Song Structure

[AnthonyCeseri]

I've been thinking about song structure lately and the different roles of the sections within a song. I came up with this and wanted to get your thoughts...

Verse
Lyrically, the verses of your song will move your story forward. The chorus or refrain is likely to have the same words each time, so the verse is your chance to keep your ideas moving along.

Chorus
Think of your chorus as the big idea for what your song’s all about. That’s partly why your title is most likely to show up in your chorus. Your title also sums up what the song’s about. Melodically, the chorus will be the catchiest part of your song. This is what people will have stuck in their head long after your song is over. That’s another reason it’s good to have your title in the chorus. When people get your chorus stuck in their head, they’ll easily know what your song is called and can find it later when they want to hear it again.

Pre-Chorus
The pre-chorus is an add-on before the chorus. It usually repeats the same lyrics each time, the same way a chorus does. Musically, a lot of times it creates a nice build up to what’s coming in the chorus.

Bridge
The bridge is a departure from what we’ve heard in a song, previously. This goes for both the lyrics and the music. Lyrically it’s an opportunity for a new perspective. Musically, it’s a chance to offer the listener something they haven’t heard before to keep the song interesting.

Refrain
In the AABA, or AAA structures, the refrain is the line that draws all the attention in your verses. It’s usually at the beginning or end of each verse and is often the title of the song.

Hook
The hook doesn’t necessarily refer to a specific section of a song, except to say it’s the catchiest part of a song. Most of the time, it will be your chorus, if your song has one. If your song doesn’t have a chorus your hook will most likely be your refrain. As hit songwriter, Clay Drayton, says “A fish knows the hook… Once it’s in you, it’s hard to get it out.”

[Len911]

I will agree and offer a few more thoughts:

Verse
Verse 1 is the exposition, meaning it should introduce all the characters, generally set the scene by giving the important details. Verses should persuade why the emotion and idea contained in the chorus is relevant.

Pre-chorus
Creates tension before the climax explodes in the chorus.

Chorus
Main emotion or idea.

Bridge
The logical contrast to the emotion in the chorus. Usually a literal translation of the idea. General insight as to what is really going on or what one really wants to say.

Refrain or hook
see chorus

The verse is what a liar tells before telling the lie,lol! A good liar almost always has a plausible, convincing argument before he tells the lie or chorus. The bridge is like the conscience of a liar, if they have one,lol, it reminds the liar of the facts and of the fact that they are telling a lie. I think I am lying but it started out sounding like a good analogy.
If it's an instrumental, it's like faking, I'm gonna stop before I get in too deep.

[AnthonyCeseri]

I will agree and offer a few more thoughts:

Verse
Verse 1 is the exposition, meaning it should introduce all the characters, generally set the scene by giving the important details. Verses should persuade why the emotion and idea contained in the chorus is relevant.

Pre-chorus
Creates tension before the climax explodes in the chorus.

Chorus
Main emotion or idea.

Bridge
The logical contrast to the emotion in the chorus. Usually a literal translation of the idea. General insight as to what is really going on or what one really wants to say.

Refrain or hook
see chorus

The verse is what a liar tells before telling the lie,lol! A good liar almost always has a plausible, convincing argument before he tells the lie or chorus. The bridge is like the conscience of a liar, if they have one,lol, it reminds the liar of the facts and of the fact that they are telling a lie. I think I am lying but it started out sounding like a good analogy.
If it's an instrumental, it's like faking, I'm gonna stop before I get in too deep.

Awesome - great add-on, thanks!

