Join us every Monday from 9-11pm EST for weekly songwriting chats
with
special guests
Hope to see you there!
|
|
Creating
Musical Contrast
What I’m going to try to do
in this series of columns is to strip away some of the mystery surrounding composing music
for songs.
 Although
writing music is an exciting, inspirational and creative process, understanding the
songwriting craft can give you a solid foundation to fall back on when something
doesn’t quite work and you don’t know why. Many people feel that the only way to
make the verse stand out from the chorus in a song musically is by changing the melody.
Although the melody is by far the most important musical element in a song, it is not the
only one.
Musically speaking, a song consists of three distinct elements:
- melody.
The lead vocal line of the song
- harmony.
The chords that support the melody in the song
- rhythm.
The rhythmic pattern of the melody in the song
You can make the chorus of your
song stand out in several ways: 
A. Contrast
the melody between sections. The most common approach is to make the
melody higher in the chorus than in the verse of the song; although you can also
create a contrast by making the melody lower.
B. Contrast the rhythm between sections. If
the predominant rhythm of the melody in the verse of the song is eighth notes, make the
predominant rhythm in the chorus sixteenth notes, or quarter notes.
 As
an example, think of the song, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (songwriter
- Arlen/Harburg) and the big lofty half-note feel in the verses:
Example 1a:
Some - where /
o-ver the rainbow
Way up / high
|
This song’s bridge
contrasts wonderfully to its verse by simply changing its rhythm pattern to eighth notes:
Example 1b:
Someday I’ll wish
u-pon a star and/ wake up where the clouds are far be-/
|
If you’re solely a
lyricist, rhythmic contrast is something you can build into your lyrics by simply paying
particular attention to the rhythm of the words between sections of the song.
C. Contrast
harmonically between sections. This can get pretty involved if we start
talking about modulating to a new key. Generally speaking, a simple way to create harmonic
contrast in a song is to start the chorus on a different chord than the verse. In the
grammy award winning song, "Wind Beneath My Wings" (songwriter -
Henley/Silbar), the verses to the song start on a G major chord, while the chorus starts
on an E minor chord.
So when you’re looking for a way to create a distinctive chorus, remember that as a
songwriter you have several options.
 Hope to see you on the charts.
Danny
Back to Top
|
