the feeling and melody of a track rather than on the lyrics. He explains how to identify the strongest melodic sections and then reuse them as the foundation for the entire song.
Chapters
[00:00]
Start with Melody, Not Words
In the early stages, ignore lyrics and listen purely for the most compelling melodies and the overall vibe of the song.
[01:25]
Identify Hardest Melodies
The hardest parts of the track are the initial entrance and the subsequent catchy melodic drop.
[02:10]
Select Core Golden Melodies
From all the melodies created, pick out a few (e.g., three) that are the strongest. These become the core set to switch between for the rest of the song.
[02:36]
Reuse Core Melodies with Variation
Once the core melodies are selected, the only thing that needs to change when repeating a section is the words, not the melody.
The key to building a hit song is to first extract the few most powerful melodies from your initial ideas, and then trust those simple core components to carry the entire track, varying only the lyrics to maintain freshness.
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Tutorial Checklist
1
00:00
Listen to your initial instrumental ideas – ignore words and focus solely on the melodies and the overall feeling of the track.
2
01:25
Identify the 'hardest' or most compelling melodic sections (e.g., the first entrance and any catchy drops).
4
02:22
Use only those selected melodies to structure the song, switching between them as the song progresses.
5
02:36
When repeating a melody section, vary only the lyrics to keep the song fresh while preserving the melodic hook.
Study Flashcards (4)
What should you listen for first when creating a song, according to Tory Lanez?
easy
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What should you listen for first when creating a song, according to Tory Lanez?
easy
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The hottest melodies and the feel of the song, not the lyrics.
00:13
How many 'golden melodies' did Tory Lanez typically select from his initial creations?
medium
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How many 'golden melodies' did Tory Lanez typically select from his initial creations?
medium
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Three golden melodies.
02:10
What should you do when a melody section gets repetitive?
medium
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What should you do when a melody section gets repetitive?
medium
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Change only the words of that section, not the melody.
02:36
According to the tip, how should you handle the structure of the rest of the song after selecting the golden melodies?
hard
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According to the tip, how should you handle the structure of the rest of the song after selecting the golden melodies?
hard
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Switch between the golden melodies throughout the rest of the song.
02:22
💡 Key Takeaways
⚖️
Melody First Principle
Establishes a counterintuitive but crucial creative rule: ignore words entirely in the initial phase to avoid diluting the emotional impact of the music.
🔧
Identifying the Song's Hardest Parts
Directly shows how to pinpoint which melodic sections contain the strongest hooks, using real-time reaction to audio.
01:25
🔧
Gold Melody Selection
Provides a concrete number (three) to help creators avoid overcomplicating a track with too many different melodic ideas.
02:10Full Transcript
[00:00] All right, so let's let's let's figure out a place for all these shit. Let's let's let's listen to all the melodies that we just created just now and then we'll pick some shit
[00:13] I didn't put no words to him. It's a really right now. You're just listening for the hottest melodies, you know, I'm saying and that's what that's what we're Listen to the structure of the song of the feel of the song
[00:26] Let's listen for the feel of the song right now not the fucking not the fucking the not the fucking the words when I listen to words Words really don't make any sense right now. It's just a melody and the way the song feels
[00:39] So let's listen to that first and then we're going to the rest of the bullshit
[01:25] I think some of the hardest parts the first week I think the first way it comes in and then that second part where it goes
[01:43] Oh, I think that shit is like the the hardest parts after that I'm running on the cheese and casual on the cheese and then it should have came back in something something
[01:57] Oh, and then it should go back see the problem is sometimes they just be writing and then they have these catchy ass melodies But then they just want to keep going into like all these other melodies
[02:10] But sometimes you just need to figure out what the bass melodies and the greatest melodies are The first part of the song you know, I'm saying so like for me I know that those two melodies are now are those three melodies are now golden
[02:22] So these are the melodies that you switch from throughout the rest of the song like there was a lot of melodies that I did here And if I'm really at a part where it's like all right these melodies are getting repetitive and I might go back Into the reference and then go listen to like whatever the fuck is there, but
[02:36] I don't really need to do that right now because I think that we have the song with just those three melodies And all it really changes is just the words have to change when you got when you you know when you do it again, you know sand