How to Write a Song

Many new songwriters often end up with individual sections in their songs that are either way too long, much too short, or not the same length each time they are used. 

Such an imbalance in the structure of a song can make it sound clumsy and difficult to understand. The song may also lack the essential symmetry that gives listeners a reassuring sense of predictability which can subconsciously influence their opinion of a song. 

The best way to develop a good understanding of the ideal length for each building block in today’s hit songs is by analyzing these individual sections yourself, by ear. Take your favorite songs apart, see how they are constructed, and time the length of each intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus and bridge. 

INTRO 

You are likely to find that an intro is typically between 10-14 seconds long (4-8 bars) and the first verse is usually reached within 15 seconds. Intros for ballads tend to be shorter in order to get the listener into the body of the song faster. 

VERSE 

Most verses last for about 45 seconds, on average, and are usually eight bars long (although some may have 12 bars or 16 bars). 

PRE-CHORUS 

If a pre-chorus is used, it is often two or four bars in length (about 5-10 seconds)— with the verse correspondingly shorter to allow the song to hit the first chorus within 60 seconds. 

CHORUS 

Most choruses are often four bars or eight bars long (about 30 seconds). 

BRIDGE 

The bridge is frequently about 30 seconds long, about the same length as the chorus. 

The overall length of your song is also important because listeners may lose inter- est if it is too long (because they think it’s boring) or too short (because they feel it lacks substance and they don’t find it satisfying). 

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The huge importance of gaining radio airplay in order to secure a hit single means you have to make sure your song is an acceptable length for radio programmers. It should not be too long, or too short. 

These days, the optimum length for a pop song is probably around three minutes 45 seconds. 

In the 1950’s and early 1960’s, all hit songs were under three minutes long—chiefly because 10-inch 78 rpm discs and the early 7-inch 45 rpm vinyl singles were limited to about three minutes per side (some classic rock hits from the Fifties and Sixties are barely two minutes long!). 

Since the early 1970’s, though, song length has not been limited by recording technology. It is radio that has been calling the shots. That’s why the average length of a hit song hasn’t really changed much for nearly five decades. 

Radio stations still tend to prefer singles that are between 2½ to 3½ minutes long (including the intro) because they believe that’s what their listeners want. And if it takes more than a minute for listeners to hear the title line and hook for the first time, you’ll have to find a way to get there faster. 

There are always exceptions of course. Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ runs for five minutes 55 seconds (and doesn’t even have a chorus)—and Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ is eight minutes 33 seconds long, although radio stations usually play the heavily edited four minutes 11 seconds version. 

To get an idea of how long your finished song is likely to be, try timing it as soon as you’ve written a verse and a chorus. These days, the running time for most hit singles includes two verses, a bridge and a chorus that appears at least four times during the song. 

If the song is likely to be under three minutes long, you should try to find a way of extending it—perhaps by adding a bridge, or by using an existing bridge twice. This can typically add an extra 20-30 seconds to a song. 

You can gain a similar amount of additional time by inserting a third verse or an extra chorus. If you decide to add another chorus, try putting the additional chorus in a higher key to give your song an extra lift. A key change at the end of the song will prevent the final chorus repeats from becoming boring. 

If your sole objective is to get your song picked up by a music publisher, A&R department or a record producer, don’t pad the song out unnecessarily—for example, by throwing in a long guitar solo. Similarly, a two-minute intro or an extended instrumental outro may test the listener’s patience … and certainly won’t help you sell the song. 

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You don’t want to hear a song on the radio that takes a long time before getting to the point” 

—Robin Gibb  

A common mistake made by many aspiring songwriters is to cram so much into a verse that it becomes way too long—and delays the arrival of the all-important melodic ‘hook’ and title line in the chorus. 

After all, the chorus is the part of the song that is meant to get stuck in people’s heads. It is the section that really sells your song. So it’s important to make sure that a strong dynamic flow in the verse transports the listener to an emotional lift in the first chorus as quickly as possible. 

A lot depends on the tempo of your song, of course, but an analysis of today’s hit songs shows us that you should ideally aim to arrive at the chorus around 30-45 seconds into the song—and certainly not later than 60 seconds. 

There is a danger that an overly-long verse will bore listeners, and they may lose interest if they’re expected to sit through the intro and at least one complete verse before arriving at what is meant to be the most memorable moment in the song. 

On the other hand, the time it takes to reach the chorus ceases to be a problem if you start the song with the chorus … and then go into the first verse! 

