Creating the perfect structure for your song

Do you know what they say about the rules? They actually say a lot of things about the rules, but here are two: the rules were made to break them, and you need to know what the rules are before you can break them. While Judge Dredd may disagree with the first, the second is certainly true and never more so than when writing a song.

The structure of the song may not be the first thing you think about when you start writing. You probably work on the verse or chorus, or maybe you have a nice riff that you want to expand on a song. So you get it and then you start thinking about the other parts: the introduction, how many verses, the eighth, you want an instrumental, the end ...

Some song genres are quite rigid in format, others are more flexible and you need to know where you can bend the rules and why you might not want to do it to make your song stand out from the rest. Let's look at the sections you'll find in most songs and the role they play in building the song.

Parts of the song

Introduction Yes, this brings you to the song. It can be two, four, or eight bars long or more. Some songs have no introduction at all. The intro to a pop song often reminds of the chorus or the hook. In a club song, it is often a good idea to have eight bars of rhythm to help the DJ mix his song. They say that music publishers generally only listen to the first 20 seconds of a song before deciding whether to reject it, so if you send material to an editor, keep the introduction short and get into the song as quickly as possible. Save the 5-minute introductions for the CD version.

Verse. This is the preamble to the choir. It sets the scene, certainly lyrical, and as the verses progress, they often tell a story or tell episodes of a situation, although that is not essential. They are usually eight or sixteen bars long and melodically not as strong as the chorus, although, again, that is not essential. However, it often seems that the composer ran out of ideas when writing the verse. One of the strengths of The Beatles songs River Sultan is that the verses and backing vocals are equally strong and most people can hum or sing along to most of the Beatles' hits. Not so with many songs where the verses are little more than fillings to take you to the choir.

Chorus. This is what everyone remembers, whistles and sings. It must be the strongest part of the song and is generally or contains the hook. It is usually eight or sixteen bars long.

Half eight. As a song progresses, there is a danger of boredom for the listener. The eighth half offers them a break and usually comes after a couple of verses and choruses. Some people think it is an alternative verse and that is one way of looking at it. It is often modulated to a different key or introduces a new chord progression and generally does not include the song title. All too often, however, it's simply an excuse to grab a few bars. Although called the middle eight, it could be four or sixteen bars long.

Bridge. Many people use the terms 'intermediate eight' and 'bridge' as synonyms, and this usage is so popular that it would be unpleasant to disagree. However, among those who prefer to notice the difference, a bridge is a short section used to bridge the gap between the verse and the chorus. It can be only two or four bars long and is often used when the verse and chorus are so different from each other that a 'union' phrase helps to unite them.

Instrumental. This is part of the song without any voice. Yeah ok It is often an instrumental version of the verse or chorus, it can be an impromptu variation of one of these, or it can be a completely different melody and chord set. Sometimes it fits into a song where a vocal vocal medium would otherwise go.