Following The Trends
Every now and then, I like to
tape the entire country top 40 and analyze the songs in terms of song structure and
various timing considerations. In this column, I wanted to share with you the results of
my most recent songwriting survey.
 Song Form. Everyone says write your song in a song form. Maybe
you've wondered just how important that is to making the top 40? Well as usual, out of
forty songs, every one was written in one of the well established song form
Song form
# of songs in the top 40
AAA
none
AABA
9
Verse/Chorus
15
Verse/Chorus/Bridge
7
Verse/Lift/Chorus
7
Verse/Lift/Chorus/Bridge
2
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As has been the case the past
three years, the majority of songs in the top 40 used the simple verse/chorus structure
(though some included instrumental sections). Second place was very close, with the AABA's
getting the nod by a slim margin, followed closely by the V/C/B structure and the V/L/C
structure. As you might expect, there were no AAA songs, although one or two a year
usually make their way into the top 40.
 Length
Of Introduction. How long should an introduction to a song be? The introduction
should be long enough to establish the feel and tempo of the song, and possibly introduce
a motif. Anything longer, and your introduction is simply taking up valuable space in the
song and probably hurting the song.
Length of introduction
# of songs in the top 40
< 10 seconds
8
11-15 seconds
25
16-17 seconds
7
> 17 seconds
none
Average
Length = 12 seconds
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The fascinating
statistic here is that twenty-five of the forty songs fell into the second category and no
songs had introductions longer than seventeen seconds.
Time To Get To The Chorus (including the introduction). As a
songwriter, you've probably heard the expression, "don't bore us, get to the
chorus". Let's see how the songs in the top 40 compared on this very important timing
issue.
Time to get to the chorus # of songs in the top 40
< 30 seconds
4
30-40 seconds
10
41-50 seconds
11
51-60 seconds
10
>60 seconds
5
Average
Time = 45 seconds
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There were only
five songs in the top 40 that took longer than a minute to get to the chorus. Out of those
five songs, three were written or co-written by the artist. Take a tip from the hit
songwriters and and get to the chorus in under a minute.
 Length Of Song (including the introduction). Finally, let's
take a look at song length from start to finish.
Length of song # of
songs in the top 40
< 2:30
none
2:30-3:00
11
3:00-3:25
25
3:30-4:00
4
>4:00
none
Average
Time = 3:12 seconds
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This category
changed the most from last year. Last year, the average time for a song was right around
the three minute mark. This year, the majority of songs were in the 3:00-3:30 category. It
will be interesting to see as 1999 rolls around whether this trend continues.
What It All Means. So what do all these statistics
mean to you as a songwriter? While I don't recommend putting your song under a microscope
during the writing of it, it is interesting after the song is written to see whether or
not your song falls into the "pocket". If you notice that your song takes over a
minute to get to the chorus, you may want to consider getting there quicker. If your song
is in an obscure song form (one you made up yourself), be aware that not many of those
make it to the top 40.
But most of all, just keep
writing the best songs you possibly can.
 Hope to see
you on the charts.
Danny
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