When asked to describe the ideal structure of a hit song, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl once quipped: “It’s chorus, chorus, pre-chorus, chorus, verse kinda, chorus, pre-chorus, chorus, chorus, chorus … In other words, don’t bore us, get to the chorus.” 

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“There is a skill in getting to the heart of the song and not letting it get too long before getting to that feeling”

—Robin Gibb  

The primary role of the verse is to tell the song’s story like a chapter in a book, with different words and new information in each verse to drive the story forward. But songwriters who are just starting out often don’t realize that the verse has another extremely important, strategic function. 

It is also the stepping stone to the chorus. 

The verses should be used to engage listeners’ minds and take them step by step through your story—with the first verse introducing and establishing the overall concept of the song. At the same time, each verse should build melodically toward the chorus and the all-important hook in the title line. 

If your verse doesn’t do this effectively, it isn’t doing its job. 

As previously mentioned in this book, most of today’s hit songs are written in the verse-chorus form using one of five well-established structures: 

1. Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus.
2. Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus.
3. Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus.
4. Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Chorus.
5. Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus.

As you can see, the verse is the gateway to the chorus in each case. You need to carefully plan what you want to say in each verse and then create a melodic and lyrical pathway that sustains and builds the listener’s interest without delaying the chorus. 

That’s why many top writers’ creative focus is on short lyrical imagery in their verses rather than using long explanations to tell the story. Remember, you need to reach the ‘pay-off’ in the chorus within 45-60 seconds. 

As Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees once observed: “If you have a verse which goes on too long without getting to the emotional high of the song then you might be defeating the object. You don’t want to hear a song on the radio that takes a long time before getting to the point.” 

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As a publisher, I’ve heard countless songs by new writers that sounded pretty good, but I still passed on them because they lacked that something extra that makes a song stand out as a potential hit. 

In many cases, the absence of that ‘special something’ was down to the writers not paying enough attention to the dynamics within their songs. 

The writers may have come up with an interesting title, a nice melody and good lyrics, but they made their song weaker by not making full use of techniques such as contrast, tension and variation—all key elements in the craft of successful song- writing. 

The effective use of contrast is all about making each section of your song sound different from the other segments. 

These differences hold listeners’ attention and help them to distinguish between the verse, chorus and bridge. The changes also enable you to surprise listeners and stimulate their interest at crucial points in the song. 

Try analyzing some current hit songs and you’ll hear how the writers have increased the impact of their songs by using contrast and tension to make certain sections stand out. 

The simplest way to add contrast, and keep your song sounding fresh, is by making sure the melody line (and chord progression) in the chorus is different from the verse … and different again in the bridge. 

It is essential for the chorus—and its all-important melodic hook—to stand out from the rest of the song to make it memorable, and so increase the song’s commercial potential. 

This can be achieved by starting the chorus melody higher than the last note of the verse—or even in a higher key—to set it apart. A chorus rhyming pattern that is different from the verse will add extra contrast, as will a change in the rhythm of the words—such as a shift from staccato lyrics in the verse to stretched-out words in the chorus (or vice-versa). 

Tension is another element that can give a song extra character. 

You can build tension melodically within the verse by starting on lower notes and then making the melody climb higher and higher as the verse unfolds—before re- leasing the tension in the chorus. Tension can also be created lyrically by building up the song’s story—perhaps changing the lyric meter from line-to-line as the verse progresses—until you reach your punchline (usually the title) in the chorus. Unless you find that ‘special something’ to make your song stand out, there is al- ways a danger that you’ll have a boring song that stays on one level and sounds the same all the way through—like a damp firework that burns half-heartedly for three minutes but never ignites enough to display its true beauty. 

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“Feelings are stronger than ideas or words in a song. You can have a thousand ideas, but unless you capture an emotion, it’s an essay” 

—Bono  

For a song to become a great song, it must be able to reach out and touch listeners and stimulate an emotional response within them. It should make them feel something. It should take them on a memorable and emotional journey. 

Unfortunately, many new writers fail to take full advantage of music’s unique ability to evoke and express a wide range of emotions – from sadness and the pain of a lost love … to joy, and the urge to get up and dance. 

The Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb always believed that emotion should be the bedrock of any song. “Putting melody and emotion together can create something magical,” he once remarked. “There is something very appealing to all ages when you are singing about human emotions. Emotions will reach out over the decades.” 

He added: “Always look for new and alternative ways to sing about human emotions and show them in a different light that people haven’t heard before.” 

There is no single formula for achieving an emotional connection with the listener, but all the ingredients are there in your melodies, lyrics, chord progressions, tempos and rhythms. 

