Writing Songs in Various Forms

Songwriting is a great way to express yourself in a creative, influential way, especially for those who have trouble expressing themselves through normal conversation. Songwriting can also boost your reputation among your peers. Whether you're a 40 year old mother who works at a full time job, or your a High School student and your looking for something fun to do in your spare time, songwriting can be a fun way to spend your time and to express yourself. Though there are no correct ways to write a song, it's always a good thing to know how to write in different song forms, especially if you want the best reputation you can get towards your song as possible.

A song form can be defined as a group of stanzas that are ordered in a unique sequence to create a song. These stanzas include chorus's (the part of the song that usually contains the hook, or catchy line that grabs the listeners attention, and is repeated multiple times throughout the song) verses (Group of usually 8 or more lines that comes before each chorus) and the bridge (A short transition, usually coming after the second verse). When naming the song forms, musicians usually use the letters "A" "B" and "C." The letter A stands for the first part of the song you hear, B for the second, C for the third and so on. For example, The Verse/Chorus form is also known as the ABAB form, A being the verse, B being the chorus. After reading through this hub, you should be familiar with many of the most common song forms.

The AAA song form (hardly ever used today for it's lack of contrast between verses) consists of many consecutive verses played one after the other. Though it's labeled with 3 A's, it can ultimately contain any amount of verses. Even though it's simple and an easy way to write a song (but probably for it's simplicity, for this matter) the AAA form is often frowned upon by professional songwriters because a hit song nowadays almost always needs constant contrast between song parts throughout it's duration. This song form was more often used in the middle ages before songwriters realized that adding a bridge, or a short part of a song that leads from the middle to the end, helps the listener to stay focused and interested throughout the duration of the song.

Around the time of the 19th century, songwriters realized that adding a bridge before the last song part will help the listener stay interested. Contrast is essential in todays competitive market. Without a variation between song parts, the listener will often times drift off in thought after a minute or so and end up not coming back to the song after they heard it once. That's why the AABA song form was created. It consists of two verses a bridge, and then a final verse. There are variants of this song form that can be used, like AABABA form, AABABABA form, and so on. However, songwriting can often be difficult to the novice and it is best to write simply rather than strive for creating a song in a harder, more complex form. Thus I recommend sticking with just 3 verses and 1 bridge if your a beginner.

Finally, the form most often used in today's songs, the ABAB form. This can also be referred to as the verse/chorus form. What makes this form as hot as it is is the chorus. Though contrast is essential for hit songs, repetition won't let you down. The job of contrast is to keep the listener interested throughout the duration of the song, while the job of repetition is to get the song stuck in the listener's head. A line that sums up the meaning of a song and usually is able to get insider a listener's head and stay there is called a hook. The hook is usually located in the chorus in the ABAB form. And when a certain line of a song is stuck in your head, you usually have the urge to go back and listen to it. Everybody at some point or another had a song stuck in their head. And what does that make them want to do? Go back and listen to it! Therefore, a chorus is a great addition to a song when you want the listener to return.

There you have it! 3 song forms all popular in there own time. A lot of novice songwriters try and stay away from song form and just write freely. Though that isn't the wrong way to write a song (there is no actual wrong way) your much more likely to have a fan base and commercial success if you use a song form. Skeptical? Many people are. But I'll tell you right now that there ain't a single top 100 hit song out there at the moment with out any song form or structure. Therefore, though it's fun to play around with how you arrange song parts, always use a song form if you want success!