How to Write a Chorus

"Don't bore us, get to the chorus," is a common saying in Nashville, also known as Music City USA, to highlight the importance of the chorus in a pop song. The chorus is a song's selling point. It is the most memorable part of a song, containing the hook and the biggest lyrical moment, as well as the title of most popular songs. There are several methods you can use to write an effective chorus.



1. Start with a melody. Hum a few catchy notes to yourself. Most pop choruses are made up of simple melodies without many big changes. Try coming up with a melody that's easy to remember. Listen to the choruses of songs that you enjoy. Figure out what you like about their choruses and try shaping your melody the same way.


2. Keep it simple. As this should be the most memorable part of the song, a chorus that changes too much in pitch or has too many words will be hard to remember. Some of the most effective choruses consist of only one or a few words, such as Tom Waits' "Time" or the Police's "So Lonely."


3. Make your chorus the emotional high point of your song. The verses should tell a story and describe a situation. The chorus should tell the listener the emotional response to the situation you are describing. For example, if your verse describes a boyfriend dying in a car crash, the chorus could convey, in as few words as possible, the sadness his girlfriend feels.


4. Write your chorus to be higher than your verse. The melody of the song should reach its peak in the chorus to match the emotional weight. Write transitions into and out of your chorus so the energy builds going into the chorus and falls back down returning to the verse.


5. Try writing your chorus from a title. If your title is "I'm Having a Bad Day," hum melodies that fit with those words and convey the emotion of having a bad day. Let the flow of the words dictate the melody. Position these words in a prominent place in your chorus. Start or end the chorus with these words to draw attention to them. Your chorus needs an anchor and a few words that people can easily remember.


6. Repeat, repeat repeat! You need to hammer the chorus into your listeners' minds, and the best way to do that is to repeat melodic phrases. Prince's hit single, "Raspberry Beret" consists of the title lyric repeated three times, followed by a similar melodic idea each time. Try the same with your song. For example, the chorus in your song "I'm Having a Bad Day" might consist of the title followed by bad things happening during your day (car breaking down, feeling sick, etc.). Use the power of repetition in the structure of your song, as well. Your chorus should appear three or four times throughout the song and repeat twice at the end.

How to Write a Song Hook

It's extremely easy to write a "hook" for a song -- if you have it in you. If you don't, it will be challenging but can be done.

1. Play your instrument freely. Just fiddle around. Explore. Don't worry about playing someone else's song because that's not what we're after here. Go up and down the scales. Strum a few chords. Find an interesting arpeggio. You'll find that time goes very quickly once you get into it.

2. At some point, you will hit a progression (usually very simple) that you want to play over and over again. This is your melodic hook.

3. Play that progression over and over again on different octaves until it's part of your soul. Sing along with it. "La di da" is fine until words come, and they will. Look around the room and find something in the room to sing about. Some of the great songs were written that way. ("Norwegian Wood," "Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair," and my very own "Glove on a Shelf."

4. Write it down. When you know the progression forward and back and have found a catch phrase to go with it, make sure you write it down. I've forgotten a million songs because I neglected this step.

5. Record it. I'm not talking about going to the studio. Just use a tape recorder or your computer's built-in mic. You'll want to listen to it so you can improve it later.

How to Write a Blues Song

Blues music emerged in the mid to late 19th century as a form of expression for displaced African-Americans. Using an oral form of traditional African poetry, these songs were popular and could be heard all around the Mississippi delta region of the Deep South. Today, blues music is still widely popular and has influenced many other genres of modern music. Writing blues music is not technically complicated and typically requires more emotion than musical skill.

1. Find a subject or topic for your blues song. The primary purpose of blues music is to convey emotions and feelings, so subjects that evoke sadness, reflection or regret are popular themes. Think about events in your personal life, the lives people around you or in the news for ideas.
 

