The success of a chorus is more important than the success of any other part of a song.
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It makes a lot of sense to start the writing of a song by working out — even if just in sketch form — what you’re going to do in the chorus. It’s the equivalent of a visual artist saying, “I’m going to paint a picture of a mountain.” You know that there are going to be other things in that picture other than the mountain, things that are crucial to the painting’s success. But the main object of attention will be the mountain, and then everything else that all serves to make that mountain look amazing.
In songwriting, the chorus is usually the object of attention. When all is said and done, it’s the chorus that is going to be remembered by the listener, long after other parts may fade from their memory. Songs with a weak verse can still survive nicely if they have a good, singable, memorable chorus. Songs with a weak chorus need to be fixed.
Here are several things you can do, either at the songwriting or production stage, to ensure that your chorus is strong, and grabs an audience’s attention. They don’t all need to be done, as these aren’t rules as much as they are common traits that can be seen in many hit songs. But for songs that have choruses that lack flair, they’re worth experimenting with:
- Make sure that the general range of the chorus is higher than the verse. Find the lowest and highest notes of the verse, and compare them to the lowest and highest notes of the chorus. The chorus should be noticeably (but not necessarily dramatically) higher. Example: “Love Me Again” (John Newman); “Love and Mercy” (Brian Wilson)
- Elongate the note durations on the song title. When you sing the song’s title (that usually happens at the beginning or end of a chorus), allow longer notes to enhance the emotional content of the words. Example: “Royals” (Lorde)
- Simplify the rhythms of the chorus melody. Cleaning up the rhythm, and limiting the number of rhythmic devices (syncopation, etc) that you use in a chorus makes it more singable and more memorable. Example: “Home” (Philip Phillips)
- Create a prominent climactic moment in the chorus melody. Most of the time a good chorus needs to have a moment that peaks a little higher than the other notes, even if it’s not a moment of particular drama. That so-called “climactic moment” adds considerable structure to your song. Example: “Earth” (Imogen Heap)
- Write tonally stronger, more repetitive melodies and chords for the chorus. Verses can wander a bit, but choruses need to use concise progressions that target the tonic chord. Example: “We Are Young” (fun. feat. Janelle Monae)
It’s a good suggestion to always ask yourself, at the completion of every song you write, “What are people going to remember when most of this song fades from their memory?” If you can’t answer that question, you may need to do some rewriting based on one of the five suggestions above.
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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.
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