The Skillful Use of Questions in Songwriting

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Have you ever noticed how some really good songs use questions to hook you into a story and get you involved in the drama? Questions are used by clever songwriters because of the effect they have on you. Effective communication in songwriting includes the skillful asking of questions. To ensure the effectiveness of the asking of questions it is important to map out the exact thought process you want your audience to travel on with you during your song.

Because the person who is asking the question is in control of the exchange, it is up to you to decide how to lead your listener’s and toward what conclusion or emotional experience. Most people, including an audience, wherever you find them, are all too willing to answer a question. Why not? It’s been inculcated into us from a very earlier age that it’s socially polite to be helpful and when possible to answer an appropriate question. What this means is that the asking of good questions will allow you to take your listener for an emotional ride by the influence of your song.

 

Whenever you are concerned about a weak lyric it's possible to fix it with a great question. The reason is a question can work miracles by making the obvious your ally, stimulate responses, capture attention, reveal what is on your audience's mind, create instant agreement with your listener’s, make people feel important and smart, and force them to make decisions.

Here are some other powerful effects questions have on the listener's thinking. 

1. Questions get immediate attention. 

2. Questions give a listener an opportunity to speak (or respond mentally).

3. Questions maintain a high interest in your subject.

4. Questions break through resistance.

5. Questions (in a series) lead a listener toward the conclusion you want.

6. Questions engage and validate a listener FOR thinking.

7. Questions soften a direct command.

8. Questions build confidence into your songwriting (lyrics). 

9. Questions clarify YOUR thinking.

One great way to ask a question is to use a specific type called a “leading question.” A leading question is used to elicit an exact response—preferably the response you desire. The easiest way to do this is to make transform a statement into a question, even if you’re only stating the obvious. For example, “Bird’s fly, don’t they?” “You know I love you, don’t cha” “You like me, don’t you?” and one of the most famous examples ever “I bet you think this song is about you, don’t you?” 

The reason why this form of a question can work very well in a song lyric is due to its obviousness. When use to state the obvious, it creates instant agreement. The audience nods because what you’ve asked them to do is acknowledge something you said which was true and obvious. Of course, everyone’s felt that way before, everyone knows that, we all have seen that sort of thing, we’ve all lived through that kind of experience, so why wouldn’t they? It’s effective because you bypass a person’s analytical thinking and force them to give you an immediate and automatic emotional response. Another reason why this technique works so well is because it’s so insidious, the leading question virtually forces compliance.

Remember, in asking any question it's important to cover as broad a base as possible. Refer to the list above to find out how much is demanded of your audience in the asking of the question you have formulated. If the question can produce the effect of at least half (4 to 5) of the 9 objectives on the list above, then your question is a good one.

The leading question we talked about fulfills points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, perhaps 8, and definitely 9. Any question by nature of being a question will fulfill several of these objectives automatically. Just make sure though that the questions you ask fulfill the purpose and style of the song. Their role should be supportive and definitely not a leading role.

 

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Related Music:

Hands Clean

Dutiful Son
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Related Article:

The 4 Pillars to Great Songwriting
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Marc

http://stereothesis.bandcamp.com/


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