I was in a song writing session with some of my sixth form students today. They were trying to come up with ideas for structuring their new song.
They’re a heavy metal band, and are still developing their songwriting. The guitar player pointed out that they always do the same thing: – a slow paced, staccato break-down. He wanted to do something different, but wasn’t sure what.
Off the top of my head, and keeping their rock and heavy metal tastes in mind, I gave them some options:
1. The Nirvana approach - Nirvana’s songwriting often relied on dynamic contrast: a quite verse followed by a loud chorus. What did they do after the second loud chorus? They got even quieter. There are several Nirvana songs that include a third verse that cuts out the guitar entirely, leaving just drums bass and vocals.
2. The Metallica approach - yes, Metallica have used several different techniques, but there are some common ideas. For example, several songs (Trapped under Ice, Disposable Heroes, Leper Messiah) do this: 2nd chorus -> bridge (with crowd participation chanting) -> guitar solo, then back to the verse and chorus.
3. The Bonjovi bridge - this is simple. after your second chorus, write a bridge that does the exact opposite to the rest of the song. So in a sad lost-love song, you have an upbeat bridge with lyrics that imagine the love as it used to be. In an upbeat, happy song, you have a sad, minor key bridge.
4. The Iron Maiden middle eight - Iron Maiden are another band who have used several song structures. One thing they’ve done a lot however is a duel guitar solo. One guitarist solos in one key, then the second guitaist solos over the same chord progression in a different key.
That helped my sixth formers out a little, so I thought I’d share it. What ways have you found to continue your song past the second chorus?
(In another lesson with the same sixth formers, we talked about songwriting copyright)
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