Song Structure

Welcome back to the Signature Sound Blog! Today we will be taking a look at song structure at its core. We will break down the necessity of pacing, the importance of smooth transitions, and how to properly convey your message. Let’s begin!

Pacing 

It is ESSENTIAL for you to have good pacing in your song; the last thing you want is to lose your audience because you can’t keep their attention for more than 3 seconds at a time. You must ensure you are leading your listener on a journey with peaks and valleys, tension build-up and release, and big moments that take your breath away. Some songs have great pieces to them, but as a whole, they don’t quite work because the pacing is off, and it doesn’t keep you engaged. You must actively consider how you want the listener to feel and where you are taking them throughout the musical experience.

Smooth Transitions

Another thing that completely ruins a song is poor transitions from one section to another. One of the worst things that can happen is your listener doesn’t know which section is the chorus and which is the verse. Whenever you are planning out your song, you need to make sure you bring everything together with smooth transitions so it functions well as a whole; otherwise, you will end up with a disjointed mess that loses the listener due to confusion. I understand that not all songs follow the typical verse-chorus format, but unusual songs work well because they have been thoroughly thought out. The songwriter has planned those little transitions just right so the song continues smoothly.

Conveying your message

This touches briefly on our last article on writing successful hooks, but the idea is if the message of the song isn’t apparent, your listeners will not relate to it. It is very easy to get lost in flowery words whenever you are writing lyrics, but some of the best songs are the simplest.

The songs that become instant classics are ones that have a perfect marriage of message, pacing, transitions, and creative spirit that drive the listener to get lost in the song and lose track of time. Hopefully, this will help you keep everything in perspective when you start your next writing session. As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter @iamjambot and @_signaturesound in order to keep up with everything we are doing here at the studio. Seeya soon!