In any pursuit, the more you learn, the better you get at it. Having a good vocabulary doesn't mean just knowing words when it comes to music writing, it can also refer to knowing different styles and the lingo associated with that method of writing. Here are a few methods you might try to learn some more useful words to help in your becoming a better musician.
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Sure, a lot of us find learning theory boring, but it really does help, especially if you find you need some classically trained strings, woodwinds or whatever to help with your latest demo. Get a book on theory and try to learn what all those fancy Italian words mean, one a month if you need to go that slowly. Try writing it up on your calendar so you have to see it every day, and you will be surprised how it might start sneaking into your composition vocabulary. Sometimes, largo is better.
SIGN UP FOR A WORD A DAY
You can always just do the random thing and flip open a huge Webster's Dictionary and plunk your finger onto a word and write it down, meaning and all, and try to learn one every day. There are sites, though, like www.dictionary.com that have a free service you can sign up to for this very service, and have one arrive daily in your email. Sure, many of the words may be silly to you, and unusable, but it may help trigger you to remember another word that better describes what you want to put in your lyrics. If nothing else, it helps you think more, and that always helps in the long run, just like jogging helps your running as well as your general health. Don't feel you HAVE to learn all these words. Just seeing a new one each day and perhaps saving it to a file on your hard drive or writing it down on a list you can see from your favorite desk can really help keep those grey cells working and vital.
READ STUFF PERTINENT TO YOUR WORK
Just reading trade magazines, and books on writing can always help. It really is worth it to understand basic concepts like song structure, scales, modes, why hip-hop is different from rhythm and blues, and so on. Try learning a simple concept a month if you can, even if it is just one new scale or mode, or maybe a simple blues riff. Read literature that has inspired your favorite artists, too-you can find some hints of Tolkien and Longfellow in Led Zeppelin, for example. For that matter, just read-if you love reading comic books, you may find yourself writing songs about the characters, as have many other artists, and have a potential hit you can pitch to filmmakers who might be doing a work based on your favorite graphic heroes. Read up on your favorite artists, too, to see how they handled things, and how they look at the world in general-if you are lucky enough to meet up with them someday, you might find you have something other than music to discuss, and that might help you get into a decent conversation with them a lot faster than if you come off as just another person wanting to talk shop when they would rather discuss golf.
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