{"id":79,"date":"2009-10-25T19:46:41","date_gmt":"2009-10-25T23:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/?p=79"},"modified":"2009-10-25T19:46:41","modified_gmt":"2009-10-25T23:46:41","slug":"song-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/irenejackson.com\/songblog\/song-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Song Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image by Tony the Misfit<\/a> via Flickr<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a9 I.Woloshen<\/p>\n

Often I come across songwriters who are confused as to the labels we have for different parts of a song. Verses and choruses<\/a> are obvious, I think! However, what is a bridge? A pre-chorus? Intro? Extro? Here are my definitions (I’m smart enough to know that definitions can change from writer to writer!):<\/p>\n

A bridge is a musical and\/or lyrical break in the song, often inserted after a couple of verses and choruses. It can, when written effectively, give a little change of pace to the song once the repetition begins to become obvious to the listener. Sometimes I might write a simple musical break with no lyrics<\/a>, usually in the same key, but with a different chord progression<\/a>. Lyrics are often part of a bridge, however. I’ve also met pro songwriters who HATE bridges and never write ’em! To each his own!<\/p>\n

A pre-chorus is a lead up to the chorus, a kind of “build” if you will. They are not as common as bridges, but can be very effective in bridging the verse<\/a> just before the chorus.<\/p>\n

Intros are at the very beginning of a song, the introduction to it. If you are pitching your songs, better keep your intros SHORT!! Publishers, A&R reps and label execs usually don’t have the patience for long self-indulgent intros, and may give up before you even get to the first verse! Sometimes an intro can be effective by foreshadowing the chorus chords just a little, or a quick build of instruments into the song. When I’m playing live, I may stretch the intro to a song and let it build a groove before I start singing.<\/p>\n

Extros are often mis-labeled “outros” (I hate that!)…and are the lead-outs or endings to a song. Again, they can get too long and self-indulgent. The faders on recording equipment back in the sixties and seventies lead to just about every recorded song fading out…! There’s nothing that beats a nice, tight and unexpected ending, though!<\/p>\n

Middle Eight – this is a term you might hear that sometimes refers to a type of bridge, and other times is simply an instrumental break<\/a>, usually (but not always) eight bars long. In a rock song, for instance, it might contain a guitar lead…Eddie Van Halen howling alone on his guitar for eight bars \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Breakdown – sometimes about two-thirds of the way through a song, you’ll suddenly hear just the drums playing alone, or the vocals<\/a> alone, or hand-clapping, etc., with nothing else in the mix. Then, there will be a build-up of instruments again. This is what is referred to as a “breakdown”. It’s more of an arragement term, rather than a songwriting one. But if you’re in a studio trying to get a good recording of your song, you might use this trick to make your arrangement more interesting.<\/p>\n

And here’s my extro…. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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