Writing the topline

Definition

The topline is the main melody of a song with its lyrics, written over an already existing instrumental track. The topliner is the writer who creates it. The term comes from the pop and dance industry of the 2000s, when the division of labor between producer (track) and melodic writer (top) became the norm.

Why it is a discipline of its own

Writing over a track means working with harmony, tempo and sound that are already decided. The topliner does not choose the chords: they choose which chord tones to land on, when to come in and how much space to leave. It is very rhythmic work.

The six-step method

1. Listen to the loop 5–10 times without singing: identify the groove, where the space is (the emptiest bars), the key. In C major / A minor check whether the track is more “major” (gravitates to C) or “minor” (gravitates to Am).
2. Mumble (gibberish): sing free syllables (“na na,” open vowels) while recording everything, 3–5 full takes. Many of the best phrases are born here because they sound good before they mean anything.
3. Select the motifs: listen to the takes and cut out the 1–2 bar fragments you remember. A good topline hook is a recognizable rhythmic motif more than a sequence of pitches.
4. Build the sections with “melodic math”: the term used in Max Martin's circle for the symmetry in the number of syllables between corresponding phrases. If the first phrase of the verse has 7 syllables with stresses on the 2nd and the 6th, the corresponding phrase repeats them. The ear recognizes the pattern and memorizes it.
5. Differentiate the sections: verse more spoken and lower, pre-chorus that rises and speeds up (shorter notes), chorus with longer notes and higher register.
6. Lyrics: replace the syllables while keeping the vowels where the long and high notes fall (open A, O, E sing better than I and U up high).

Choosing notes over the harmony

Over a C–G–Am–F loop (I–V–vi–IV):

chord tones on strong beats (C/E/G over C, G/B/D over G) give stability;
tension notes on strong beats create color: D over C (9), A over F with F in the bass (3) but F over G (7 of the dominant);
a note that stays still while the chords change (for example E4 over C, G, Am, F) changes function with every chord: it is the 3 over C, the 13 over G, the 5 over Am, the 7 over F. It is one of the most used tricks in pop (melodic pedal).

Rhythm of the topline

Pickup (anacrusis): starting half a beat before the bar gives drive.
Entering after beat 1: leaving the downbeat free makes the phrase more conversational (typical of R&B and modern pop).
Repetition on repeated notes: syllables repeated on the same pitch in sixteenth notes (widely used in trap-pop and K-pop).
Space: a chorus in which the voice occupies every sixteenth note has no room to breathe; alternate full phrases and half-bar pauses.

Use in real songs

Rihanna — Umbrella (2007, written by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart): the repetition of the final syllable of the title becomes a rhythmic hook in itself.
Sia and Ester Dean are well-known examples of professional topliners who write for other artists.
In K-pop many toplines are written at international song camps over already finished tracks.

Common mistakes

A melody that follows the highest note of the chord (it sounds like a piano exercise).
Verse and chorus in the same register.
Too many ideas: an effective chorus usually has 1–2 repeated motifs, not 4.
Ignoring breathing: a 4-bar phrase at 90 BPM without pauses lasts more than 10 seconds.

Practical exercise

Take an 8-bar track (even a rhythm and 4 chords in FL Studio). Record 5 one-minute mumble takes. Cut out 3 one-bar motifs. Build an AABA' chorus with those motifs, check that the A phrases have the same number of syllables, then write the lyrics.

Hooks in pop songwriting, Prosody, Melodic writing and contour, Building the chorus, Composing in K-pop style.