Song Structure Resource Notes

Notes

0:13- Many songs use the structure “Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus”

0:33- The Chorus: A repeated section, the most memorable/catchy part of the song.

0:47- Why is a chorus important? Choruses “give the song its identity”, and are often the most musically complex part. Listeners will remember it.

1:41- The Verse: A simpler section, intended to tell the story that the song is written about.

1:50- What is a Verse? Verses have more complex lyrics, and the music is quieter and simpler, as it is in the background more. The lyrics change verse to verse, but the music in the background almost stays the same.

2:29- The verses shouldn’t all be identical. Choruses stay the same, so if the verse doesn’t change then the song will likely be boring.

2:53- The Bridge: a section completely different from both the verse and the chorus, so that the listener doesn’t get bored.

3:09- What is a Bridge? It is meant to tell the story in a different way, both by using different lyrics and different melody.

3:47- Songwriting is much more complex than just including these three things, but these are the basics and are applicable to any song.

A song that I think is a good example is “Let Your Heart Rule Your Head” by Brian May, as the writing is pretty simplistic and perfectly demonstrates the song structure demonstrated in this video.

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