Song Structuring..

this is what make music great it is up to the composer.. bridge, no bridge, chorus, no chorus... reinvent, be different..
 


Song stucturing is always determined by the creative process. I can not remember how many times I have heard from succesful artists/performers say that they wrote a particular song in an hour or less. The real question is one of creativity that you face when the well runs dry.........JMHO................keep the faith, the Ozlee
 
If you find that you are always writing the same structure (from) Listen to your favorite artists and see what they do. Write it down and then try to write a song with the same form. For instance, Aerosmith always had great song structure to my taste. Most of their most popular songs have quite the same song form. + they always use a Pre Chorus OR a Post Chorus OR both. Which makes the songs more detailed.
 
structure/format/formula = over-thinking the creative process... Only after you have a song written should you devote time to it. This stuff is cannon fodder for producers who are trying to get rich.
 
if a person is new to lyric and structure its best to keep it simple form, I know there is so much you can do! I haven`t challenged myself yet. [just my thought]
 
I don't follow any structure. Who cares about structure? Maybe if you want to be Lady Gaga or something, but if you don't care about that kind of shit, write however you want. There are no rules in art and those who try to put rules on it are the ones in control of the music "industry" or the one's who are out for fame and fortune.

From an Amanda Palmer song:
"Art is simple
just ask Andy Warhol
if he weren't dead he would tell you the truth
Call it a masterpiece
call it a urinal
it doesn't matter
It's art so there's nothing to prove"

There really isn't nothing to prove. Art is art, make it however you want. People don't revolutionize or make any changes in any aspect of life (including music) without going against the grain. So, personally, I'm not afaid to not follow a structure. When I write, whatever happens, happens. That's all there is to it for me.
 
The only sin for songwriters is being boring. Don't be boring. Write a story, give your listener an experience, take your listener on a journey. Make her/him want to experience it again and again.

Verse/chorus/etc. are just descriptions of how the song parts repeat or change. They exist because successful storytelling involves both repetition and variation, the familiar vs the different, in some sort of balance. Assuming that your listener has heard your genre of music before, s/he will be able to follow the familiar structural patterns, and thus be able to focus on the experience/journey/story.

Take the "journey" metaphor to it's logical end. Think about picking up the listener in your car and driving him from Point A to Point B. How do you get there? Straight simple road with no scenery? Curved parkway? Hills? Bridge? Are you driving fast or slow? Is the trip short or long? Is there drama occurring? Is the drama occurring inside the vehicle, or outside (at a distance)? Is it an urgent trip or a chill Sunday drive?

If you have a story to tell, then write out the story in words. Then write the music (and structure the song/story) to match the pace and character of the journey that is described in the lyrics.
 
does a song really need lyrics to be memorabe? Look at the Dregs.... I haven't wrote any in years. I just jam. Put riffs together that sound good together. I write my songs because I like them, lyrics or not. most are in the 5 to 8 min rage, with peaks and valleys, heavy, mellow, ambient, heavy again.... whatever. They still have structure, and lyrics can go over them easily, I just rather focus on the BIG RIFF.
 
Mine usually go something like this:

Rock Music
Instrumental intro
Verse
Pre Chorus
Short Chorus/Chorus
Verse
Pre Chorus
Chorus
Bridge
Interlude/softer, shorter bridge
Chorus
Chorus

Folk music:
Intro
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus
Outro
 
All of the music I write is instrumental, so I try to avoid writing into a certain structure and just do whenever I can to make the song flow well while remaining interesting. However, sometimes I'll write songs with the standard intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/solo/chorus structure just in case I ever find someone to add vocals to them :p
 
For me, it all starts with the lyrics.

To at least get started, you need a solid verse and chorus written out in lyric form. So I start by writing. Sometimes I don't know which lines will end up being the chorus, until I figure out the chord progression and see how it all fits together.

But the structure of the lyrics (# of syllables, phrasing) will determine how the chord progression will go. I cant remember who said it, but I remember reading somewhere that "if a song can't be played on an acoustic and still sound good, it's not a good song". For some reason that line always stuck with me. I know this doesn't really work for all styles of music, but I believe the underlying principle to be true. So for that reason, I write all my songs on an acoustic first, even if I end up deciding they would make a better rock song.

Once I have a chord progression I like that fits my verse, I focus on looking for a hook. The hook for me is all about the melody and phrasing I choose for the lyrics, rather than the lyrics themselves. Any line has the potential to be a hook. I try to create a hook in not just the chorus, but in each verse. Something the listener will remember when it comes around again. Sometimes, its repeating the same line in multiple verses, other times it is just repeating a particularly catchy melody/phrasing pattern in the same line on each verse. Another trick I really like, is taking the final line of the chorus, and repeating it over the first repetition of the verse chords , but obviously changing the way it is sung, since the chord progression has now changed. I find that that is a good way to transition to verses.

That's all I have at the moment.

But whoever said up top, to "let the song write itself" hit the nail on the head there. The song should take itself where it wants to go. It shouldn't be forced by preconceived notions of how it ought to sound. There is something really organic about the songwriting process.
 
I cant remember who said it, but I remember reading somewhere that "if a song can't be played on an acoustic and still sound good, it's not a good song". For some reason that line always stuck with me. I know this doesn't really work for all styles of music, but I believe the underlying principle to be true.
You're right. It doesn't work for all styles of music. It can't. It doesn't even work for many songs.
A song is not just the melody or the chord progression. A song is the sum of many musical elements, any one of which could be totally significant at the given time. Listening to the acoustic guitar/vocal versions of Bob Marley's stuff is an eye opener. The melodies are intact but the music sounds the same in so many instances, just that chikka~chikka~chikka guitar strum. To me, they don't sound much. What really makes those songs are the addition of the bass and drums. Turns them into completely different pieces.
Any line has the potential to be a hook. I try to create a hook in not just the chorus, but in each verse.
Great sense there. I think it's important to have hooks all over the place, if that's where the song is headed.
But whoever said up top, to "let the song write itself" hit the nail on the head there. The song should take itself where it wants to go. It shouldn't be forced by preconceived notions of how it ought to sound.
Ironically "let the song write itself" is just as much a preconceived notion as "have verses, hooks, choruses and dramatic chord changing middle 8s".
There is something really organic about the songwriting process.
Well, there can be. But not necessarilly. It's not possible to tell what part of a song just came or developed 'naturally' or what part came about through hard slog and effort and the application of rules, whatever those rules may have been.
 
I have the idea of song structure... I.E. verse chorus and so on. But is there any

Is there any Form, that would help me in the creation of Verse's, Chorus bridge. I get that the bridge is supposed to echo the verse in some way. what about the chorus. does it have a purpose other than to install variation to the song? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this
 
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