Do You Think of the Words When Playing The Melody?

[ragman1]

Oh you sweet summer child

Thank you, dwahlink

(Actually I tend to stay away from the heat, rots the brain)

[ragman1]

Since I was asking if other people sing the lyrics in their head, there is no right or wrong answer- you either do or you don't. Since I am a neophyte, and a sentimental traditionalist, I like to run through the melody as written at least once before starting to improvise. YMMV. It is also possible to make some changes to the melody and still retain the words- as you mention, Ella and Billie did that (though they sometimes changed the words, too). Ella was the queen of vocal improv and did very little as written. It is one of the reasons she is my favorite jazz vocalist.

I am also a big fan of Sonny Stitt. He got a reputation for being a Charlie Parker clone but, even though he kind of started out that way, I think he eventually developed his own voice IMHO.

I think another reason I sing the lyrics mentally is for the emotional connection, but that doesn't mean those who don't lack emotion in their playing. One of the things I have learned with age and experience is that there are many paths that lead to the same destination, and we must each find our own.

Excellent post, spot on. In my opinion, of course.

[ragman1]

Since this has turned into the ragman show, here's an unpublished Summertime. I confess I do actually know the lyrics (if I concentrate) but they hadn't a lot to do with this.

[pamosmusic]

Since this has turned into the ragman show,

Funny how that happens.

[supersoul]

I don't hear the words in my head while I play the melody, but I sometimes look at the lyrics to help understand what the song is about.
The lyrics often tell a little story, and that can help understand the tensions and releases. The tune "Just Friends" I think about how it's in F but it barely every actually reaches F, and it always moves away quickly. The lyrics are about two ex lovers, one who still wants the other, the chords never resolve, reaching but never quite arriving.

[Otterfan]

If I know a tune and it has lyrics, I generally know the lyrics because I've heard them a million times. I can't not think of them, but I'm not dwelling on them

However I play lots of tunes that either don't have lyrics (e.g "Blue Monk") or that have lyrics that were added on as an afterthought (e.g. "Take the A Train"). So I obviously don't need lyrics to play a tune well.

[Mick-7]

Those of you with masochistic tendencies may also want to read this related thread on the topic:

Knowing the words to a tune

[alltunes]

Gee it couldn’t hurt to know the lyrics that’s for sure. I sometime even look further like the film where the song first debuted. If you play The Days of Wine and Roses watching that movie could certainly add another layer of bittersweet despair to your arrangement.

[Jonah]

I like to know the lyrics of tradition standards from the Great Amercian Songbook (to me the song is really a big part of American musical culture - not only standards but also later country/folk/rock songs...).
I like how in Holiwood movies (or in Woody Allen's films) the old songs are used to illustrate the action in the movie - it is very special feature of American culture... it is almost like a folklore (though it is not strictly speaking), for every case in lufe there is a song.
So for me the mood of the tune and it is character is often associated with the contents of lyrics.

So though I do not sing it in my mind literally - I kind of sing the meaning.

Another (and very important to me) point is that the songs often have simple repeated form, so when notated conventionally the melody just repeats exactly chorus after chorus but the phrasing of the lyrics is not necessarily exactly the same: there can be longer words with more syllables or pickups etc., even the vocal/phonetic contents of the phrases can bring in different articulation - or also just different accents and articulation due to the meaning of the line. (those differences are often reduced in notation to a very conventional form)
So when you have it in mind you kind of imitate vocal/speach intonation more and it brings in more variability in the performance).

3 lines on exactly the same melody... but note that first two line are very integral because there is only one main action (make, feel), but in the 3rd line there are two actions: fall and spread... and the way it is written it is also split into two phrases.

The very thought of you make my heart sing... (3 words = one per note and 'my heart' connects smoothly)
You fill my eager heart with such desire... (2 words and 'such' is more separated phonetically also, different articualtion most probably when sung)
The shadows fall/ and spread their mystic charm (2 words but 2 syllable word 'mystic' goes first and in crooning style it can be pronounced quicker in a more natural speaking manner rather than stretching in equal notes)


Of course in classical music you would not change the phrasing of the notes and you can sing it here too very evenly but jazz style allows to make it more in a speaking manner

[RLetson]

I'm not an instrumental soloist, but I do find that lyrics can help keep track a tune's structure. Which doesn't mean I don't also have a pretty clear notion of melodic/harmonic/rhythmic shapes for most tunes--all those Monk compositions that are just tunes with all manner of odd and interesting turns have stuck in my head for decades, as plain old music. Though just a few days ago I heard a vocal version of "Pannonica." (Took me a while to track down that it's a Jon Hendricks lyric, recorded by Carmen McRae.) And in those Monkified standards, I often hear the words in my head, playing against Monk's skewed phrasing.

I suspect that any actor will affirm how elastic language can be, whether prose or poetry, and settling on a performance of, say, a Shakespeare soliloquy is remarkably like figuring out how to articulate a melody line. Though, to be sure, delivering a poem or a speech privileges semantic content over everything else, so that language leads and everything else operates in service of it.

[Jonah]

Though, to be sure, delivering a poem or a speech privileges semantic content over everything else, so that language leads and everything else operates in service of it.

Actually I think so does performing music

[joe2758]

I do.

[Blkat]

Yup. Helps me remember the melody. Helps me with the phrasing.

[benhatchins]

Mostly, yes. Music often helps me stay focused and motivated, but not always. There are times when a melody sweeps me away into my thoughts, making it challenging to concentrate on my tasks. As a result, I sometimes find myself drifting from my goals instead of making progress. In general, I’m not particularly strong when it comes to expressing myself through words and writing. That’s why I frequently rely on resources like academized.com/blog/how-to-write-a-great-admission-essay-a-step-by-step-guide . Their guides and services are incredibly useful for overcoming my writing challenges and ensuring that I produce high-quality work.

[sgosnell]

If there are lyrics and I know them, I can't not think about them, even if I only know some of them. It helps my phrasing, and knowing where I am in the form. It's not something I consciously try to do, it's just something I can't help doing.