Greatest Songwriting 6 Structures

Here are the Greatest songwriting 6 structures for composing melodies, choruses and verses. Use these lile every great songwriter does.

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The most commonly used now are 4, 5 and 2. You will find some variation in them. For example 2 sometimes contains a repeat verse at the end. 4 sometimes contains a verse after the bridge. 5 sometimes leaves out the bridge and or pre-chorus at the end.

Try writing songs with the various structures, they each can solve and present problems.

1. VERSE/VERSE/VERSE/VERSE/VERSE
2. VERSE/VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE/ (called AABA)
3. VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE/CHORUS
4. VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE/CHORUS/BRIDGE/CHORUS
5. VESRSE/PRECHORUS/CHORUS/VERSE/PRECHORUS/CHORUS/BRIDGE/CHORUS
6. CHORUS/VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE/CHORUS (called a rondo)

Type 1 song structure isn't used much. It is very difficult to write because the verse must be designed to have all the variation of a full song. Bob Dylan's song The Times Are A-Changin is an example.

Type 2 was used a great deal in the days of Tin Pan Alley. There are some great songs written in this form. Yesterday is an example. In an AABA song you may see the chorus called the bridge or the B section.

Usually the title occurs in the last line of the verse (sometimes first) and not in chorus or bridge. Sometimes songwriters modify this form by adding an extra verse or chorus to the end.

Type 3 is an older form that many folk songs used. There is no bridge to change up the content and music. Waylon Jennings Good Hearted Woman is an example.

Type 4 is the most common modern form used these days. Examples of it are everywhere.

Type 5 is relatively new. It can make the song longer so you may see the chorus or bridge dropped from the end. A prechorus is also called a lift or a climb.

It is the connection piece between the verse and chorus that lifts the song above the verse but not quite as far as the chorus.

Type 6 has been around for a while. The song starts out with the chorus so gets right to the heart of what the song has to offer. This form can help you out if you don't have a lot of verse content.

These are the tried and tested 6 greatest songwriting structures.