Every type of Song Structure EXPLAINED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
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Verse, Chorus, Pre-Chrorus, Bridge, Middle 8, Coda... there are so many labels and names we can give to the parts of a song, and also to the song's overal form, but I've often seen many musicians disagree on what exactly these terms mean, so I'm going through every common type of song structure and song part in an attempt to clear things up!
My video on The Beatles' middle 8s: • How The Beatles used M...
The outro music to this video is my track "Clap" which you can hear in full on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/0wKKJ...
And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
0:00 Song Structures
0:11 Strophic form
0:50 Binary form
1:27 Pre-chorus
3:35 Bridge
6:03 Coda
7:10 HDpiano
7:43 Post-chorus
8:20 32-bar form (AABA)
10:18 Middle 8
12:10 Chorus used to mean something different!
14:30 Refrain
15:26 Intro
17:07 ABAC form
18:15 Through-composed
19:09 Front-loaded chorus
20:18 Conclusion/Patreon
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brb writing down all of these sections so I can make the most incomprehensibly structured song and throwing as much of these in a single track as possible
Yesss fractal-like structured musiccc
Bro wtf
Komar and Melamid’s most unwanted song. A 22 minute masterpiece.
@@hopsiepikeI forgot about this masterpiece 😭
Bring it on. ABCDEBDCFDCA
My favorite sequence is: AᗺBA
I like that one too. It's sweeter than Honey, Honey
That sequence makes me feel like i could dance and jive having the time of my life
@@CMAATNThe theory book on the shelf, the structure's repeating itseeeeeeeeeelf
I prefer ABACAB.
What is the genesis of that structure?
Prog is where you see a lot of episodic structure. My band has a song that goes: Intro/A/B/C/D/C/E/Break/F/G/H/G/B
hehe yeah. I run a lot of Opeth and Steven Wilson songs into my DAW and mark out distinct sections off to try and find a structure to the songs, and I often risk running out of alphabet!
What's the name of the song and your band? I love prog
@@Dipwad Band: Gamma Repeater. Album: Reverser in Neutral. Song: Dinosaur.
Yes may have run out of letters on some songs...
Haha yeah I'm a progmetal composer and primarily go episodic with our 10 minute songs because they're telling "chapters" (thematic plot points) of the backing adventure fantasy story. but a couple are 4 or 5 minutes long and actually have a couple repeating sections! one is even "normal" with Intro, V, C, V, C, Bridge, Chorus Outro.
Alright you've convinced me.. I'll no longer be referring to the end of my songs as the outro.. from now on I will be calling them by their proper name, the "Outroduction"!!! Lmfao 🤣😆🤣😆🤣
thank you for always adding so many examples in your videos!! it really helps me to understand, especially because i dont know a whole lot of technical information about music!
Great! 😊
'Take me out' By Franz Ferdinand has an interesting structure - almost a contemporary example of the show tune structure, with an initial "verse" section in a different tempo to the rest of the song, that never gets repeated. 🤔
I studied in a musical theatre conservatory and we spent a lot of time working with "Golden Age" tunes that used the AABA structure. He used a specific word--the "vest" to describe the verse before the beginning of the AABA section. Great example is the "But do you recall...the most famous reindeer of all?" portion of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Finally, someone was able to give me a reasonable explanation of the difference between a "Bridge" and a "Middle 8". Thank you @davidbennettpiano !
@DavidBennettPiano
As a DJ, I’ve learned over the years to never mess with a coda. Try fading out the end of ‘Hey Jude’ or ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and the floor will want to hang you 😂
Similarly with some intro, Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ for example.
The intro and coda are often integral to the energy of the entire song, even though they lack a dance beat.
Holy smokes! One of your best videos yet...and that's really saying something 🙂🎹
Thank you!!
I agree
Hey! It's interesting because in French we only have the word Refrain, and not Chorus! It's really shows how language also shapes the way we analyse, differentiate, and identify different components of a song.
same thing in German, we took the word "Refrain" from the French to mean the same thing as "Chorus" in English
In Portuguese we use the word ‘refrão’. I guess English is the problem here haha 😂
Pretty similar situation in Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro - we all just use _"refren"_ for the chorus.
@@Lorenzo_der_RitterIn my Band it’s all messed up: Sometimes it’s Chorus, sometimes it’s Refrain, sometimes Strophe and Chorus are on the same sheet of paper.
