Toplining: Sharpshooters in Songwriting

Toplining: scherpschutters in songwriting

Forget the image of the traditional songwriter, who builds a song from scratch and – with or without a co-writer – delivers the full package of vocal line, accompaniment and lyrics. In the vast majority of industrial music productions today, especially in pop, hip hop, EDM and commercials, an important role is reserved for ‘topliners’. Guest blogger Peter van Vleuten from the Songwriterschool explains what topliners do and what they need to be able to do.

What are topliners?

Topliners are specialists within the songwriting craft, who focus exclusively on creating and delivering professional, catchy vocal lines, lyrics and hooks on top of an instrumental track that’s already been built. They’re the sharpshooters of songwriting. So how does toplining work, and what do you need to become a successful topliner?

Half-finished product

Put simply, toplining is a separate form of songwriting, based on a half-finished product. The beat and chord progressions have already been fully or largely worked out, and in terms of sound and production, a lot—if not everything—has already been decided. On the one hand, that’s a limitation, but if toplining really is your speciality, it’s also a way to deepen that specific talent massively.

Which skills do you need?

To become a successful topliner, you’ll need a number of essential skills. First of all, of course, a well-developed talent and instinct for coming up with strong lyrics and vocal ideas—melodic hooks that latch onto the listener’s memory and won’t let go. But it can also be about lyrical hooks, or a combination of both.

Know your DAW

A second skill that’s indispensable for topliners is being able to make a solid—ideally professional—recording of your ideas. Don’t forget: the instrumental track has usually been created by seasoned producers and mixers, and they expect a grown-up addition to their product from you. So make sure you’re comfortable working in at least one or two of the main platforms, and with the hardware and software that are standard in the industry.

What does your client want?

Before you start, it’s crucial that you have a clear picture of what your client is looking for. What should the vibe of your topline be? What’s the vocal style or voice type? Are there examples of words, sounds or gimmicks your client has in mind? What should the emotion of your creation be? Should the melody line go up or down? The more concrete the brief, the greater the chance your topline will genuinely match what the producer wants. A strong creative brief prevents disappointment and communication issues, and also brings a certain predictability to the process—and the end result.

Be the music professional on the project

With the rise of electronic possibilities, basic musical knowledge has become less important for the core production. A producer can often get by with a good musical ear to make great tracks, but they don’t always have the skills of a musician, lyricist or vocalist. That knowledge is expected from the topliner. So a topliner with strong vocals has an advantage straight away—and the same goes for a topliner who understands lyrics, music theory and harmony. If you’re missing something in one of those areas, it can be wise to work with a regular buddy who can, for example, deliver seriously strong vocal parts and/or lyrics.

Speed is essential

The skills mentioned above aren’t only needed to come up with interesting lines and hooks, but also to work under time pressure. And that brings us to another essential skill: delivering fast. Toplining usually happens towards the end of the process, as the deadline approaches. So you need to be able to come up with ideas quickly and turn them into something concrete at pace. Slow topliners don’t exist.

Training

So, like any specialist in any field, you’ll need to train a lot to become a reliable, go-to topliner. Practise regularly at coming up with catchy lines—both melodically and lyrically—and train yourself to develop different variants on the same track. You can find tracks to practise with on YouTube and various websites (just be careful: you can’t release those yourself, or you’ll run into trouble).

Kill your darlings

Once you’ve experimented with different topline variants for the track you’ve been given, make a tough, conscious decision about which option you’ll present to your client. So: kill your darlings, here too. It’s not the producer’s job to choose between your options; show them you know what you stand for. And show them you understand what they’re looking for.

Write 24/7

Finally, a useful tip if toplining really is going to be your speciality: don’t only write when you’ve got a brief, but create 24/7. Keep your inner topliner switched on all day and record every melodic or lyrical idea. It’ll keep your creativity in top form, and it will also build a growing stash of ready-to-go ideas you can always draw from when you’re asked to work on a song.

Which hook, vocal line or lyric has grabbed you straight away lately? And do you know why?