What makes a good bridge?

[famous beagle]

That is one of the oddest chord progressions I have ever seen... I'm all for key changes, but going from a Major to a Minor key usually doesn't fair well, but whatever floats the composers boat...

But to the original question; there is no standard rule to a bridge... a bridge is a way to transition between two parts; typically (todays standard) between chorus and verse or vise-versa. bridges work well to switch to a progression and sometimes, if done correctly, to a different key,tempo, timing change, etc...

Heres a simple example:
Cm -Verse
Bb -Bridge
Fm Cm -Chorus

or

Cm -Verse
Bb -Bridge (retarding the bridge helps with the change)
Abm -Chorus

Hope that helps

I'm wondering if you made a mistake in your post, because you talk specifically about going from a major to a minor key as something that doesn't fair well, yet in the progression you listed at the end, you do just that: Cm - Bb - Abm.

The Cm and Bb could come from C minor, or the relative major, Eb major. But moving to Abm for the chorus is very strange. Abm can be seen as being in the parallel Eb minor, in which case you've moved from major to minor --- the same technique you said didn't fair well.

Perhaps you meant to just say Ab?

Anyway, I didn't see the "Be Home Soon" bridge as actually shifting to C minor; I just saw the Bb chord as a borrowed chord from the parallel C minor mode. Of course, the bridge moves on into the keys of G and D from there.

But borrowing chords temporarily from the parallel minor mode is not that uncommon. The Beatles did this all the time. Two of their favorites were the minor iv chord in a major key, as in the verses to "In My Life":

A - E - F#m - A/G

D - Dm - A

Or they loved to borrow the bVI chord as well, as in, say, the coda of "I will":

| Bb (IV) - C (V) | Db (bVI) | | F ||

Anyway, I'm not trying to put words into your mouth, but I'm not sure I understand your suggestion.

 

[chazba]

Kinda formulaic but ....
try modulateing to a new key made of a diatonic minor chord ( ii , iii , vi) that has been altered to a Major chord. Interesting possibilities open up. The trick is getting back to the original key, but this can be done by altering one of the chords (diatonic ) in the new key to become diatonic in the original key. There are many possibilities and the right one depends on the emtional valence of the lyric in the bridge ( if only...on the other hand...maybe we should...I always knew...but then...) Try a few just to see where they lead.


chazba

 

[analogkid]

Lyrics are tough for a lot of people - to write OR to comment on. Sometimes they really DON'T make sense outside the song. Music is easy

Bridges - I still struggle in my limited songwriting to come up with good ones bothe lyrically and musically. I think the basic idea of the bridge is to take a break from the song, to reimagine it, to create some tension, then to relieve the tension and return to the song. Here's an example from something I am playing with at the moment - sorry I don't even have lyrics at all for it yet, but here are the rough changes:

Em - C - D - D7 (4x)

Bridge:

C - G - C - D (2x)

and then back to the first section. I don't have a chorus or (as I said before) any lyrics for this yet, but I think it illustrates at least the musical idea behind a bridge. The song is in a minor key, but the bridge is major - bright and upbeat, against the songs mellow or sad feeling. The lyrics should follow the same concept, much as dementedchord was saying.

AK

 

[Mish]

Bridges are mostly used in pop/soft-rock songs anyway. Don't get me wrong, but the whole idea of a bridge is to lengthen the songs, or otherwise they'd all be like 1-2 minutes. If you take the band like Paramore - well that's just fucking horribly obvious. Unless it's a bridge like this -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=V7BBpXLtA0Q

State-of art bridge (1:41), when it's so much a part of a song that you don't split the song into parts, because you just don't have to.

 

[gecko zzed]

Bridges are mostly used in pop/soft-rock songs anyway. Don't get me wrong, but the whole idea of a bridge is to lengthen the songs, or otherwise they'd all be like 1-2 minutes. If you take the band like Paramore - well that's just fucking horribly obvious. Unless it's a bridge like this -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=V7BBpXLtA0Q

State-of art bridge (1:41), when it's so much a part of a song that you don't split the song into parts, because you just don't have to.

Hmmm . . . I'm not sure abot this. It is true that a bridge adds length to a song, but I don't think that's why they are there. Musically, I think the brdige provides dynamic and sonic contrast, maintaining the listener's interest. I agree with other commentators that the bridge allows you to cast a different perspective on the song. But I do agree that the transition needs to be seamless so that it doesn't appear to be an aftermarket add-on.

 

[dementedchord]

Bridges are mostly used in pop/soft-rock songs anyway. Don't get me wrong, but the whole idea of a bridge is to lengthen the songs, or otherwise they'd all be like 1-2 minutes. .

bwahhahhahhahhahha.... it wasn't until rock and roll that bridges were'nt used all that much... they figured heavily in the 30's and 40's (think tin pan alley) if you get to screwing around with analysis you could even argue that bach /beethoven/ et al. wrote bridges though common practice theory didnt call them that...

 

[Good Friend]

bridge

If you arent sure of common characteristics of bridges in well written songs then you havent done enough studying and if that is so then you probably need to take a deeper look into it before forcing one in. The bridge is meant to relieve monotony for the most part. Which means youll usually make it sound different than the verses etc. BUT in making it different you are stretching the attention span of the listener so the trick is to do it in a way that it will feel like its the same song, yet with different characteristics in flow. I would try writing backwards or looking at what types of chord changes you have used so far in the tune then decide whether you will achieve novelty through similar changes in neighboring key, or novelty through reversing harmonic flow. 5ths up progressions are useful for bridges but arent a must. Also dont forget that there is melodic cadence to consider as well as harmonic, with the root note being full conclusion and the fifth being continuation.

Its funny to come back to this site after a year and still find songwriting advice being distributed in the form of debates about whether its a G or Gaug9th13thsusadd420 in some shit song. Some things never change.

PS Paramore sounds like teenage midlife crisis. Dont listen to bullsht like that except to learn what not to do. Stuff like that is created when emotional abandon precedes the ability to use form well. Sounds mean but its true.

 

[SEDstar]

"Do we feel the lyrics are too personal to critique and that at least if we offer a chord or two here and there, then we have the 'math of music' to defend ourselves with if someone takes offense?"

if you study classical music, one quote says you should compose "with mathematical vigor", style-wise.

while it is no substitute for being artistic or whatever you call it... theres no substitution for all the theory, either. *both are needed*

 

[dementedchord]

that might have been true in barouqe and classical period... but hard to prove with say chopin / debussey / stravinski...

stravinski in his study "the poetics of music" suggests that composition is really about elimination not construction... ie. all things are possible but i gotta wittle it down a bit for breavities sake...

 

[Nicole_Rose]

what i try to do for a bridge is find a counter melody to what i'm already playing and maybe take it a step up and increase the energy of it.

 

[DarkFriend]

In my opinion, without a bridge you've just got verse - chorus - verse - chorus over and over. A bridge is the opportunity to take the song into a new direction temporarily. If you can make the dynamics of the song and the lyrics move to a new place as well, and successfully work your way back, you've done some magic.

Most of my songs are

intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, end

Writing pop/rock songs, this makes sense for me. Adding intros and endings ties everything together and helps establish a recurring theme.

 

[MattNZ]

Often when I write a bridge, I cheat and stick in another verse with maybe a half time beat and a solo instrument instead of vocals to give it another melodic dimension.

An effective approach to often take percussions away completely and go for a more minimalist approach (try dropping out drums and just leaving the midrange instruments, like guitar or piano) during the bridge. Then, when the chorus comes back in, bring it all back at once - suddenly your song's in widescreen for the last chorus!