Here’s Why Your Song’s Bridge Might Not Be Working

A bridge typically happens right after the second chorus. Here’s a couple of typical ways it might happen:

[Intro] – Verse 1 – Chorus – Verse 2 – Chorus – Bridge – Final Chorus Repeats

or

[Intro] – Verse 1 – Chorus – Verse 2 – Chorus – Bridge – Verse 3 – Final Chorus Repeats

A bridge is not a mandatory section in a song. Some songs work just fine without them. So why might you include a bridge?

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Bridges can do several great things for a song:

1. It adds to the lyric, and in fact might complete the lyric if it’s followed by the final chorus repeats.
2. It can boost musical energy and give your song an exciting climactic moment
3. It might allow intense musical energy of the chorus die away a bit before ramping things up again with the final chorus repeats
4. It offers a new melody.
5. It often takes the song into a new key/harmonic area.

In listing those things that bridges normally do, you also get a bit of a troubleshooting list you can refer to if you find that your bridge isn’t working for you. In other words:

1. Your bridge lyric should reveal something important, something that pulls the verses and chorus of your song together.
2. Your bridge won’t really be doing its job if the musical energy just sort of stays the same as whatever has been happening previously.
3. If your bridge melody is just a variation on the verse or chorus melody, you’re missing an opportunity to extend the song and offer the listeners something new and refreshing.
4. If the key of your bridge is the same as the key of your chorus or verse, you run the risk of having your bridge sound a bit boring.

So it’s important to think of your song’s bridge as an important opportunity to communicate more ideas to your audience. And given that most bridges will happen after the second chorus, your audience will be ready for those new ideas.

Written by Gary Ewer. Follow Gary on Twitter.

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