Typical Song Structure
A typical song structure in terms of time might have the following ingredients:
Intro = 4 bars
Verse = 16 bars
Chorus = 8 bars
Verse = 16 bars
Chorus = 8 bars
Instrumental break = 8 bars
Middle-eight = 8 bars
Verse = 16 bars
Chorus = 8 bars
Chorus = 8 bars
Coda = 8 bars
If we add all these together we find that this song has a total of 108 bars.
At 120bpm ( a fairly average tempo ) this song would be 3 minutes 36 seconds
long ( at 120bpm 1 bar = 2 seconds ).
This is a theoretical "classic" song structure that can be altered
in many ways - you shouldn't expect any song to follow this structure exactly.
A modern tune that I recently worked out had a 4 bar verse followed by the
same 4 bars for the chorus and just repeated this eight bar loop throughout.
Learning traditional song structures however is a useful
tool for any aspiring songwriter.
Exercise
Fill in the structure outlined above with actual chords and melody and write
a classic pop hit ( if only it was that easy ! ).