The Songwriting Education Resource - Songwriting Articles

When you listen to a song, you probably notice that the music is made up of certain phrases or ideas which repeat themselves throughout the song. These musical phrases are called motifs or themes. They may be as short as a few notes (like the first four notes of "America the Beautiful") or several measures in length. A motif may be melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, or a combination of these. The point being that each time you hear the motif in the song, it registers in your brain as something you've heard before -- and that makes the song easier to remember (and that's good).

A common mistake made by songwriters is thinking that the music becomes "boring" or "too simplistic" when phrases are repeated in this manner. As a songwriter full of musical ideas, you can easily get caught up in trying to be too clever. This usually results in a song that has too many musical ideas -- and that makes the song harder to remember (and that's not good). If one of your main goals as a songwriter is to write something that's memorable, then by far the best technique available to you, is the power of repetition. The trick is in knowing how to use repetition without getting "boring".

Let's take a look at how hit songwriter Richard Leigh, a master of his craft, made use of the power of repetition in one of his most famous songs, "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue":

Notice the two-measure rhythmic motif he uses. We hear this motif three times in the verse before hearing the title line. By the time the second verse rolls around, we can all sing along with the song. You might also notice that the melody remains similar, but it changes slightly each time the motif repeats - this keeps us tuned in to the song without becoming "bored".

The next time you hear one of your favorite songs, listen to how the use of repetition goes a long way toward making the song easier to remember. If you are writing a song that has more than four or five different musical ideas in it, chances are you have enough ideas for another song. Remember, when you have a lot of great musical ideas, don't use them all in one song. Instead, write a lot of great songs.