Writing Tips

Song Forms and Terms – A Quick Study

Posted on by IJ
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Image by Rickyuan via Flickr

© I.Woloshen

None of us likes to think that we require any “structure” to our writing…that we just pour out our thoughts and feelings, resulting in a perfect song. That may be true on a personal level…however, chaos is a pretty difficult thing for others to listen to! In listening to newer writers, I occasionally come across a song that seems to have no structure at all, with little or no thought paid to what the listener might be going through 🙂 So as much as you might want to rail against the idea of “rules”, there is one thing to consider. A house still needs a door to go in and out of, it still needs a window or two and some solid walls so it won’t fall down. This, metaphorically speaking, is what song form is all about. It is a framework, a sense of meaningful structure, that makes the song listenable.

Before we tackle the subject of song form…let’s talk about different songwriting terms and what they mean. Most people understand the idea of a verse and a chorus. In an earlier article entitled Song Structure, I discuss in more detail the purpose of each part of a song. But I will briefly go through them here again in order to introduce the idea of song form.

The purpose of a verse is to tell the story or describe the feeling, etc. The chorus is the focal point of the song, the central theme, if you will. A bridge is a kind of fresh perspective, a small part that may consist of only music, or both lyrics and music, usually placed after the second chorus. These are the main parts that are used when describing song form. Song form is no big mystery, just a new term to some people 🙂 You may have seen or heard about a song having an ABAB form, or ABABC, etc. What does this mean?



The oldest song form, is often referred to as folk, where there was no chorus, or any other part, for that matter. Verses are always labeled A. So, in describing a folk song form, or any song that has only verses, the song form is AAAA.

A lot of songs these days follow the next type of song form, which includes a chorus. The chorus is labeled B, so a verse, chorus, verse, chorus type of song is ABAB. Simple, isn’t it?

Now we come to song forms including a bridge, which is labeled C. So here’s a simple form with a bridge: AABABCB. What we have here is a verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.

You will likely find that there are many variations of these forms. For instance, some songs start with the chorus, some have more than one bridge, etc. If you evaluate songs by some of your favourite artists, you’ll find all kinds of variations. But most songwriters don’t start writing by coming up with a song form first…this usually reveals itself as the song is being written. It is, however, a quick and easy language to use when discussing the process with other writers.

Understanding song form is an interesting way to further your education on the craft of songwriting…if you sit down and experiment with different song forms, you may find all kinds of possibilities you didn’t know existed before. Are you stuck in a song form rut, and even more importantly, did you know you were? 🙂 As songwriters, we are always on the hunt for fresh ideas, and changing song forms can be a way to accomplish that.

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I’m Too Happy To Write

Posted on by IJ

© I.Woloshen

I was at a songwriter‘s night recently where two writers said they hadn’t written anything for months because they were too happy! Does this mean that you have to be miserable to be creative? Well, that my friends, is a songwriting myth!

It’s obvious that when you are in one of your dark periods, you can better tap into the emotions that go along with it. But if you feel that you are a slave to your moods and can’t produce without them, you haven’t tried hard enough yet. How would staff songwriters at publishing companies ever eat if they had to depend on their state-of-mind?

First of all, you limit yourself if you think that the only good songs are miserable ones. You may be attracted to them, but they are only a small portion of what you are capable of. And you ALSO limit yourself if you decide ahead of time that an uplifting song is going to be crap. Have you ever written a happy song? Trust me, I write lots of ’em and they can be a lot of fun to write! So my first piece of advice to you is to write in opposite feelings than you are used to…spread your wings a bit and try a different emotional feel.

Secondly, you are not new to this world, you’ve been here awhile (even if you’re only 15!). You have had many experiences already, some of them quite traumatic, that you can draw from if you insist on writing something miserable 🙂 But getting to that creative “place” will take a little work.

