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Song Form Part 1 SONG FORM PART 1 VERSES AND CHORUSES Today, we’re going to discuss song form. What do I mean by that? I mean the different sections that make up a song, and the way they fit together. By the end of this lesson, we’ll understand the purposes of the different sections of a song, and know how to map out a song to understand its structure. THINGS YOU’LL NEED • A computer or device to watch videos. CHORUS What is a chorus? I’m sure you hear this term all the time. But have you ever taken the time to figure out what it really means? Take a second right now and write down what you think a “chorus” is in a song. The dictionary has two definitions for what a chorus is in a song: 1. a piece of music for singing in unison. 2. a part of a song that recurs at intervals, usually following each verse; refrain That makes sense right? A “chorus” is also a group of people singing together, so a song section that is called a “chorus” would also involve everyone singing together. The other important part of a chorus is that it repeats over the course of a song – usually at least three times. One more thing about the chorus – it’s usually the “thesis” statement of the song or the main point. That’s another reason why it’s repeated so often: so that you can remember what the song is about. This is where the “what” and the “why” of the song are usually found. Here’s an example of a simple, classic song with a chorus that repeats 3 times. Look at the lyrics, and see if you can figure out what part of the song is the chorus: “My Girl,” The Temptations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZh7nRw6gl8 That’s right! The chorus lyrics are as follows: “I guess you say What can make me feel this way My girl Talkin’ ‘bout my girl” Pretty simple right? The Temptations keep the lyrics simple and straightforward and repeat them three times. Everyone immediately knows what the song is about, and it’s easy to sing along to.That’s one of the reasons why this song is such a classic. It’s got a great chorus! So then, what is a verse? VERSE A verse is a section of a song that usually comes before the chorus. There’s usually two of them, and musically, they’re almost identical. But the artist usually changes the lyrics of the verse, and sometimes they will change the melody too. Because the lyrics change, verses are often where the details of the song are included – the “who,” “where,” “when,” and “how.” Listen to this song and see if you can identify where the verses are: “Just The Way You Are,” Bruno Mars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= GAd4ItXHBVE Here’s the first verse: “Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shinin' Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her she won't believe me And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see But every time she asks me "Do I look okay?" I say” And the second verse: “Her lips, her lips, I could kiss them all day if she'd let me Her laugh, her laugh she hates but I think it's so sexy She's so beautiful, and I tell her everyday Oh you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same So don't even bother asking if you look okay, you know I'll say” Notice how most of the lyrics change between the verses. Also, Bruno Mars sings a different melody on “Oh you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change/If perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same” Then he does on “Yeah, I know, I know when I compliment her she won't believe me/And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see” This is a good example of two verses that are mostly the same, but slight changes in lyrics and melody. BRIDGE The other term you hear a lot in songs is the “bridge.” This section is called a bridge because it connects two familiar parts of a song, usually two choruses. But the bridge is different – it’s used to create some contrast be- tween the verses and choruses, so its usually totally different from those two sections. Most often the music is totally different. (This is often where you’ll find a guitar solo). See if you can find where bridge begins in this song: “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X024NEsDyC8 The bridge starts right after the second chorus. The whole sound of the song changes and she sings: “Us girls we are so magical Soft skin, red lips, so kissable Hard to resist so touchable Too good to deny it Ain't no big deal, it's innocent” That leads into the song returning to the chorus again! VERSE CHORUS AND BRIDGE So now we know the three most common sections of a song: the verse, the chorus and the bridge. Most often, you’ll find a song fits some variation of this song form: Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus Now that we know this, we can try to “map” a song’s form. The way that we do this is by using different letters to represent the different song sections, based on the first time you hear them. The first section you hear would be called “A,” the second section “B,” etc. Each time these sections repeat, they are represented with the same letter. For instance, Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus is often represented as A/B/A/B/C/B Let’s try to “map” a song using this letter technique. Try and write down the letters of each song section as you hear them on a sheet of paper. You ready? “When I Come Around,” Green Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A0FkxTotmk At its most simple, this song fits into the A/B/A/B/C/B form. “B” is the chorus (“No time search the world around/’Cuz you know where I’ll be found/When I come around”)”; “C” is the guitar solo; and the rest of the song are the “A” sections. But if you want you can break this song down even further. Notice how the verses are made up of two parts, each 4 lines, with the same repeating melody? Look at the first verse: I heard you crying loud, all the way across town Cause you been searching for that someone And it's me out on the prowl As you sit around feeling sorry for yourself Well, don't get lonely now, and dry your whining eyes I'm just roaming for the moment Sleazin' my back yard so don't get So uptight you been thinking about ditching me If you wanted to, you map the song out like this: A/A/B/A/A/B/C/B. The point is: there’s a lot of different ways to map a song, and not just one right way. But song mapping can help give you a picture of how the song fits together, now matter how you interpret it. Let’s try to map another song: “Buddy Holly,” Weezer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bDqzRT_rko I wrote the song form like this: A/B/C/A/B/C/D/C Don’t worry, I tried to trick you with this one – Weezer uses a song section we haven’t even discussed yet! One more song! Let’s try to map this one: “Bury a Friend,” Billie Eilish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJqWZ3Zy5CU This song is pretty tricky, right? it actually starts with a chorus (“What do you want from me? Why don’t you run from me?”), and it has TWO different pre-choruses (“Step on the glass, staple your tongue…” and “I wanna end me…”) The second verse is really tricky too. There’s the part that sounds like the first verse (“Keep you in the dark, what had you expected?”); then there’s a part that sounds different (“Your talk'll be somethin' that shouldn't be said out loud), and yet ANOTHER part that sounds REALLY different (“For the debt I owe, gotta sell my soul”) Here’s what I wrote: A/B/C/D/A/B/E/F/C/D/A. The point is that there’s no one way to map a song, just like there’s no one way to write a song. But trying to map out these songs allow you to see how they’re put together, and will make it easier to communicate to your bandmates what part of the song you’re talking about..
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