lyrics-and-theory-bridge

Purpose

Connect the lyric-writing process with practical music theory so that words, melody, harmony, and rhythm reinforce each other. Designed for hip-hop, underground, and experimental contexts where the relationship between lyrical cadence, flow pattern, and harmonic backdrop is central to the work.

Invocation

OpenCode / Codex: Invoke lyrics-and-theory-bridge Freebuff: /skill lyrics-and-theory-bridge

Workflow Steps

1. Ingest: Accept the current lyric draft, chord progression, beat, or melody sketch.
2. Analyse prosody: Map syllable stress patterns to the beat grid; identify rhythmic tension and resolution.
3. Analyse harmony: Identify chord function (tonic, subdominant, dominant, borrowed); note how lyric emotional intent aligns or contrasts with harmonic colour.
4. Melodic contour: Map pitch contour suggestion to lyric phrasing — does the melody rise on stressed syllables? Does the hook sit in the voice's sweet spot?
5. Flow mapping: For rap/hip-hop: map multisyllabic rhyme schemes, internal rhymes, and cadence against the bar grid.
6. Propose: Suggest targeted edits — a word swap to fix a stressed syllable, a chord substitution to deepen an emotional moment, a structural change (pre-chorus, bridge) to add arc.
7. Save: Write analysis and suggestions to music-project-planner active project note or obsidian-music-journal.

Theory Reference Points

• Chord function: I (tonic/resolution), IV (subdominant/yearning), V (dominant/tension), vi (relative minor/introspection), ♭VII (Mixolydian lift)
• Rhyme density: End rhyme, internal rhyme, multisyllabic rhyme, near rhyme, slant rhyme
• Flow grid: On-beat, off-beat, triplet feel, polyrhythm over 4/4 or 3/4
• Song sections: Intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, outro — each with distinct melodic and lyrical register
• Cadences: Perfect authentic (V→I), plagal (IV→I), half (→V), deceptive (V→vi)

Inputs

• Lyric draft (full or partial) as plain text
• Chord progression (Nashville Number, Roman numeral, or chord names)
• Optional: beat file reference, BPM, time signature, key, and genre context
• Optional: specific problem to solve (flow feels off, hook doesn't land, bridge lacks contrast)

Outputs

• Prosody analysis: syllable stress map against bar grid
• Harmonic analysis: chord function labels and emotional commentary
• Targeted edit suggestions: word-level, line-level, and structural
• Optional: alternative chord progression suggestions that serve the lyric intent better
• Analysis note saved to active music-project-planner or obsidian-music-journal entry

Safety

• Suggest only; never overwrite or delete the user's lyric draft.
• Preserve the user's voice and style — do not homogenise toward generic pop phrasing.
• Flag when a suggestion would change the meaning of a lyric, not just the sound.

Failure Modes

• Chord progression not provided — request it or proceed with prosody-only analysis.
• Lyric too early/fragmentary for full analysis — offer partial feedback on rhythm and rhyme density only.
• Genre context missing — ask before applying genre-specific conventions (e.g., do not assume 4/4 trap hi-hat grid for jazz-influenced material).

References

• MusicTheory.net
• Adam Neely YouTube — music theory for contemporary genres
• Rhymezone rhyme and near-rhyme lookup
• Hooktheory chord analysis
• Princeton Companion to Hip-Hop — flow and meter

Companion Skills

• music-project-planner — active project context and note storage
• obsidian-music-journal — stores analysis and session notes
• dj-set-architect — harmonic context for DJ transitions
• dj-library-curator — source of tracks referenced in harmonic analysis