Here are some ideas: If you’ve ever meditated, do so. Clearing your head of all present thoughts and feelings will also clear your emotional slate and give you a chance to really remember those times. If you don’t know a thing about meditation, it is really about releasing yourself from thinking for a little while. It’s hard to do at first, but keep at it…just sit there and think of NOTHING. Hard to do, eh? 🙂

Once you feel you are ‘blank’ enough, go back in your mind to a time when you were really unhappy, angry, sad or distraught. Only YOU know what those times were. Close your eyes and visualize that period of time…think about how that emotion felt in your body, picture every detail about that time that you can. The more detail you remember, the closer you will come to re-experiencing it. Spend a little time there, and then pull out a pen or your instrument, whichever you use first. Either write out a description of those feelings…all of it, physical, emotional, everything…or play some chords that get close to that feeling. Just a warning though…once you’re finished, DO take the time to visualize yourself back into your present, happy state 🙂

I’ll give you an example of something that I often use in my writing, especially when trying to express sorrow or grief. It is a picture I’ve had in my head since I was 14…it is my mother’s bedroom, she is dying of cancer, she is holding my hand and that act alone is scaring me. She is saying goodbye, although at the time I don’t realize it’s her last goodbye. To this day, I become overwhelmed when I think of that scene. I have used it many times to get myself into that emotional frame of mind.

I have also used memories from wonderful, flirtatious experiences to write romantic or lustful songs 🙂 And if I want to write something self-effacing, I remember some stupid things I did in my life…you see what I mean? You’ve already got a headful (literally) of experiences to draw upon when you are “Too Happy To Write”!! Oh yeah, how about not taking a bath or shower for a couple of days? That’ll make you pretty miserable 🙂







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Critique and Learn

Posted on by IJ

You may think you’re too new at songwriting to critique…let me tell you a good lesson I learned not that long ago. I had been writing for a number of years, and attended a songwriting workshop where, at one point, we were all supposed to critique each other’s work. Now when I was introduced to some of these writers, I found out exactly how new some of them were to the craft, and I thought to myself, rather ignorantly, how can they possibly help me? I had more “experience”!

As it turned out, they gave me some very valuable ideas, and, most of all, they were able to hear from a totally objective point of view and tell me what DIDN’T MAKE SENSE. You might think you have adequately told your story, until someone comes along and says “How did you get to there from here?” and “What does this mean?”

That’s why I’m a firm believer in critiquing as a way of learning your own craft. What “errors” can you pinpoint in a song? If you just have a feeling about some part of it, can you put it into words, and understand what needs to be corrected?

Most importantly, you will be more open to critiques of your own material! Why? Because you will begin to understand the thought and work that goes into critiquing properly and respect that.

So here are some general rules to critiquing:

  1. “Critique” is defined as critical assessment or evaluation. Anyone can “trash” a song (I’ve heard and read some really bad trash), it’s easy to just say something doesn’t work. Can you say WHY it doesn’t work? That’s where the evaluation comes in.
  2. Look at the song in the same way you would your own. What feels awkward or doesn’t fit?
  3. If possible, give an example of what you might do to change it. This is an excellent exersize in problem-solving for you! Tell them how you did what you did. Sometimes there is not enough time to give examples of everything, but if one seems obvious to you, spell it out.
  4. Never, never say “should”. “You should change this…” implies a hierarchy of some sort and that you know better. Well, if you think you know better, keep it to yourself.
  5. BE SURE to include what you LIKED about a song. It really helps soften up the critiquing you’re about to impart. If you have nothing positive to say about a song, either don’t critique, or spend some good time looking for something.
  6. Remember to take into consideration the style of the writer. A different style may imply a different approach. For instance, some country music works best when the lyrics are conversational but clever. Some progressive rock may imply a less straight up style of lyric-writing. Are there certain styles of music that you loathe? Now there’s a challenge!
  7. The simple things are important. Does the music match the lyric? If there are minor chords, no point in talking too much about what a lovely day it is.
  8. Tell the songwriter that this is JUST YOUR OPINION, and that it must be taken with a grain of salt. They may or may not agree with your assessment. That’s okay! Don’t get your defences up, too! Be humble! Often I’ve had songwriters tell me that someone else said exactly the same thing about the song to them before. This reinforces two things, one is that the songwriter starts to realize that maybe there is a problem if more than one person points it out. The other is that it gives YOU some credibility!

I think there’s alot to say about critiquing, and I may just add some things as I think of them. In the meantime, try it out! See how much YOU learn!

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