Using Contrasting Elements to Keep Listeners Interested

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It has always been the case that the job of a singer-songwriter is not just to convince people to click the play button, but to keep them listening. It could be argued that it’s easier to entice a person to give your song a try, but harder to keep them interested.

In music, one of the most enticing ways to keep listeners listening is to use contrast. Contrast simply means juxtaposing opposite-sounding ideas. One common example would be the using of mainly minor chords in one section of a song, then mainly major ones in a different section.

Switching from minor to major is just one way a songwriter can make use of the contrast principle. Here are some others that you might want to consider. Some apply to the writing of the song itself, while others are the kinds of things done in the recording studio. All of them present opposites to the listener that they will find subconsciously captivating:

1. Loud versus soft. Songs can be quite successful if they don’t contrast basic loudness, but consider it as an important way to keep listeners riveted. A loud song that suddenly becomes soft has the effect of making the listener believe that loud is going to return, and they’ll feel tempted to wait for it.
2. High versus low (melody). This is a basic principle of melodic construction in good songs. Lower for verses, higher for choruses. So as a song proceeds, moving from low to high and back again presents a captivating and vital part of formal design in most song melodies.
3. Big versus small (instrumentation). Even in songs that don’t use verse-chorus-bridge format, but rolls out in a series of verses, varying the instrumentation might be one way of creating interesting moments in a song. As with loud versus soft, suddenly reducing instrumentation creates the expectation that the instruments dropped will soon return.
4. Active versus relaxed (rhythmic treatment). Try assigning different kinds of rhythms and rhythmic activity to adjacent song sections. For example, you may want to increase an instrument’s rhythmic approach in a chorus. That kind of contrast builds song energy, very important for choruses.
5. Narrative versus emotive (lyrics): Keeping verses as places where you describe things, circumstances and people is the standard procedure in songwriting. Switching to emotive words and phrases in the chorus just feels right. Even in verse-only songs, however, you can still use this formula; simply use narrative style for one verse, and contrast it with emotive for the next.

Not every song will make use of all of the above, but most songs will exhibit the characteristics of at least one of them. Songs without any kind of contrast run the risk of sounding like a musical journey that never quite gets going.

In many ways, the application of the contrast is one of the most important principles of good songwriting.

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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle looks at songwriting from every angle, and has been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics. $37.00 (and you’ll receive a FREE copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.“)