What Is Top Lining (and Why Every Songwriter Should Try It)?
If you’ve ever turned on the radio and thought, “I could write a melody over this track”...you’ve already had a taste of top lining.
At its core, top lining is the art of writing a vocal melody (and often lyrics) over a pre-made instrumental track. Producers use it all the time in pop, hip hop, EDM, and sync music, but it’s just as powerful as a creative exercise for indie songwriters.
Why it sparks creativity:
When you top line, you’re not starting from a blank page. You’ve got an instrumental bed to respond to. The chords, groove, and vibe are already laid down.
That frees up your energy to focus on melody, rhythm, and lyrical ideas. Instead of wrestling with both the music and the words at once, you can lean into expression.
For non-instrumentalists:
If you don’t play piano or guitar, top lining is a gift. You don’t need to worry about building a chord progression or accompaniment. You can simply press play on the track and start experimenting with your voice.
That’s why so many non-playing vocalists use top lining as their primary way of creating.
For instrumentalists:
If you do play, top lining helps break your ruts. We all tend to fall back on familiar chord progressions, keys, rhythmic patterns, and the same grooves. Writing to an outside track forces you to step out of that comfort zone.
You’re reacting to someone else’s musical landscape which means new phrasing, unexpected melodies, and fresh lyrical ideas. It's similar to how co-writing can help you break the chains of your own creative habits.
Top lining gets you out of your head and into the flow. It nudges you past the safety of your “usual box” and invites you to discover new melodic instincts.
👉 In the next section, I’ll walk you through a short top lining exercise you can try right away. All you’ll need is your voice, a recording app (even your phone voice memos), and a track to sing over (I'll give you 5 options).
TOP LINING EXERCISE
Come up with at least five different melodies for one of these tracks. The objective is to push you out of your 'norm' and try new things.
Below is a dropbox link to 5 tracks - choose one to write with this week. Then make five different melodies for the one song - by singing into your DAW or phone.
If ideas for lyrics or themes come to mind while coming up with melodies, write them down but don't get caught up in the lyrics. Just sing it on a neutral syllable like "la" or "doo".
Things to experiment with:
- Start on a different note of the scale
- Start on different beats of the bar
- Change up rhythms
- Legato sections. Punchy sections.
- Lots of space between notes. Not so much space.
Here is the DropBox link
***THESE TRACKS ARE FOR LEARNING PURPOSES ONLY - NOT FOR RECORDING ***
If you end up writing a song you like, go ahead and develop your arrangement. But you may not use these DropBox recordings for a final product or official demos.
I'd love to hear how this exercise goes for you. Did you find that it opened up your creativity? Reply and let me know.
And, if you want to get more experience with Top Lining and learn the nuances of how major artists use this as a way of writing because there is no shortage of beats out there you can find or purchase if you want to make this a regular part of your writing...
My friend Lara Chapman from VoxTape Studios has a really cool Songwriting Framework you can use.
It's already on a big sale for $7, BUT since Lara and I are friends, she gave me a special coupon so you can get it FREE. Just click the button below and use the coupon code BREE7
Always in your corner,
<3 Bree
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