You have to combine these elements to build a dynamic structure that contains underlying patterns of unresolved tension – perhaps by using minor chords or a dominant chord (e.g. G in the key of C) that doesn’t return to the ‘home’ chord (C in the key of C) until the tension is released. Major chords often convey happiness or joy, while minor chords are associated with sadness. Using a mix of minor chords and major chords can add extra depth and color to a song. 

The great George Gershwin once described songwriting as “an emotional science”, and scientific studies have shown that a wide range of notes can imply joy or uneasiness, while a narrower range of notes can suggest tranquility, sadness or triumph. Consonant or complementing harmonies are connected with feelings of happiness and relaxation, while dissonant or clashing harmonies tend to imply excitement or anger.

Studies have also confirmed the long-recognized association between up-tempo songs and feelings of happiness or excitement, and a slow tempo with a sense of romance or sadness. 

If you are moved emotionally by your melody or lyrics—or the combination of both—then your song may also connect with other people, and that’s what you need to achieve. 

As Robbie Robertson once explained: “I got into music in the very beginning because I heard music that gave me chills. And I thought, ‘I want to do that. I want to give somebody else chills!’ So, for me, it’s all about discovering the emotions in the music.” 

Elton John takes a similar view. “If you write great songs with meaning and emotion, they will last for ever because songs are the key to everything,” he said. “They will outlast the artist.” 

Try testing your completed song on the people closest to you, someone who will give you an honest opinion. If the song doesn’t genuinely move them in its rawest, stripped-down form—one vocal and a single guitar or piano—the song has failed. Don’t fool yourself into thinking a magical transformation will take place in the studio if you decide to spend money on making a demo of the song. Trying to create an emotional connection with the aid of lots of production frills won’t fool a music publisher or an A&R rep. They always look to the song inside the recording. 

As Neil Sedaka puts it: “The most challenging task for a songwriter is to write a simple tune but still bring an emotional feeling to it … No frills. No production gimmicks.” 

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New writers often don’t realize that striking a good balance between predictability and surprise is one of the most important characteristics of a hit song. 

Whilst your song should have a familiar structure so that it feels right to listeners and helps to retain their interest, it should not be too predictable. If what’s going to happen next in your song is too obvious, listeners may get bored and switch off. However, if the song is too different or too complex, they won’t feel comfortable and may still tune out. 

Music publishers and A&R executives always say they’re looking for new material that is inventive and original—yet they’re often reluctant to sign songs that are to- tally unlike anything they’ve ever heard before. At the end of the day, what they really want is something that sounds different, but is still familiar enough to be played by mainstream radio stations. 

That’s why your song needs to sound familiar … but not similar.

A sense of predictability in your chord progressions, melodies or rhyming patterns can be reassuring and a source of comfort for listeners. At the same time, though, your song still has to stand out from all the other music tracks that people are likely to hear on the radio or online. 

The answer is to include a few surprises—such as a twist in your lyrics … an unexpected chord change or key change … or a chord change that listeners expect to hear, but don’t. 

For example, dominant chords (those built on the fifth note in the scale) naturally want to move to the tonic chord (the ‘home’ note in the scale). By playing the dominant chord (e.g. G or G7 in the key of C), you can make listeners believe the ‘home’ chord (C in the key of C) is about to follow … but, instead, you can surprise the listener by deliberately moving to a completely different chord. This can help to build energy and tension in the song. 

Roger Nichols, who wrote The Carpenters’ ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and Three Dog Night’s ‘Out In the Country’ with Paul Williams, likes to build a surprise into his bridge sections: “If you can surprise the listener then that bridge is going to stay with him longer,” he says, “and it won’t just be a point in the song when the listen- er’s ear is vamping waiting to get back to the song’s main melody.” 

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“You must find an emotional moment in a song. A film can only go for about seven minutes before it must have an emotional moment on the screen. With songs it’s the same, except you have three minutes—not 90 minutes—to make everything happen” 

—Ray Davies  

New songwriters often tend to overlook the importance of building a melodic ‘high point’ into their songs. This powerful climactic moment is usually the result of several elements of the song coming together at the same time—producing an emotional high that provides an important focal point for the listener. 

This special moment causes an increase in momentum, tension and intensity which, in turn, creates a sense of excitement that helps to make the song more memorable to the listener. 

Finding the ideal location for a song’s melodic high point is an important part of the craft of songwriting. There is no golden rule, only that it should ideally happen closer to the end of the song—typically in the final third—so that the song can build up to it. 

