Making Music
  Computer Music Software and Hardware

Lock Stock and Waterman

Listen to some of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman hits of the 80s (it's not compulsory if you really can't bear to) and you'll see that most follow the simplest format, guaranteed to brainwash the listener with as many repeats of the hook as possible. They tend to be:

Intro (similar to the chorus)
Verse 1
Chorus
Verse 2
Middle eight
Chorus
Chorus
Outro

Notice that the hook's there straight away in the intro, there's only one verse before the chorus so you get to it as quickly as possible, and the chorus tends to repeat at the end, just to imprint the hook firmly in your mind.

There are obvious exceptions to these formats. Ambient, trance, chill-out music and the like, are natural candidates. With these you can start at the beginning and work through to the end creating an evolving music form without any clear verse/chorus structure. Genres such as trance tend to build to a series of crescendos several times throughout the song. However, even these types of song often have a hook or two on which listeners can hang their hat.

Build ups and downs

Bearing in mind that the purpose of a song is to keep the listeners listening and not allow them to get bored, you need variety within the song. Simply strumming a guitar and singing verse/chorus/verse/chorus won't cut the mustard unless you're in a folk club. The usual method is to start with a simple arrangement and add to it as the song progresses.

So, the first verse might consist of light drums, bass and rhythm guitar. As you move into the second verse you could add strings or a synth pad. A drum fill takes you into the chorus which would include busier drums, maybe some additional percussion, a fuller string arrangement and perhaps a lead line. When you dip back to the verse, you revert to the simpler arrangement.

The middle eight is usually a lighter arrangement than the chorus and gives you the opportunity to use different instrumentation if you want to. When you hit the second chorus, add backing vocals and a lead riff. The final chorus is the culmination the song and you can add more backing vocals, more percussion and additional lead lines.

Listen to songs in the style you are writing and analyse their formats to see how far other exponents have stuck to or departed from the traditional formats. when you're familiar with the rules or conventions that they use, then you can experiment by breaking them.

For more info... An excellent, if academic, analysis of Beatles songs: www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME03/Words_and_chords.html Find lyrics to (almost) any song: www.anylyrics.com 12-Bar Blues format: http://www.wholenote.com/cgi-bin/page_view.pl?l=467 Songwriting: www.robinfrederick.com/write.html http://songwriting.songstuff.com/