How to Write Choruses Your Listeners Want to Hear

[AnthonyCeseri]

Yes, I agree with Casey and Mojobone.

I have also been taught to write each song as if it is three songs in one, one the verse, the second is the chorus and the third song is the bridge. I have experimented and made them separate and then worked to make them flow together. Try this concept, it is really useful to make contrast. It gives a surprise element to the listener and keeps the song from being predictable. (imho)
That's (in my humble opinion).

Alicia

Cool idea, Alicia!

[AdamMcCarthy]

Great topic and all very good points. I like to sum it up in a single word if I may....DYNAMICS!

[RichardCharles]

Another great taxi thread!

Also, is it just my imagination or does the verse vocal melody tend to be staccato and rhythmic and the chorus vocal tends to be legato and melodic?

[mojobone]

I've always liked the concept of contrasting sections when writing songs, because it's a great way to make your chorus stand out, but it's cool to realize it's not a new concept. I think I learned about the idea as applied to the song "OVer the Rainbow" in a class with Steve Seskin.


The big sectional contrast that happens in that song happens in the bridge on the words “someday I wish upon a star…”


I think there are two main things contributing to the contrast happening between the verse and the bridge. The big one is note length. The verse notes (on the words “somewhere over the rainbow”) are long and drawn out. There are a lot of whole notes and half notes sung in the verses, while the bridge is much quicker. A lot of the bridge is eighth notes whipping back and forth in contrast to the drawn out notes of the verses.


A second contributor to the contrast between the two sections of this song is the vocal range used within in each section. Right off the bat, the first two notes sung in the song jump up a whole octave. She sings “Some-“ and then “-where” jumps up an entire octave. So the instant we hear her vocals in the beginning of the song, we know there’s some range to the verse. It happens within the first two notes. This sets the standard for the verse to have a lot of range in it.

But then when Garland sings the bridge, most of the notes in “someday I’ll wish upon a star…” are very close together in pitch. Most of them are only two or three half steps from each other. The notes in that section are tight, from a pitch standpoint, based on the standard set in the previous verse. It’s a stark contrast from the wide ranging vocals of the verses.

With this song being so old, it's cool to see that this concept of contratsing sections is not going anywhere any time soon.

That particular song is a study in contrasts; note (pardon the pun) that in the bridge, a series of eighth notes alternates with a series of half notes, and that the intervals are closer together than for the soaring half notes that follow. (and that 'soaring' quality reinforces the lyrical idea of flying away like a bird) Of course, when you're singing eighths or sixteenths, there's a degree of mechanical difficulty involved, if the interval is a full octave, like that in the first line of the verse; if a singer is even able to execute that, it'll sound like yodeling!