That’s why the melodic peak is usually heard in the chorus rather than in the verse—although verses can also have an explosion of emotion (as long as the climax in the chorus is higher up the scale than in the verse). 

Many established writers place the climactic moment in the second half of their chorus, often on the third line of a four-line chorus. It can coincide with the song’s title, or be placed just before the title line at the end of the chorus. Other writers position a special high point just before the last chorus, sometimes in the bridge. 

“There is a basic part of the song that flowers and you can hear it,” said the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb. “I don’t think a lot of new songwriters are getting to grips with it. Knowing where the flowering is, where the song blossoms, where the emotional highs and lows of the song should be is so important.” 

He added: “There is a skill in getting to the heart of the song and not letting it get too long before getting to that feeling.” 

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“Songs are life in 80 words or less” 

—Neil Diamond 

Writers who are just starting out often feel they have to cram as much as possible into a song in order to impress music publishers, A&R reps or record producers. But if you really want your song to pack a punch, you should concentrate on just one strong message or emotion …and build your song around it. 

After coming up with a first verse and chorus, you may feel compelled to move on to a different topic in the second verse, and maybe another new theme in the bridge. But, far from impressing people, presenting multiple ideas in this way can have the opposite effect. 

Your song should make one major point, from one point of view. 

If you try to explore too many ideas or themes, there is a danger that you will send out mixed messages to the listener. The last thing you want is to confuse people so much that they end up losing interest in your song. 

That’s why many established songwriters believe simplicity is an important common denominator in all successful songs. Don’t say more than you need to, and say what you need to say concisely and clearly. 

To prevent your song from going off in too many directions, you need to be clear about the whole point of the song before you start writing. You should be able to describe what the song is about in one short phrase. 

According to Jimmy Webb, clarity is “the single greatest shortcoming” of new songwriters and their work. “If a young songwriter doesn’t really know what he wants to say, how the hell is he going to say it?” says Webb. “That’s why I tell a lot of songwriters to start with titles.” 

Some pro writers find it helpful to sketch out the complete storyline for a song in a few paragraphs of prose, like a mini-treatment for a movie or a novel. If you take this approach, the next step is to add rhymes to your prose and turn the words used in your ‘treatment’ into the song’s lyrics. You then have to match the phrasing patterns with the melody and the number of beats in each line. 

After you’ve written the first verse, subsequent verses and the bridge should go deeper into the story line—just like a tale unfolding in each new chapter of a novel. Unlike a novel, though, you only have about three minutes and a limited number of words to really explore your theme. “If you have a clear idea of what you want to say,” Lyle Lovett observed, “then you know when you have said it, and the song is finished.”

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“When your song is called ‘XYZ’ or whatever, every line has got to make sense against your title”

—Merle Haggard  

I know from personal experience that there is nothing more frustrating for a music publisher than taking the time to listen to a demo by a new writer and then finding that the song just wanders aimlessly with no apparent direction. The irritation that this causes often results in even the most generous publisher hitting the ‘stop’ button after about 30 seconds.

A lack of focus is one of the biggest weaknesses of many aspiring writers’ songs. This is usually because the writer has no idea where the song is heading when he or she starts working on it. As a result, the song simply meanders from one chord to the next without any purpose and with no clear distinction between different sections. 

A clear focus is also a critical aspect of effective lyric writing. Can you express the subject of your song in a single phrase? Even if the song is not meant to follow a linear story line, the overall song won’t have a cohesive feel to it if you don’t focus on one subject and develop this theme as the song progresses. 

To make sure your lyrics are focused, start with a strong title and then try asking yourself Who? What? Where? When? How? and Why?-type questions prompted by the title. 

A title like ‘Heartbreak Sunrise’, for example, would suggest questions such as “What is happening at sunrise?”, “Who’s going to be heart broken?”, “Why are they going to be heartbroken?”. The answers to these questions will generate words, phrases and images that are relevant to the overall theme and can be used in the lyrics. 

If your song is simply allowed to ‘evolve’ without any shape or direction, there is a danger that listeners will become completely lost and may lose interest. So don’t just go with the first thing that comes into your head. Set out a clear ‘road map’ for the song. 

Once you know where you want to get to, you need to plan your route carefully so that your chord progression reaches your destination—the all-important melodic hook and title line in the chorus—as quickly as possible. 

As Jimmy Webb once said: “I usually know what kind of song I’m after. I know what I’m trying to do when I start. I don’t always get there. But I try to visualize what it’s actually going to be.” 

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