When thinking about how to structure your song, know that there are no absolutes. There are no right or wrong paths. In popular music culture, there is definitely a predominant structure that is commonly used. But what determines which song structure to use? One important thing to keep in mind when thinking about song structure is the purpose of the song. This will help you get a clear idea of how you want to structure your song.
Purpose of your song
What is the purpose of your song? Is it to make money? Is it to play on the radio? Or maybe you don’t worry about money and radio play, but you want to make a song that evokes emotions in your listeners. Perhaps the purpose of your song is to stand the test of time and have listeners 40 years from now.
This is how the purpose of your song affects the structure of your song.
If you want to make money from your song by connecting it with pop artists and on popular radio stations, you must follow the general structure of the song that is used. This is not true for all cases (example: Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody), but it is true for most. And what is this general song structure formula? It is in the vein of ABABCB or in other words, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus.
The goal of this structure is to have a set theme song and repeat it to generate a sense of familiarity in listeners, then introduce a new section (section C) that gives the listener a sense of freshness. After the new section is introduced, a topic that was previously introduced is reintroduced, making the section feel fresh and familiar. This gives the listener more opportunities to feel hooked without feeling like the song is boring and repetitive.
This idea of creating a sense of familiarity and variety is not limited to the ABABCB structure. The structure can be expanded to ABCABCDB also known as verse-pre-chorus-chorus-verse-pre-chorus-chorus-bridge-chorus. Another example of an extension is ABABABCB, but be careful that the song sounds too repetitive. You can do this by thinking of varying the instrumentation in each section or even using variations where you could do something a little different in the third verse. Personally, repeating a verse and chorus 3 times before the bridge is too much. I give myself a rule of “no more than two” for sections other than the chorus. The chorus is given the rule of ‘no more than three’. You can get creative and add subtle changes to expand ABABCB. Another example is ABABCAB where you have another verse after the bridge.
If you can’t decide which song structure to use, start with ABABCB. If this structure doesn’t provide the space you need for all your letters, expand it. Maybe you can add a pre-chorus or add an extra verse at the beginning where the structure would become AABABCB.
Many times, people feel the need to add something to the song when they really need to leave the song as is or even remove some of the content. Don’t add lyrics just because you feel the need to fill in the space in the song structure. Cut out your frame to fit your letters. For example, if you decided to write a song with the structure ABCABCDABC and its lyrics are too short for the structure. Don’t add more letters for the sake of filling the space. If you feel like your letters are done and anything else would be filler, then reduce the structure.
If you are the songwriter who doesn’t write songs to play in the top 40 list, then you have more freedom than pop song writers. You can even write a 30 minute song if you want. Would that mean that people will listen to it? My guess is only if you make a song that contains a high value.
You can have a song structure that is A – A – A – A. If you use that structure, I advise you to have very good lyrics, or have an interesting instrumentation or chord progression that gives listeners a sense of variety. It can have an A – B – C – D structure with no recurring themes.
One cool thing you can do is have a section play a theme that sounds similar to another theme that occurred earlier in the song. You can make it a variation on a theme or a theme that gives a hint to another theme. There are no limits. This way of writing songs gives you the opportunity to think outside the box.
You can turn it into an exercise. Here is an example exercise. Write 3 songs. The first song must have the structure A – B – C – D – E, the second song must be A – A – A – A, and the third song must be A – B – A – B – B ‘(a variation of B). Doing fun exercises turns songwriting into a fun game. Have fun with it. To get mad.