{"id":18154,"date":"2022-05-28T08:09:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T13:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/?p=18154"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:04:00","slug":"prosody-in-music-and-songwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/prosody-in-music-and-songwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosody in Music and Songwriting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Understanding Prosody: When Every Song Element Works Together to Express Emotion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In songwriting, I believe that there are only tools, no rules. However, there is one exception to this, which is prosody. The definition of prosody is when all elements work together to support the central message of the song, an appropriate relationship between the elements. It\u2019s just common sense that everything in your song should be there for the same reason: to express the central emotion, the central idea, and the central purpose of your lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Prosody?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now the concept of prosody was, at least to my knowledge, first expressed by Aristotle in his Poetics<\/em> when he said that every great work of art exhibits the same characteristic. He called that characteristic unity<\/em>, where everything fits together and everything works together. Unity and prosody are the same thing. Everything about the piece of work is there to enhance, express, communicate, and put the focus on the central idea. All of the elements work together.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it: why would you want to put anything in your song that doesn\u2019t belong? Why would you include anything that doesn\u2019t aid and abet the communication of the emotion? Whatever that emotion is, the communication of the emotion that the song is there to express, that one idea that the song is there to express.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STUDY SONGWRITING WITH PAT PATTISON AT BERKLEE ONLINE!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stable vs. Unstable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve found that the most effective vehicle for expressing prosody are the two terms, stable and unstable, because stable vs. unstable covers everything, even though it may at first seem like a fairly broad brush. First answer the question: What idea are you dealing with? Then ask yourself: is that idea stable or unstable? From there you\u2019ll work to create either this sense of stability or instability.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s begin with your lyric ideas. You can characterize them as stable or unstable by saying the lyric aloud. Here are some examples:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so grateful that you\u2019re in my life. 
I wish you were here.
Why can\u2019t I talk to you? <\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that the tone in which you say these ideas will completely change the meaning, and whether it is stable or unstable. Are you reading the lyric definitely, with a sense of longing, or another way? Your tone of voice is going to be your cue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENROLL IN LYRIC WRITING: TOOLS AND STRATEGIES <\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting it Together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So you know how you feel, you have your idea and that idea will be either stable or unstable to some degree. You have all these different colors and the tools that you have available: your melody, your harmony, your melodic rhythm, your harmonic rhythm, and your lyrical tools are all there to help you craft your idea.\t
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But remember: the first thing to do is ask, how am I feeling in this song, stable or unstable? Is this verse, stable or unstable? Is this line, stable or unstable?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at the lyrics of any song, you\u2019ll see it\u2019s unusual for an entire song to be solely stable, or solely unstable. Most songs have both dynamics. For example:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was so lonely (unstable)
and then I met you, (stable)
and I\u2019m lonely again, (unstable)
because I met you.\u201d (stable)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s very flexible. But once you start viewing the whole process of creation of the song through the central idea of prosody—that everything must work together, that everything fits together to communicate the central idea, you start assessing the lines of your song, and the general intent of your song through the grid of stable vs. unstable—then you\u2019re into the process of making choices, which songwriting is all about, and which art is all about; making choices for a reason. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you no longer have to depend on your songwriting choices just coming up intuitively, although that is definitely great. But as the choices come up intuitively, you are now in a position to say, \u201cDoes this intuitive idea that I have fit into this unity that I\u2019m trying to create?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Again, say the following ideas aloud and see whether your tone strikes you as stable or unstable:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n