Form, or structure, is simply what happens when. Do you just have the first verse, then the second, then the third? Do you have an introduction, a chorus, a bridge, a guitar solo? What order do they happen in?
Getting it right is vital if you don’t want to bore your listener. A twenty minute epic with a well thought out form will hold more people’s attention than a three minute pop song that isn’t well structured. Form matters.
I’ve posted about form and structure before (click here for the posts), but I wanted to use this post to define the verse and chorus, the two most common songwriting sections. To do so, I’m going to quote others.
1. The Verse
Your verses are responsible for keeping listeners interested. They develop your idea; they are the basic tool to advance your concept, plot, or story. They get us ready to hear the chorus — they control the angle of entry and the way we see the chorus. Like the paragraphs of an essay, each one should focus on a separate idea… (click here for the article by Pat Pattison)
2. The Chorus
Today, I want to write about the all important chorus. The chorus is generally the focal point of the song.
It’s what the listener usually remembers long after the song has finished. It is where the hook, the title or the main story idea of the song usually resides… …It’s like the chorus is the destination and the rest of the song is the journey towards it… (click here for the rest of the article by Corey Stewart)
I’m going to say more about form in my next post, but there are some important ideas for two of the most basic building blocks in songwriting.
Form shapes your song, holds the listener’s interest, draws them in. Getting it right is essential to good songwriting.
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