Areas of a Song

[GAJ52]

I am trying to understand how a song, in general, is made up. I obviously understand Intro and Ending, but can someone please define Verse, Chorus and Bridge and what I should look for in a song to identify these separate parts .

Thanks Glen

[spikestevens]

Hya Glen. You have the same name as me. My nickname is Spike but my real name is Glen - same spelling, too. Some people spell it with 2 'n's - not me.


Anyway, regarding your question. I write songs but I'm certainly no expert in structure or anything like that, I just write what I want to write.
The verses to a song will (generally speaking) have the same melody and chord changes, different lyrics, but essentially the same as previous verses. The chorus however is usually different in both chords and melody and is the part of the song most people seem to remember. As an example, "Yellow Submarine" has the chorus of 'We all live in a yellow submarine' that everybody knows and everybody sings along to, and the verses ('In the town where I was born' etc etc) appear before and after the choruses.

Strictly speaking, the bridge and the middle 8 are the same thing - a part of the song with maybe different chords and a different melody. These basically serve to break up the song: otherwise you'd just have verse, chorus, verse, chorus etc, and thus monotony - which you don't really want, unless of course you're Phil Collins and have built a career out of it!.

There are no hard and fast rules about song structures, but they generally fall into the above method in one way or another.

Listen to any pop songs from the past 30-40 years and you'll recognise a pattern which you'll soon be able to pick out (where the verse, the chorus, and the middle 8 are etc).

[GAJ52]

Hi Glen 'Spike'

My mother apparently fancied Glen Ford the actor, thats how I became Glen with one N. My surname is Coyne, apparently there is an area in the lake district called Glencoyne, purely coincidental.

Anyway many thanks for your comments on my original question. Although I love music and enjoy playing the guitar (not very well) I find it difficult to grasp the basics, like the makeup of a song or applying chords to a melody, even though I have studied the theory, and received help from this forum in the past.

I'll just have to accept I am not a natural musician - I must have a talent somewhere I'll just have to find it

Glen