Verse and chorus progressions should be seen as musical partners. Here are some ideas for strengthening that partnership.
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These days you’re likely to find a lot of songs that use the same (or almost the same) progression for the chorus as the verse. That’s fine if it works for you, but there’s something to be said for chorus progressions that build on what happens in the verse.
The question is, how do you do that? How do you know that the chorus progression you’ve created is going to be a good partner for the verse progression that precedes it?
Here are some tips for making sure that your chorus progression works well with your verse.
- Contrast minor with major. Sam Hunt’s hit song “Take Your Time” is a great example of this. Build a simple verse progression that focuses mainly on minor chords (i.e., uses a minor chord as its home chord), and then switch to major for the chorus. In “Take Your Time”, the main progression for the verse is a very simple one: G#m7 – C#m. The chorus progression is: B – D#m – G#m – E. That switch to major brightens the flavour of the music, builds musical energy, and increases musical interest. This works easiest if the two keys are relative major/minor of each other. Read more about that relationship here.
- Only change the key of the chorus carefully. In point #1 above, you’re contrasting a minor verse with a major chorus. That’s an easy one to do, as long as the major chorus is the relative major of the minor verse. But it’s possible to change to a less closely-related key, but it usually requires some experimentation. Most importantly, you need to think about the chord or two that connects the verse to the chorus. Here’s one example of a verse in D major, switching to a chorus in Bb major: VERSE: D G Em7 A (repeat) Bm7 Em F#m G Bm7 Em F#m F7 ||CHORUS: Bb… As you can hear, it’s a bit of a startling change, but adds a distinct moment to your music.
- Change the harmonic rhythm of the chorus. Harmonic rhythm is the term that refers to how frequently you change chords. In “Take Your Time”, verse chords change every 8 beats. Once the chorus begins, that switches to a chord change every 4 beats. Increasing the harmonic rhythm can help to bolster the overall energy of the music, and it’s a great thing to do in a chorus.
- Keep chorus progressions short and tonally strong. In “Take Your Time”, the verse progression is in fact shorter than the chorus progression. But the main point is that the chorus progression is only 4 chords long, and that’s common in most songs in any pop genre. A progression that’s “tonally strong” simply means that it focuses in on one particular chord as being the tonic (key) chord. “Take Your Time” uses B as the tonic chord, and the chorus places the B chord as the main target for the turn-around progression.
- Be sure that the end of the verse progression connects well with the beginning of the chorus. That’s important, because when it’s done well, you’ll notice a surge of musical energy as the chorus begins. If you choose mainly minor chords for the verse, be sure that the final chord of the verse is something that sounds like a logical connector to the chorus.
One of the best exercises you can do as a songwriter is to identify, write out and then practice chords to hit songs. Take the time to study them. Compare verse and chorus progressions. Find ones you like, and try to figure out what it is you like about them. In that way, hit songs can become important models for you as you hone your own songwriting skills.
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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.
“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” eBook Bundle packages look at songwriting from every angle, and have been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics. (Includes “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base“)
Hi ~ Gary . I have a question about the posting above.
I would appreciate it if you could answer it when you are free 🙂
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First question.
1. As you know the Verse progression of this song(“Take your time ) is G # m7 – C # m and Chorus Progression is B – D # m – G # m – E.
If so, can I understand Verse of this song as G # minor key and Chorus as B major key? So the Tonic note in Verse is G # and Chorus’s Tonic note is B?
The reason I do this is because I want to analyze the melody through the theory of the relationship between the Tonic note and the Dominant note that you taught me.
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second question
2. In your chapter [Harmonic Rhythm Helps Establish Your Song’s Groove], you said , “Take your chorus that slows down the chord changes.”
Rather, this song (“Take your time ) chord change is getting faster in Chorus. Despite that, the song does not feel awkward overall. Why? I would like to hear your advice.
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Here’s the third question.
3. Tempo in this song is 158. Very fast Tempo. But it doesn’t sound like dance music. In my opinion this seems to be related to Harmonic rhythm.
Is it because the chord change of this song happened late? I want to know.
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Finally, I would like to study more about the questions I asked above, which book would be helpful to consult among your 10- e Books ?
I would appreciate your recommendation.
I bought 10eBooks a few months ago and almost finished reading part ” The Essntial Secerets of SongWriting ”
I’m learning a lot because of you all the time. Thank you every time!
1. The issue of key change is a tricky one, since the verse of “Take your Time” centres on G# (minor), but most of those chords are also found in B major. My own take on it all is that G# minor is the key of the verse, and then the key centre switches to B major for the chorus.
2. It’s true that the chords in the chorus of “Take Your Time” start to change every bar (every 4 beats), but I think the more noticeable feature is in the rhythm of the melody. The verse melody and lyric are applied to a very active rhythm, and then things settle down for the chorus. I think that most songs, by the time it gets to the chorus, will feature slower, more rhythmically simple changes as things settle into a groove. But we could never say that all songs do that all the time.
3. The tempo is actually 78 bpm. The 158 you mention is measuring the 8th note. I’d call this a standard ballad tempo.
For harmonic rhythm, and the related issues, I’d be sure to read Chapter 4 of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting”, and then “How to Harmonize a Melody.” Those would be the two eBooks that deal mostly with those issues.
Thanks for writing, and I am very pleased that you’re learning from the eBooks and the blog. All the best to you!
-Gary
Thank you very much for your detailed reply. That was very helpful advice. Also, your e-books are very helpful. Thank you.always 🙂