2. Write lyrics to your blues song. The most traditional format for a blues song is three stanzas, of three lines each, conforming to the AAB format. Simply put, each stanza or verse, has three lines; line one states an issue, line two repeats the issue (often with a slight variation) and line three resolves the issue. Rhyming is not required but can be used. For example:
Line 1 -- My baby told me, she don't love me no more
Line 2 -- Yeah, my baby told me, she don't love me no more
Line 3 -- She's in love with another man, now she's walking out the door

3. Write music for your new blues song that fits with your lyrics. Again, basic blues music is simple and follows a standard musical pattern using the pentatonic scale. Using a common length of 12 bars, a typical chord progression would be I -- IV -- V, or the tonic, subdominant and dominant notes of the chosen scale. Using our previous example, where each chord notation equals one measure:
Line 1 -- (I) My baby told me, (IV) she don't love me no more (I) (I)
Line 2 -- (IV) Yeah, my baby told me, (IV) she don't love me no more (I) (I)
Line 3 -- (V) She's in love with another man, (IV) now she's walking out the door (I) (V)


4. Play with feeling and lots of emotion to properly convey the style of blues music. For some examples of blues music in action, listen to the recordings of Robert Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters or Z.Z. Hill. These artists, and many more like them, are considered masters of the blues genre and can offer a great deal of direction and inspiration for writing blues music.

How to Write a Rock Song

There is no recipe for writing a hit rock song, but a few simple guidelines exist to help you get started. The best way to write rock is on an electric guitar, but an acoustic guitar will be fine. Just pretend it's an electric. One thing to remember when writing music is that you can copy someone else's song idea all day, but it won't attract the attention that a unique-sounding rock song will attract.
 
1. Come up with an idea lyrically and musically. Decide if you want the song to be heavy or soft, loud or quiet. Also decide on a theme for your lyrics (your theme might influence the sound of the song). Write down your ideas or song lyrics. Musicians draw ideas from lyrics from a number of places, including relationships, family, friends, trips, tragedy and so on. Find your area of inspiration and write about it. If you're stuck in the lyric-writing process, think of something going on in your life _ even the smallest thing _ and brainstorm ways to make it interesting. This should put you on the right track.


2 .Write a hook. The hook commonly comes in the form of a catchy chorus or bridge, often repeating and wielding a memorable tune and lyrics. The lyrics should be insightful but not too in-depth; catchy is the key word when it comes to hooks.
 

3. Write the verses. Verses are the parts of the song that tell the story of the song, lyrically and musically. Write the verses to complement the chorus, or hook, you've already written. Your verse lyrics should be more in-depth than the chorus lyrics and tell more of the story.
 

4. Write a bridge. The bridge of the song is the part that is different from the chorus and verses but still fits with the song. The bridge should not be an afterthought. Spend as much time as you need writing a good bridge. The bridge will give people a refreshing break after a song full of similar riffs, so it needs to be good.
 

5. Structure your song. Every song doesn't have to be verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge, even if that's how you write it. Your rock song can have any structure you want it to. Arrange your song in a structure that makes sense to you, lyrically and musically. Your song should tell your story, so put it in an order that most effectively does that.

Elements of a Song

Music is everywhere. In the public forum, it blasts from car radios, rattles trunks from subwoofers and trickles politely through elevators. The tapping of feet, the opening of doors and the tap of falling rain creates the rhythms of daily life. The elements of songwriting, from melody to structure, rhythm to harmony, help define genres and enhance the way we hear music.
 

Melody
 

Melody is vital to a song's recognizability. Songwriter and music producer defines melody as "the tune of the song that you sing or play. The best melodies are considered to be "catchy." A melody can define a popular song or simply be another element in the equation. Melodies dominate songs by artists such as U2 while in genres such as hip hop and death metal, where it takes a back seat to, respectively, rhythm and inertia. Melodic songs generally have distinct melodies for each section of the song, with the chorus carrying the largest, or most captivating, melody.

Harmony
 
Vocal and musical harmonies enhance the depth of a song. "When you have more than one pitch sounding at the same time in music, the result is harmony," writes music columnist and instructor Catherine Schmidt-Jones. She goes on to assert: "Harmony is one of the basic elements of music." Harmony is important to melodic music, as it can be used to enhance and deepen the melodies of the song. Harmonies were an important element of The Beatles' songwriting and a strong part of the band's appeal. Motown also relies heavily on harmony as a tool.

Rhythm
 
Rhythm carries a song forward and determines its tone. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines rhythm as "the aspect of music comprising all the elements (as accent, meter and tempo) that relate to forward movement." The San Francisco Symphony "Kids" music resource tells that "rhythm is what makes music flow." Rhythm is an important element of dance, electronic, rock and hip hop songwriting that both drives and tempers songs. The drums and bass -- commonly referred to as the rhythm section -- generally create and sustain the rhythm of song.

