One of the ruts that I think it’s easy for songwriters to get in sometimes is the rut of making all of your song arrangements the same. I went through a phase a few years back where when I tried to write a song, everything had a couple verses, always followed by a chorus, with a solo thrown in before the last chorus. The parts to my songs could’ve been very interesting, but if you listened to too many of them in a row, they would’ve became very predictable.
Predictable music is pretty much the opposite of creative music.
I didn’t actually realize for a long time that I was in that rut, but once I did I started making a conscious effort to change sometimes. Not ALL the time, because sometimes a Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Solo-Chorus arrangement works for the song, but I still wanted to change sometimes just to see what other kinds of interesting patterns I could come up with.
But those patterns themselves are for a different day (I’ll write about them soon, I promise!)
For now let’s just start with a quick refresher over some of the different parts that can show up in songs. Of course this is by no means a complete list, but it is a pretty complete list of the common song parts, and a good reference for when you’re trying to stretch yourself and your song arrangements.
-Verses
Verses are typically the parts of a song that sound alike but have different words. They’re usually the part of the song that tells the story, or explains the meaning of the song itself. It’s usually best to keep the verses alike, because it builds a sense of structure in a song, but of course that’s a suggestion, not a hard rule.
Songs typically have two or three verses, but occasionally some have a lot more (think American Pie
-Chorus
The Chorus is typically the part of the song that repeats itself. It’s often considered the “main” part of the song, and a lot of times (but not always) it will contain the hook that gets people to remember the song later. It can also be called a “Refrain”
I think that generally speaking the Chorus needs to appear at least twice. Sometimes much much more. If it only appears once, it’s not much of a chorus. This is generally the focal point of a song. A strong chorus can usually pick up the slack for an otherwise mediocre song.
-Pre-Chorus
A Pre-Chorus is a part, probably obviously, that comes right before the chorus. It’s usually set aside from the verse in some way. Often times used as a “build-up” for a chorus. Usually the chord progression is different from either the verse or the chorus. Sometimes the lyrics to a pre-chorus will be the same every time the part appears, sometimes they’ll be different every time. It’s a pretty versatile part of a song when it’s used.
A lot of times a Pre-Chorus will come between a verse and a chorus, but won’t necessarily be used in other places, like when two choruses are back to back.
Again, though, we’re talking in the sense of “usually” and “sometimes”… not “always” or “never”.
-Post-Chorus
Usually this is a part that directly follows the chorus. A lot of times the chord structure changes (although the overall “power” level of the chorus is usually still there.) Many times singers use this to repeat a simple line that appears at the end of their chorus.
An example is Better Than Ezra’s “Good”
-Bridge
This is a change-up part. Almost like a second style of verse. They are completely different from the other parts of a song. Usually songs just have one bridge, but with creative enough writing, you could get away with more than one. If you have more than one, though, typically they would be different even from each other.
I suppose if they were similar to each other, they would almost be considered a “Verse B” or something along those lines.
-Musical Solo
A part without singing, where instruments often play a solo. Lots of times it seems easy to solo over the verse or chorus part, but solos become very very interesting when they get a chord progression of their own. It makes it like an additional bridge or something. Again, you can have more than one as long as you can keep it interesting. Slash has (I think) 3 solos in November Rain
-Intro
And intro can be a good way to catch someone’s attention. People often use the verse or chorus part, perhaps with some slightly different instrumentation as an intro, but it can be really cool when you put a completely different spin on it, and play a part that doesn’t appear anywhere else in the song.
Sometimes a musical solo can become a good intro. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride And Joy”
-Outtro
Same concept as an Intro, except at the end of the song instead. I learned that it’s officially called an “Extro”, but I don’t think I could get used to saying that, so I’m going to keep calling it an Outtro.
Same ideas… often people will play a few lines from the chorus or something as an outtro, but sometimes slowing it down at the end, and holding out the final chord.
It can be equally as interesting to play through a progression from the song, but cut it off suddenly, even at a chord that doesn’t resolve.
Or, like the intro, you can go completely different.
-Breakdown
A Breakdown can be used in lots of different ways and it is a great way to add dynamics to a piece of music. It can be a verse with significantly less instrumentation (maybe the drums drop out, or some of the guitars), or it can be a chorus with less instrumentation.
Sometimes a breakdown and a bridge might actually be the same part. You could take your song in a completely different direction but at the same time take the intensity down a notch.
Lots of different ways to break down a song, but usually the intention is just to lower the energy before raising it WAY up.
So What’s The Point?
The point is if you want to be creative with your song writing, learn how to use these different parts of songs, and learn how to mix things up. Figure out how you usually do something, then try to do something entirely different. Experiment, experiment, experiment!
Pingback: X Number of Ways To Spice Up Your Arrangement | Creative Music