Have you ever dreamed of writing a hit song? Or maybe you just want to express yourself musically. Well, now you can. Here's everything you need to know to write a successful song.
It’s an hour before your big show at Madison Square Garden. You’re in your limo on the way to the venue, listening to the radio, and the DJ announces that the next song has been number one on the charts for a record breaking period of time. The song begins to play, and suddenly you realize...it’s your song!
Maybe your goals are as ambitious as those described above, or maybe you just want to entertain your family and friends or simply express yourself musically. But whatever your reasons, you can learn to write a popular song. So if you have a guitar that’s been sitting in the closet or an old piano that’s been collecting dust, rummage around and pull that guitar out; dust off that keyboard—we’ll make a songwriter out of you yet.
The Structure of a Popular Song
Popular songs typically consists of three musical parts: the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. There is also frequently an intro that is distinct from the other three parts. Lyrically, every verse is different (though a verse, usually the first, will often be repeated at the end of a song), the chorus is always the same (or with minor variations), and the bridge, if repeated more than once, can be either the same or different. The verses alternate with the choruses, and the bridge is inserted, usually in the last half of the song, for musical variation. Sometimes there are two verses for every one chorus. A typical structure looks like this: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus. There are no hard and fast rules about the structure of a popular song, but these three elements—verse, chorus, and bridge—are almost always present.
To illustrate these principles, let’s take a look at a very popular song indeed, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. The song begins with a musical intro (the short melodic phrase repeated three times by the guitar). The first verse begins when the vocalist comes in ("Oh, yeah I tell you something..."). After the first verse comes the chorus ("I want to hold your hand..."). Then comes another verse and chorus, then, the bridge ("And when I touch you I feel happy..."). After the bridge is another verse ("Yeah you got that something...") and chorus. Then, there is another bridge, followed by the last verse and chorus. At the end they repeat the chorus several times; this is very common. Notice that each part is melodically distinct.
I’ve used the Beatles as an example, but the kind of structure seen in "I Want to Hold Your Hand" can be seen in every genre of popular music—rock, country, pop, rhythm and blues, easy listening, and even rap. So you know how to structure your song; now comes the hard part. But before we talk about writing a melody, let’s go over some key musical concepts first.