Structure  

A song's structure is important to its distinction in parts and as a whole. Structure is an important element of songwriting. Dynamics within structure can be used to effectively contrast the components of a song, helping them to stand in stronger opposition to one another, thus enhancing their distinction. Pop songs rely on familiar structures to appeal to listener expectations, while progressive music looks for alternate or strange structures. To quote the BBC's songwriting guide: "The structure of a song is the skeleton that holds the component parts of the music together. It gives the song shape and order and each genre of music tends to follow a given structure or musical convention."

Compose a Song in 5 Steps

Though the effort is not a conscious one, many composers use a standard structure by which to compose songs. The structure refers to the placement of verses, bridges, choruses and instrumental breaks. The rock band Genesis named their album "ABACAB" based on the original structure of the title track of the song. While song structure can vary greatly depending upon a composer's songwriting style, understanding the basics of song structure can provide a good starting point to understanding the compositional process. 

 Instructions

1. Understand the AABA form of songwriting. This is the structure of a 32-bar song that uses four sections consisting of eight measures each. This structure is verse, verse, bridge and verse. It is a basic song form that songwriters use often.

2. Write using the AABA form, but don't be afraid to mix it up. Another useful song structure is AABAB, with a C section that will often be based on the A section of the song but modified to form an outro, which is usually a repeated lyric line and musical phrase that fades out.
 
3. Try introducing a second bridge, sometimes indicated with a C in the structure, as in ABACAB. The C section could be a variation on the original bridge or a combination of the chorus, bridge and verses to create a new song section.

4. Use these sections to present your lyrics in a dramatic, natural progression. The verse should set up the lyrical material and the subject of the song, and the chorus should reinforce the theme of the song. Bridges are usually written with a change of timing, key or even lyrical contrast. Again, this is variable depending upon the composer, but it's a good way to find a starting point for structuring your musical compositions.

5. Experiment with the forms. Use different combinations and use your own. Songs are individual and, like a story or painting, each song represents the composer's artistic choices.

How to Write a Chord Progression

You will need to know how chords are put together, so learn your basics. Start by memorizing the basic triads in the key of C.

Repeat this to yourself,"CEG DFA EGB FAC GBD ACE BDF"
And, learn that the chord qualities are "Major minor minor major major minor diminished"

Now we get to the trick of building that strong chord progression; The "inside chromatic line".

What we are going to do is take a series of notes which are part of the chromatic scale, that is, the notes are only 1/2 step apart. An example would be G, F#, F, E

A chromatic line does two things to the ear which help this technique work;
1. They create a smooth voice leading motion - the chromatic line provides chord tones that are close, and therefore a smooth chord motion.
2. Any time there is a motion of more than one consecutive half-step, it grabs our attention. G to F# is nothing fancy, but that move to F after the F# grabs the ear. In the natural major and minor scales, there is no place that three half steps occur, so it is something out of the ordinary; always good for composers!


Now, we need to HARMONIZE our chromatic line. That is, we want to build a chord around each note, and create a progression. We'll make each note is our line "G,F#,F,E" either the root, third or fifth of a chord.

Let's start off with G as the root of the first chord. So, we play a G major.

Next, we have the F#. F# is the third of D major, so let's use that next.

Now, the 'F' note. That's out first outsider note. It's the root of an F chord, the minor third of a D minor chord, the major third of a Db chord, and/or the fifth of Bb chord. What to do? Well, play each of your possible choices! Now it's time to use your ear. Let's say we like the sound of the D minor chord.

That brings us to the E note. That's the root of EGB (Em) the third of CEG (Cmaj) or the fifth of ACE (Amin). Also possible is C# E G# - C# minor, not to mention suspended chords and even the notes of extended chords - the possibilities are almost endless see "The Ultimate Chord Guide" for more info!

Are you getting the idea? Try a C major chord, for example. This gives us the progression:

G major - D major - D minor - C major

This is a very strong sounding progression, and would be right at home in a Beatles tune! By the way, the Beatles used this chord concept so often that it's impossible to list all the song titles in the limited space here. A few examples - Strawberry Fields, Something, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Michelle (taking this idea to extremes!) Blackbird, Yesterday, and on and on.

There are a million more hits waiting to be written, so hop to it! Try reharmonizing a famous melody, then just taking those chords and writing your own tune to it. Remember - a song's melody and lyric are copyrighted, but chord progressions are NOT! Never let it worry you if your progression sounds familiar, chords belong to everyone.

How to Write a Melody

1. Listen to as much music as possible, from jazz standards to glam rock hits. A brain full of melodic ideas will help you out in your quest for a great melody. Many songs are built on the same melodic principles, so a familiarity with classic melodic twists and turns will be to your advantage.