And in russian there's "рефрен" (refrɛn) and "припев" (pripev) which mean the same thing (at least according to Wiktionary. my personal use of them is kinda "refrain" and "chorus" respectively)
A notable song structure is the one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird: two sections, one is a Coda and before the coda there's a section called "something you'd pretend doesn't even exist but you must listen just to get to the Coda"
it’s like you physically *HAVE* to, you can’t listen to the coda without the pre-coda thing or else it’ll sound like a dumpster fire
I've only just realised that I've been calling it an outro and it never occurred to me that of course there's no such word as outroduction!!
A few song structures that appear a lot in modern worship music (and maybe also in other genres): tag, interlude, vamp, refrain, turnaround, breakdown.
There are also modifiers that often get pre-pended to choruses such as: down, up, instrumental, a cappella, etc.
Worship music - whatever that really is - is not the only thing that uses those labels. Do have a listen to other types of music.
@@itnefer4787 I do listen to and have written in lots of genres of music. My comment did mention that perhaps other genres use some of those structures too. It’s just that my first interaction with a lot of those structures happened to occur while working on worship music.
By worship, I’m referring mostly to Christian music from roughly the 1990s up to today. My experience with Jewish worship music and other types of worship music has shown me that often the entire framework and mindset can be very different from a musical perspective.
Thanks for this video. I’m a lyricist who sometimes works with a composer partner. I knew many of these terms, but some were new to me. I have sometimes heard a pre-chorus referred to as a “slide.” One thing I’ll say about the bridge, from a lyricist’s point of view, is that it gives the writer the opportunity to offer a side comment on the song’s narrative. It’s an interesting way to bring in a new perspective that you might not be able to express in the verse or chorus.
"Say it ain't so" - Best bridge ever!
Love that song so much!
The best weezer song!@@DavidBennettPiano
One of the top five songs ever in history...
Speaking of AᗺBA, the song Dancing Queen has an unusual structure when after the intro its jumps right into the second half of the chorus (or maybe you could call it a post-chorus). The reason for this, Björn Ulvaeus said when interviewed by Rick Beato, was because otherwise the song would've been too long.
It's like: Intro-C2-A1-A2-B-C1-C2-A1-B-C1-C2-Outro
In Bohemian Rhapsody I always considered "Mama, just killed a man..." and "Too late, my time has come..." as two verses, which themselves have an AB structure each. That's because save for their respective endings (the 2nd verse's B cut short by 2 bars going intp the guitar solo which again is on that B's chord progression before it modulates for another 2 bar different ending)
DBP videos are wildly informative and very accessible, but the real reason I watch these videos is for David's pleasing British accent. Keep up the great work!
19:09 - The example of a front-loaded chorus that immediately popped into my head was "In the Air Tonight". 🙂
I was thinking "She Loves You".
bon jovi's you give love a bad name
@@danielduarte2139And Bad Medicine! Althogh there is a short intro
This is one of the topics I struggle the most when composing, as I was not trained in music, just took some guitar classes. My TH-cam algorithm is flooded with production tips and tricks, but this... This is gold value for me.
Thank you.
Yes. When just picking and choosing some parts of music to learn, you miss out on seemingly simple things that can actually really help with songwriting, like key changes.
This is just about the best explanation of musical form I've ever seen. Thank you!!!
I love this channel so much
This was brilliant and so helpful, David. Thank you for producing such high-quality videos.
This is so well constructed and clear. Lots of stuff I've been wanting to understand and I feel I got it completely in one go. Thanks so much!
Visually highlighting the different sections of different songs definitely made this the most helpful of several videos I watchd on the subject. Apprecated.
I finally understand a bit that George Burns (guess hold old I am) used to do all the time -- singing forgotten verses to songs where the practice over time had become to jump right into the chorus. Thanks.
Never heard of him!
I remember John Bubbles on Tonight singing some of these and wrapping up with what he called the perfect universal first verse. He sang it and segued into the Star Spangled Banner
great overview. for those that are new to music this break down will help to establish some structure in their thinking, and give them some vocabulary for interacting with other musicians in band situations. nicely done.
One of my favorite "episodic" songs is Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen. It has the same tempo and time signature throughout, but the melody changes slightly in each section and doesn't repeat. That's why it still feels fresh every time I hear it.