[fronzarp]

Hi Anthony. Great topic. I was recently thinking about song structure as well, a little earlier in the year, and came up with a slightly different way to define it rather then verse/chorus etc. It's all pretty close to your descriptions, of course. Just a different way of describing the same beast

Soft theme - introduction/scene setting (probably musical hook establishing genre)
Strong theme - where the general mood is established and the characters quickly introduced (lyrics)
Build Tension - establishing the crux of the story, the conundrum that the characters must deal with by the end of the song
1st Resolution - the chorus of course, the slight release of the tension
Build Characters - Development of the personalities involved and affected by the story and and why they're affected. Why we should care about them
2nd Resolution - chorus again (hopefully with a more developed meaning now that you know more about the characters)
Chracter and Tension interact - where the characters directly confront or interact with problem which is the essence of the story
3rd Resolution - chorus
Aftermath - extension of the chorus or outro that gives the final reflections on what's just happened, perhaps what happened to the characters or a moral

I've been using this as a guide recently and its helped me a lot. Focusing on an emotional flow rather then musical blocks revolving around a definitive chorus hook.
Anyway, as I said, different way of describing the same beast. But since redefining the structure into something that makes more sense to me personally I've definitely felt my songs have fell into place more easily

[AnthonyCeseri]

Hi Anthony. Great topic. I was recently thinking about song structure as well, a little earlier in the year, and came up with a slightly different way to define it rather then verse/chorus etc. It's all pretty close to your descriptions, of course. Just a different way of describing the same beast

Soft theme - introduction/scene setting (probably musical hook establishing genre)
Strong theme - where the general mood is established and the characters quickly introduced (lyrics)
Build Tension - establishing the crux of the story, the conundrum that the characters must deal with by the end of the song
1st Resolution - the chorus of course, the slight release of the tension
Build Characters - Development of the personalities involved and affected by the story and and why they're affected. Why we should care about them
2nd Resolution - chorus again (hopefully with a more developed meaning now that you know more about the characters)
Chracter and Tension interact - where the characters directly confront or interact with problem which is the essence of the story
3rd Resolution - chorus
Aftermath - extension of the chorus or outro that gives the final reflections on what's just happened, perhaps what happened to the characters or a moral

I've been using this as a guide recently and its helped me a lot. Focusing on an emotional flow rather then musical blocks revolving around a definitive chorus hook.
Anyway, as I said, different way of describing the same beast. But since redefining the structure into something that makes more sense to me personally I've definitely felt my songs have fell into place more easily

Hey great stuff. Thanks! Interesting new take on structure. I think your terms are right on...

[Razor7Music]

Not sure if this Post is still alive, but I had a question as I heard a lot of the same valuable input from some of the breakout sessions at the Road Rally. The one thing that I wanted to know is does a hit Pop song have to have a bridge? Let's presume there are other breaks, or something contrasting in the song to give the listener some variety. Then does the tune have to have a bridge?

[Casey H]

Not sure if this Post is still alive, but I had a question as I heard a lot of the same valuable input from some of the breakout sessions at the Road Rally. The one thing that I wanted to know is does a hit Pop song have to have a bridge? Let's presume there are other breaks, or something contrasting in the song to give the listener some variety. Then does the tune have to have a bridge?

Although, pop songs do not HAVE to have a bridge, most really great ones do for obvious reasons... It's a needed musical change of pace from the V-C routine and it gives a place to add an additional dimension (lyrical) to what the song is about such as another aspect of the story.

It's even more important for beginner songwriters to have bridges because the bar is even higher for newcomers. You want to demonstrate your command of songwriting structure and lyrical development. So, I would suggest always having a bridge in a chorus-based song and go with something like V C V C B C.

Casey

[Razor7Music]

Not sure if this Post is still alive, but I had a question as I heard a lot of the same valuable input from some of the breakout sessions at the Road Rally. The one thing that I wanted to know is does a hit Pop song have to have a bridge? Let's presume there are other breaks, or something contrasting in the song to give the listener some variety. Then does the tune have to have a bridge?

Although, pop songs do not HAVE to have a bridge, most really great ones do for obvious reasons... It's a needed musical change of pace from the V-C routine and it gives a place to add an additional dimension (lyrical) to what the song is about such as another aspect of the story.

It's even more important for beginner songwriters to have bridges because the bar is even higher for newcomers. You want to demonstrate your command of songwriting structure and lyrical development. So, I would suggest always having a bridge in a chorus-based song and go with something like V C V C B C.

Casey

Great points!