2. Think of melodies all the time. Hum to yourself when you're standing in link at the bank or driving your car. Let the sounds around you and the feeling you get in a specific situation impact your melody. For example, if a police car passes by, you might let the whirring of the siren be your melodic foundation.

3. Develop a theme with your melody. If you're trying to write a melody for a sad song, try to write slower-moving melodies. If you're trying to write a dance song, a faster melody is more appropriate. If you use certain melodic cues in the verse of your song, you can bring back some of these in your chorus to establish a motif in your song and make it more cohesive.

4. Try writing to a piece of music. Some artists write their vocal melodies after all other parts of the song, like keyboard and guitar parts, have been written. This will allow you to get more of a feel for the melody needed, as opposed to if you just had the basic chord progression to write a melody over.

5. Try starting with the lyrics. Allow the rhythm, flow and meaning of the lyrics to shape your melody. For example, if one of your lines is "I can't live without you," you don't want to rush to the next line. Instead, extend the length of the syllables and craft a melody that fits in with the sad nature of the lyrics.

6. Try letting another song inspire you. Listen to a song without the vocals or just before the vocals come in and come up with your own melodies over the instruments. Or, take a cue from a melody you like. You could start your melody on the same first two notes of another melody and go in a different direction.

7. Write a harmony that fits. Whether you are writing the music or lyrics first, the harmony (the chords that the melody follows) is important in shaping the melody. If your song has too many awkward chord changes, your melody will have to adapt and might suffer. Play around with the harmony and melody til they fit together. If a certain chord sounds right, you can tweak the melody to fit it.

Top 5 Ways To Write Lyrics

1.  Get lyric writing ideas from activities happening around you.

You can get lots of lyric writing ideas by listening to conversations and monitoring activities happening around you. Sometimes a simple statement that someone makes can lead to that great hit you've been longing to write. There are lyric ideas all over. The radio, television, movies, magazines and newspapers are some of the many sources.

2. Start by writing down your thoughts as ideas or in the form of a story.

It's not always necessary to start with lyrics. You could probably write out your thoughts as a story or a list of ideas. After you've done this, begin transforming these ideas or story into lyrics and rhyme.

3. Try different rhyming patterns or formulas.

Don't limit yourself to making the last word of every line rhyme. How about making the line rhyme halfway as well? On the other hand, sometimes lines fit very well together and there is no need to rhyme.

Songwriters and lyricists often struggle to make a line rhyme with a previous line. Solution? Instead of banging your head on the wall to get a rhyme, work on the previous line.

4.  Something else about rhyming.

If you want your lyrics to sound original, you should stay away from rhymes which have been overused. In addition, your rhymes should not appear to be forced. Avoid fitting words at the end of your lines just because they rhyme. Your rhymes should flow naturally into your lyrics.

5.  You don't have to put yourself under pressure.

Don't worry about finishing a song on one seating. You can keep jotting down lines on a notebook, as they come. Don't pressure yourself. Keep adding those lyrics and eventually you will be able to pick up the best ideas, phrases or lines and complete your lyric writing exercise.

How To Vary Melodies

Melodies are the key to any successful song. A strong understanding of how they work is essential. There are thing a melody MUST have to be able to function at full potential. Number one is a rhythm. A rhythm is how long the notes are and how long they will be held for. The second thing any melody must have is pitch. Pitch is how low or high the note sounds. These two elements work together to form the tune of the song.

So I have my melody. How can I spice it up to make it suit the style of music or simply my personal preferences?

There are many ways you can vary melodies each with their own unique effect, and if you put a few techniques together, im sure you’ll come up with something that is pure genius. There are literally hundreds of ways for you to vary a melody, but I’m just going to outline a few of my favourites.

- Change the rhythm from simple time into compound time (or vice versa).

E.g. changing from 4/4 into 5/4. For this variation you will have to slightly edit the notes in order to make the melody fit the new time signature. Usually by adding or subtracting one note.

- Reverse the melody.

E.g. if the notes in your melody go: A,C,G,F,E, then reversed it will become: E,F,G,C,A.

- Invert the melody.

To do this you must find the interval and direction of interval of the previous and current note. You then simply flip the interval direction. E.g. if your intervals go: E,G,C then inverted it will become: E,C,F.

These types of variation can be extremely powerful and emotive if used in conjunction with each other.

Thanks for reading.

Jayde Cohen