You are genuinely such a bright spot in the desolate wasteland that is the internet. I just finished writing my first EP and learned so much in the process. This video makes me want to go back and examine the structure of my songs and see if I can fine tune them using some of the things you mention here.
My favourite vid so far 💪🏻 your examples are so helpful. Been needing this lesson for years haha
Fantastic 😊😊
As always, pure gold. Thank you!
I'll never get tired of listening to Bing Crosby's golden voice.
I agree, but then he was such an A-hole !
This was extra good! Favourite video of yours.
On favourite examples, Stockton Gala Days by 10,000 Maniacs has a clever structure, with bits chopped up and missed out, lots of pre and post choruses and bridges which help to deliver drive and release... Natalie Merchant often does interesting things with structure, and is well worth looking at in that light.
I can't hit the like button enough. Thanks for taking the time to make this!
I have heard ”Refrain” word to be used for the same last word or sentence repeated in every section.
”Can’t help falling in love with you” or ”My way”
Are examples.
I've heard that as well and you provide great examples. I think these should be better described as _"refrain lines"_ if only to differentiate them further from choruses.
Yep, ”refrain line” makes sense at the moment.
I’m not native english speaker, but as far as I understand ”refrain” means when you keep yourself from doing something.
I am forexample this week refraining from coffee to let my body get it’s adenosine levels to natural levels.
So in that in mind, refrain would mean, prolonged note before resolution and the repeating line in the end of every song section would be ”resolution line”.
@@GingerWaters That's a very nice way of looking at it. As far as I know, this word comes from Old French refraindre, meaning 'break', as the repeated refrain breaks up the sequence of the song/poem. It may go even further back and mean something slightly different in Latin.
Your videos just get better. Thanks.
David, another brilliant video.
Another mighty useful video. I knew about the 'missing verse' in (classic) 32-bar form.. but even though I knew a lot of the tunes were from shows, I never saw the movies/shows so didn't properly understand the usage of the verse. Chorus forms were also useful. and the explanation of how the 'Refrain' is often a 'mini-chorus'.
Like the 'chord notation' and 'music iceberg' videos, these 'theory history' videos are often the most useful (to me, anyway). Fanx! a heap for posting them. 😀
😊😊😊
One of my favourite codas is the one from Saviour by Prince. It's a complete tonal shift and could have been left out but it all works so well and is by far my favourite part of the song.
Great video, very comprehensive!
David, another great video. Thanks so much!
You describe “Wake me up when September ends” as AABA. To me the repeating sentence “wake me up when September ends” ticks all the boxes to be considered a chorus, albeit a short one. That would make the song structure verse-chorus-verse-chorus with your B section as bridge (or middle 8).
Hi there. I politely disagree (with the intent of having a healthy debate, not judging or trolling). One thing David didn't mention about Strophic Form (AAA) in this video but has mentioned in a different video, is that Stophic Form often has a repeating line, usually the last line of the verse. This provides some of the function of a chorus in that it provides a particular repeating, melodic, catchy, line and has a lyric that provides a summary of the meaning of the song. However, it doesn't fully qualify as a Chorus because it is shorter and usually hasn't provided a shift in tonality or dynamic that is expected of a chorus. The term "refrain" could be used here if you wish. I know that this song is not Strophic as it is Binary, but you can still use this repeating last line of a verse in Binary or any other form.
When describing or scoring music, there often can be multiple ways of doing it. However, often simplest is key because you are trying to explain an idea to someone else. Therefore, explaining "Wake me up when September Ends" as "ABABA Coda" is easier than saying "ABABCABABABCABABBB"
Wow, I was just wondering about this! I was trying to study some songs I liked to try and recreate them but I didn't know how to name parts of the structures for my notes.
Como siempre... maravilloso, meraviglioso, wonderful, merveilleux!
Such a great episode!
If you could make one about baroque-classical-romantic era music structures that would be perfect
Thank you so much I needed this concept broken down, I used to just go intro verse chorus verse chorus more or less, been writing and playing for years and only approached that way, I only did that way , I now know I should of started simple and bout much like learning theory I jumped into to deep and developed a bad habit of the same structure and my songs all the same, this is going help me so much , oh man thank u so much
I'm improving by watching your channel. When you discussed strophic form I immediately thought of 'The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald'.
