Structure of a song

Introduction

First thing I'd like to mention here is that the following is a MY VISION on how to deal with writing songs and stuff, and it is *NOT* the absolute TRUTH or a recipe to write a hit-song!
It means that some people will probably disagree sometimes with certain parts or maybe with the whole.
If so, I'd like to know what YOU think about the subject, so it can be helpful for our readers!

Secondly this is gonna be quite a long story...(*sigh*, here comes the boring load)... but I hope a bit revealing, too!

Songwriting can be both easy and difficult.
If it was that easy everybody would make a hitrecord in two hours, so as you already guessed it's not... There's a lot more about it.

But I think it can be a bit easy in a certain way, too! I'd like to share with you a few thoughts about it, the way I try to handle this...

Structure of a story

Composing a song for me is kinda like telling a story... Everybody did tell them to other people and YOU did so, too. Probably today!
But... did you ever think about HOW you do this? I can guarantee you there is only one way and the old greek philosophers centuries before Christ already found out how people did...

So WHAT exactly are you doing when you tell a story?
It's even that simple you will say: "YEAH I KNOW...", but it's difficult at the same time...
Simplified you will have THREE PARTS, which are called BEGINNING, MIDDLE and END.

fairytales

Let's have a look at a fairytale for this, what's the structure?

So you see here an introduction that tells you (more or less) when the action is taking place (=> once upon a time) and maybe where (=>in a land, far away from here)
You'll find a developing plot, where the hero (=> Little Red Riding Hood) starts the adventure, meets foes and friends, and eventually succeeds or loses. This part is, of course the most important part of the story.
Finally you are told what happens after the quest is over.

Books, movies and games

The stories YOU tell do have this same structure. Let's say you meet one of your friends and you want to tell him what happened. You probably first tell him where you were at that time, then what happened (your topic) and probably what happened afterwards. Do you see the link?

Books and movies work in the same way, but they can also reverse the process, which is called a 'flashback'. There you start at the present situation and explain to people how all this came to be.
What makes a good book or a good movie is how fast the information reaches the audience (that's YOU!). There are techniques being used like 'suspense' (the difference between what YOU know as a viewer and what the characters in the movie know). Suspense, for example, when the audience already knows the bad guy lies in hiding, waiting for the good guy, who doesn't know the bad guy is near.

A good movie has also turning points, which determine the rest of the story, because the hero is on a point of no return.
Ever seen the old movie "High Noon" (original version) ?
The marshall needs to choose between going to marry or return to the city to fight the baddies... of course he, being a real hero, turns his coach and goes a-fighting!
Turning points in a game are certainly fighting an important "end-boss" to get to the next level. The stories are mostly lineair, following a path...

Put it into your music

Can you apply this story-telling structure to a song? Well, certainly, yes!
Let's say you want to make a classic song-pattern:
   Intro     :   To get the audience's attention
   Verse     :   Tell your story/explain the situation (f.e. 8 measures)
   Verse 2   :   Tell them a bit more
   Chorus 1  :   Make your statement clearly
   Bridge    :   Distract / leave your main story
   Chorus 2  :   Get back on your statement (rub it in real good!)
   Outro     :   Fade or try some chaos
You can use all techniques above mentioned to make your song more interesting.

Drumsolo

What if you apply this to your solo? I can guarantee you it will sound great! Your solo will stand out, because you are playing a song in stead of making just noise.

Maybe you want an intro with only a soft roll on your cymbals (maybe with brushes or special sticks).
Maybe you want a tom-toms only part as a kind of verse, played slow.
Maybe a more uptempo part as a sort of chorus, whatever you like...
It's totally up to you, but try to make a structure for yourself.

Hope you liked this special lesson!