Check Whether Your Lyric Lines Actually Scan
When a line won't sing, it's rarely the words — it's that the line has a different number of syllables from the ones around it, so the melody has nowhere to put them. This counts the syllables in every line you paste, works out the pattern your verse has already established, and marks the lines that break it. The syllable count is a heuristic; the pattern it reveals is what matters. Local only; nothing leaves the tab.
- Sheet
- Syllable count per line against the verse's own pattern
- local
- What it replaces
- Singing it repeatedly and guessing what's wrong
- $0.00
- Input
- Lyric lines, one per line
- no card
- Output
- Counts, the modal pattern, and the deviations
- recomputed
What you pay otherwise
| Route | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vocal producer's hour | Someone diagnosing what you can count | $80+ |
| Re-melodying to fit | Rewriting the tune around an uncounted line | the hook |
| Leaving it awkward | A verse that never quite lands | the song |
| This page | The count, and the lines that break it | $0 |
The workflow
Count the pattern, not the perfection
Verses don't need identical line lengths — they need a repeated shape. A 8-8-11-8 verse scans fine if every verse does the same thing. The tool finds the shape you're already using and flags departures from it.
Treat the syllable count as approximate
Automatic counting reads vowel groups, so it mis-handles words like 'fire' or 'poem', and it can't hear how you'll elide a syllable when you sing it. Use it to find the outliers, then check those by ear.
Fix a long line by cutting, not by cramming
A line with three extra syllables can be sung if you rush it, but it will sound rushed every time. Removing a word is nearly always better than planning to sing faster.
Check the chorus separately from the verse
They usually follow different patterns, and that's correct. Analysing them together produces a false pattern and flags lines that are fine — separate the sections before you trust the flags.
Worked example
Sample: 8-line verse Modal pattern 12 syllables (3 of 8 lines) Deviating lines 2 (14), 4 (13), 6 (10), 7 (13), 8 (6) Consistency 38% Longest line line 2, two over the pattern Uploaded nothing — counted in the tab
Numbers above are sample data produced by the tool's own pre-loaded example, run in the browser — not averages or measured benchmarks.
What breaks this
Treating the count as exact — it reads vowel groups and mis-handles words like 'fire' or 'poem'. Analysing verse and chorus together produces a false pattern. Cramming extra syllables into a line instead of cutting a word; it will sound rushed every time.
Try it now
An eight-line verse is loaded with a 12-syllable pattern, 38% consistent and five lines flagged. Shorten line 2 from 14 syllables to 12 and the score climbs to 50%.
Open the checker →Go deeper: the printable sheet
The analysis is free forever. The $4 one-time tier adds:
- Printable sheet — the lyric with counts in the margin for a session — estimate: ~8 min saved marking it up by hand.
- Saved drafts shelf — keep up to 10 drafts in this browser — estimate: ~10 min saved comparing revisions.
- Section comparison — verse and chorus patterns side by side — estimate: ~12 min saved counting each separately.