Thank you so much for the information!
That has cleared up so many questions for me, Thank You
Glad it was helpful!
Variations is a form that has been used in classical music for centuries but a contemporary version would be building up a song through layering loops, and is popular in dance music and with some street performers (who use loops recorded and played back live, in layers, as an accompaniment).
Thank you for the great vid!
Thank you ☺️
Awesome video, thank you
You nailed this, and earned a sub. Looking forward to check out more of your videos! ✌️
I have to submit the song rearrangement in the next 1 and a half month but I'm still struggling with basic music theory. Your video helps me a lot, thank you very much T*T. Wish you a happy weekend
Great video, but surely ABACAB by Genesis deserves a mention? It is probably the only song that (sort-of) describes its own structure!
actually it's ACCAABBAAC
I was screaming at my phone for ABACAB
During Jimmy Buffets first appearance on the Tonight Show, after Margaritaville he sang an old standard (forget which one) and made it a point to include the forgotten verse. Johnny was so impressed that he made it a point to thank Jimmy since it was so common to skip over it
I love your videos David, you always seem to put one out about a current topic in my mind!
Keep up the good work
😊😊😊😊
What a fun video, thank you! I think it's interesting how we start applying structure and "rules" to music based on music that already exists. It's very similar to language, where some kind of consensus has been found out of what is or has been most popular. Still, I'm always interested in experimenting and trying out new stuff. Well, new as in, not neccessarily popular. Of course an unfathomable amount of things has been tried out before.
Very glad you made this video, I’ve been trying to analyze song structure to try and help improve the flow for a lot of the songs I make.
I have a habit of structuring my songs as "building A-section, Bridge, A section again with more elements to make it spicier".
It works like once or twice since my songs are instrumental since I don't have confidence as a lyricist, but it feels like a crutch. It feels like a structure I've picked up from listening to (mostly) instrumental electronica like Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers.
Also, I remember when Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City dropped, my one friend who is a rapper was really excited about Money Trees and the structure of that song. He described it to me as, as best as I can remember, “7 different hooks just circling around each other” or something to that effect. I'll have to listen to the song again to see if I can identify the structure it has.
I love that you put Judy on here! ❤
Gold. Thanks!
Thank you!
man... this goes way back. First came the Menuet, which is AABA except B is called the trio. And then there's the Rondo, which is ABACA. and then comes Sonata form which really confuses things but I think it goes back further than that but I think all music will always revert back to these first structures because it feels right.
In Progressive rock you hear a lot about "Themes". (please excuse my lack of technical song knowledge) but it seems like the song can either go anywhere and not repeat anything except for this "theme" or it can have repeating sections (verse, chorus and so on) and still revisit the "theme" occasionally. (sometimes it seems randomly) It usually shows up in longer pieces that have movements such as Yes' Close to the Edge or Genesis' Supper's Ready or Pink Floyd's Dogs. If you like can you look at these types of songs and break them down?
Thanks and I always enjoy your vids and feel I learn something from them.
Very nice explanation! I would be curious about some typical techniques (melodical and rhythmical) that are used e. g. in a pre-chorus. Maybe that’s an idea for more videos? 😊
Great video!
Bravo! Great explanations, and your graphics are so well done.
My understanding of Refrain is: in binary form, when the "chorus" (repeating-lyrics section) begins the song. "This Land is Your Land," by Woody Gutherie.
This was an excellent video
Thank you!
I'm surprised you didn't mention 12-bar blues. It's a form that's made its mark on popular music, especially in the early days of rock 'n' roll.
True. Although I think of 12 bar blues more as a chord progression than a song structure. 😊😊
Also the one chord vamp - john lee hooker bo diddley etc.@@DavidBennettPiano
@@DavidBennettPiano lyrics are often AAB, so imo it counts as a structure
@@TheHowlingEye yeah fair point 😊
@@DavidBennettPianoI think I agree that it is a chord progression and the song form is then Strophic as you repeat the 12 bars over and over I.e, it is AAAAAAA (ad infinitum, depending on how many people walk into the room and want to do their own guitar solo 😂).
... Awesome, thanks, loved it 👍
Utterly brilliant and very helpful. Thank you so much @DavidBennettPiano
Am I right in thinking ABBA's Thank You For The Music is a 32-bar form with an old-fashioned verse?
