Monday, February 25, 2013

Song Structure Tips

A crucial part in writing a good song is the song's structure.  A song's structure is the arrangement.  The arrangement should create a harmony. In this sense, I'm not talking about melodic harmony (which is what you hear when there are two voices saying the same words in a choir in different pitches, for example).  In this sense, I am talking about making the entire song in harmony in order to both hook the listener and also make them want to listen to the whole thing and not stop from boredom. 

The parts of the song should be artfully put together in a way that strikes a real emotion with the listener.  Emotion is what makes a song stick with you.  Most people have a song that they listen to when they're sad to help themselves feel better, right?  Many people say the lyrics are what help them, which is definitely a part of it.  However, if the song is poorly written or poorly executed, or both, the lyrics won't save the song.  The average listener notices the most prominent thing in a song first, and I guarantee you that if there are things that are very unprofessional (such as an annoying voice or sounds that are unpleasant to the ear), they will notice these things before the lyrics.  Therefore, all parts of the song need to be strong. The structure is crucial to keep the song from getting confusing or boring.  So here are some tips:

1. Avoid being repetitive:  Playing the same part of a song a bunch of times in a row can really bore the listener.  Of course the chorus is usually played a few times throughout a song, so that is a reason to make sure your chorus is a real hook. 

2. K.I.S.S.  Keep it simple, stupid! This doesn't mean to dumb down your song.  It means to avoid being too complicated so the listener won't have a hard time following along to the song. 

3. Make some catchy parts.  When I say catchy, I mean a solid groove that creates a basis for a melody to perfectly fit into the music in an interesting way. 

Here's a song structure that proves to be successful over and over again:


Remember to keep it interesting!  I hope this was helpful for you guys!


No comments:

Post a Comment