SONG COMPONENT SECTIONS are the construction blocks of all songs.  Taking musical ideas and placing them into subject matter that has mass appeal, relatable themes, cleverness, hooks, believability and messages is an art into constructing the basic building blocks.  No matter how creative and powerful lyrics and melodies may be by themselves, they take on a whole new life of power and magic when the are merged together. 

 

A song is greater than the sum of its parts.  Whether your specialty is lyrics or writing melodies, an essential aspect of your craft is understanding how to make the parts fit together to create that magic power and magic.  The more we understand the songwriting medium in which we want to work, with its principles, and forms, the better we can manipulate it.  As a songwriter, one must realize that you set of this crazy process in the listener’s head with every word you write, and then it is you who must bring discipline to the listener’s imagination.

 

All songs have a form or structure that is a song’s basic component section that shapes or organizes its contruction.  Below are the building block sections in the art of songwriting:

 

INTRODUCTION:  typically intros for slower songs are much shorter in order to get the listener into the body of the song more quickly.  Intros for up-tempo songs can be longer because people get involved physically almost immediately and don’t need to wait.  People reflect on slower song lyrics in a more passive way, which increases the need for a block buster chorus.

 

VERSE:  the major vehicle for conveying the information of the song.  Its other major function, both lyrically and musically is to “set-up” or lead to the Chorus, the bridge, another verse, or a title/hook  line.  Verse lyrics have basic characteristics where each verse is different and contains substantial new information each time.  It may also contain elements of previous verses such as the title line if the song has no chorus.  Verse melodies is the same each time it is heard, although there is room for variation and some flexibility to accommodate the lyric.  The reason to keep the melody the same is  because that familiarity makes it easier for the listener to focus on the changing lyric.

 

PRE-CHORUS: Are melodic segments that are different from the verses, chorus or bridge.  They are known by many other names such as climb, lift, channel, B-section, pre-hook, setup all of which give clues to their function.  They are used extensively in contemporary music primarily in country, pop.  Producers seem to favor pre-choruses to help create an additional level of interest to keep a song exciting, particularly in up-tempo or dance songs where extra length and faster tempo make a straight verse/chorus form feel too repetitive.   The basic characteristics of a pre-chorus are:

 

1.        Directly precede the chorus and are created to build tension to increase the feeling of release in the chorus

 

2.        Usually precede each chorus, but may be dropped after the first couple of times if you can find a musical way to get back to the chorus without it

 

3.        Lyrics in pre-chorus can be the same each time or different.  Melodies are the same each time.

 

4.        Length varies, and like the bridge can have from one line to 4 lines.  Pre-choruses usually last no longer than 8 bars

 

CHORUS:  is usually the segment in the song often referred to as the “hook” (or refrain) as it’s the catchiest, most memorable part of the song.  Verses usually concentrate on detail where choruses can make a broader statement that bears more repetition.  The basic characteristics of a chorus are:

 

1.        The melody is the same each time we hear it.

 

2.        The song’s title usually appears in the first and or last line and possibly more

 

3.        The lyric is usually the same each time, although you may want to use some new lyric information in subsequent choruses to develop the story.

 

BRIDGE:  also called the release, break or middle eight.  The bridge provides a variety of important functioning in a song.  Musically, it helps to relieve the boredom factor and for that reason, its usually placed about two-thirds of the way into the song—typically after the second chorus in a verse/chorus form, which is normally where listeners may begin to tire of the song’s melodic repetition.  The bridge zaps the listener back to attention, helps to refocus on the song and can add drama in many other ways.  Musically you can employ any device to achieve contrast.  The melody of a bridge should as different as possible without sounding like it belongs in a different song.  Lyrically, it offers you the opportunity to change gears.  You can reiterate the philosophy of the song in a whole new way by changing the person’s “point of reference.” 

 

1.        Its melody is different from the verse and chorus, although occasionally a portion of the verse or chorus melody can be used in the bridge

 

2.        It usually does not contain the title and/or hook, but that is not always the case.  Thatb decision may depend on how many times you have repeated the title/hook in the song.  If you have not used it much, it might be wise to use it again in the bridge.

 

3.        It usually occurs only once in the song, but it can be repeated in an extended verse/chorus form.  Two things that prevent this type of bridge fromm sounding like a chorus are—it does not contain the title and/or hook and if its constructed properly, its melody leads back to the verse or chorus

 

4.        It is rarely over 8 bars long.  It may be 2 bars, 2 lines or whatever is needed to fulfill the function of breaking up the song.

 

5.        Bridges are entirely optional.  Your most likely to want to create a bridge in your song if you have a lot of melodic repetition in the verses and choruses as it is a great boredom buster. The basic characteristics of a bridge are:

 

ENDING:  typically there are two types of endings for songs--  fading the chorus out and/or climaxing into a sustain on the chorus ending.  The other type of song ending is a specific ending section written to enhance the song dynamic in an ending or changing up the instrumentation to reflect the shift in song ending dynamic.