Fantastic!
Brilliant, concise, clear exploration of these forms, thank you David, I will be circulating this to my songwriting pals! One point: I recently came across the term "rondo" - which I had heard but didn't know what it was. Turns out it's a form in which a section is repeated and interspersed with different sections, ie ABACAD etc... it seems to come from classical music and I can't think of any examples of it in pop music. Do you know of any, and do you think this is a distinct song structure to the ones you've outlined?
Excellent. Thanks
You are welcome!
You didn't mention D. S. (Dal Segno)/D. C. (Da Capo) al Coda. While not technically song structures (more player's notation), they do alter the song's structure and affect the existing structures by indicating what gets played again and what gets skipped before going to the Coda.
They're not sections at all, so it's understandable David didn't mention them.
The ABACA or ABACABA form is very common in Rondos, which originated in the Baroque era and continued into the Classical period. A great example is Beethoven's "Fur Elise".
12:15 Even in Classical Music Pieces, for example in Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriciosso, the first Section Andante can be considered as a verse, and the second Presto Section is the Chorus.
Nice video as always. I would like to point out the rondo form; ABACAD. It would be interesting to also see how would you contextualize intstrumental solos and drum breaks.
Thanks David. Very informative video. But how does an interlude differ from other song structures? Is it just a break in a song to provide a contrast to create emphasis on the next section of the song?
I do believe you skipped one common structure. The 12 bar blues. There are a gazillion songs written with this structure.
12 bar blues is a chord progression really though, not a song structure
Absolutely correct, although the more traditional blues form has a stricter AAB form.
@@DavidBennettPiano If 32 bar is included, 12 bar should be. IMO.
@@MasonBarge well 32 bar form is a structure with AABA pattern and other conventions. It doesn’t stipulate a chord progression.
12 bar blues is a 12 bar chord progression which is used as part of various other structures including strophic and binary
@@MasonBarge it is true though that the blues traditionally had the AAB form within the 12 bars. Fair point
good video love it
Cheers!
I was hoping to see a rondo represented somewhere. François Couperin's "Les Barricades Mystérieuses" is my all time favourite piece in that form, just sublime.
I think that you can view ABAC as a kind of truncated rondo.
thank you, our favourite music teacher
Thank you! 😃
Hi David. Great video. Made me think of a related video idea for you (apologies if you've already done it and I've missed it...). That is songs which are in effect two songs combined to make one. Obvious examples are 'Layla' and 'Day in the Life', but I'm sure you'd be able to source many other interesting others.
Does the Dave Bennett Theory course go over all these explanations? You're my favorite youtuber by the way.
I'm a musician trying to become a songwriter/composer. I know there's a big difference between the two. Thank you
Thanks for the interesting video.
Thank you!
In my struggle to keep my proggy songs to be at least within 6-7 minutes, I found that I often put the bridge/solo section just BEFORE the 2nd chorus so the second chorus goes into outro. Is that common at all?
Thank you.
Very informative! 😊 Great examples past and present! 😂
Thank you!
This may be my favorite DB breakdown and really help me understand music construction beyond ABAB bridge... middle 8, through composed... who knew?! Well not me anyway. 😂
I believe that Oh! Darling from Abbey Road has an AABA, 32-bar form structure as well.
There is also in EDM and other techno/electronic music the form Verse, Chorus, Drop (where the drop is an instrumental melody)
what a beauty
Awesome video David, as always!
I was wondering if you would include the "Interlude" section, to me the interlude is a short riff/idea/vamp/section that serves as a way to join two main sections, I would label prechoruses as interludes.
Great video. David is posed to be the best TH-cam music teacher
Wow, thanks!
One of the cleverest bridges I know is in Better Be Home Soon by Crowded House. Also Wild Flowers by Ryan Adams has 4 or 5 different parts and is a genius song.
Hi David! How do you get that kind of "graph" which shows the "intensity" of the songs? Like here 1:56 and 2:35 ?
It’s called a “waveform”… google “mp3 to waveform” 🙂
Goodjob.Can you make a Classical version of this?
Brilliant 🧇🧇🧇
My favourite bridge in a song is from Land of Confusion by Genesis, so heavenly, feels like going to another dimension
A song that I love with a front loaded chorus is Labyrinth by Miracle Musical!!