Song Form

Just like a house needs a frame to stand up, a piece of music needs one too. The way a piece is organized and structured is called form. There are many variations of form depending on genre, but most songs have an identifiable structure. It’s important to learn about and study song form in order to both play existing pieces of music and to write your own.

Repetition, or the repeat of sections throughout the song, is often utilized to make a song form more solid. Using our house building metaphor, think about repetitions as any sort of reinforcement — cross pieces, or maybe a double screw. You don’t want too much repetition, because this would be overkill, but the right amount will make your frame nice and sturdy.

In more classical music, an example of repetition would be using repeat symbols or codas. In jazz, solos often happen over the same song form that lyrical or musical motifs occur over. Even the most experimental music likely has some type of form for it to be a piece that listeners can sink their teeth into, so to speak. Some pop music is even so formulaic that it has a tried and true song form that will draw listeners right in. We’ll look at a few different types of song form in this article.

Pop Format

Verse

Pre chorus

Chorus

(Post Chorus)

Verse

Pre chorus

Chorus

(Post Chorus)

(Bridge)

Chorus

(Post Chorus)

If your song were a paper, the chorus would be like the thesis statement. Since it’s the section that repeats the most, it serves a very importand role. It’s job is to summarize the song concisely, preferably in an intelligent or mic-dropping manner, and be catchy as hell so that you curse the artist for being in your head all the time.

The verses are where the details are. They might tell a story, list the reasons the sad boy singing is heart broken, list the reasons the sad girl singing had to break up with the sad boy, etc.

The pre chorus is another section that is often times repeated, and its purpose is to transition from the verse to the chorus, often times ramping us up and creating tension so that when the chorus finally comes, it feels so right.

In some songs, a post chorus comes directly after the chorus. This is the tag line of the song that gets repeated, or a melodic motif that everyone sings along to.

The bridge is the chance in the song for a twist, a new idea to be introduced, or to really drive that chorus-thesis-statement home.

Lettering

Oftentimes, in folk music or standards, sections of music are lettered A, B, C, etc. A lot of traditional songs are ABAB structure. Take the classic song ‘Going to the Chapel.’

A Section
Because we're going to the chapel and we're, gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're, gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're, gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

B Section:
Spring is here,
The sky is blue
Birds all sing as if they knew.
Today's the day, we'll say, "I do"
And we'll never be lonely anymore

A Section
Because we're going to the chapel and we're, gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're, gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're, gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

B Section:
Bells will ring,
The sun will shine.
I'll be his and he'll be mine
We'll love until, the end of time
and we'll never be lonely anymore

A Section:
Because we're goin' to the chapel and we're, gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

Here are a few more ABAB songs:

Oh Darling by the Beatles

I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You by Elvis

Fly Me To the Moon by Frank Sinatra

Refrain Songs

A lot of folk songs are ‘refrain’ form. This means that an entire verse happens and always ends with the same refrain. For example, take “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan. Every verse ends with the lyrics the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind.

Obviously, any of these structured can be fiddled with. You can choose to build an A frame, a lean to, a McMansion, or even a tree house, instead of the classic home shape. However, in true PUNK CHOPS fashion, the best way to break the rules is to understand them first, and to understand why you are breaking them. Studying songs is the best way to learn how to write your own, or how to play music. Structurally, we know that existing song forms do work to let songs have wings and fly. But, if you’re smart, maybe you can engineer a brand new musical house.