LESSON
9
CONSIDERING FORM
IT'S ALL
ABOUT FORM
In a sense, everything we've talked about in
this
course has been about form. To use the analogy of the architect once
again, you can talk about where to put windows, walls and doors... you
can ruminate over whether the colours should be red, green or beige...
you can discuss the kind of kitchen countertop you plan to use... and
when you do so, you're really talking about form.
When we think of verse-chorus-bridge songs, we’re thinking of form.
It’s the basic structure. Most songs with start with some sort of
intro, then move into verse 1. Then it’s the chorus, then verse 2,
possibly a bridge, a third verse, a final chorus and outro. That’s
form. In this case, it’s a predictable form, but pleasantly so.
Form injects a sense of predictability to your song that is necessary.
If your song is too predictable, it quickly becomes boring. But some
predictability is very satisfying and necessary.
Imagine that you are being taken for a walk, but every time you turn a
corner the scenery looks completely different, and the people you are
walking with have changed their clothes. That would be troubling to say
the least. While you do like to have some surprises around the corner,
you also need some stability and logic. Form allows you to control the
balance between predictability and novelty.
Form also happens on a much larger scale. Ending your song the same way
it starts can be a way of having the listener feel that they have come
back to the same place they started their journey. And on an even
larger scale, some songwriters will write song cycles, which are
several songs usually under one overall title, all of which reference
each other on some level. In that sense, such songwriters are borrowing
techniques from classical composers who relate the movements of a
symphony to each other.
The last several songs on the Beatles’ Abbey
Road is a good example of a song cycle, even though the fact that they
operate that way is more an abstract perception; each song has its own
title, with no direct reference to any of the other songs.
The
exercises and activities that follow will help you perceive form in
other songs, and will help you think of ways to incorporate form into
your own songs.
ACTIVITIES
for CONSIDERING FORM
1.
Make a
list of four or five of your favourite songs, and write the form (ABA’…
etc, for example) of the first part (verse and/or chorus) of each song:
Song
Title Form
•
•
•
•
•
2.
Compose
a melodic fragment that could serve as a first line of a verse or
chorus. Make sure that the first chord of the fragment is the tonic
chord and last chord is the dominant chord* of the key you’ve chosen.
Then compose an “answering” phrase that sounds identical, but is
modified to end on the tonic chord. (The chorus of “Jingle Bells” is a
perfect example.)
3.
Compose
a melodic fragment that could serve as a first line of a verse or
chorus. Then compose a line that exhibits opposite melodic structures.
For example, if your melody starts with a leap upward, try composing a
melody that begins with a similar leap downward. Make each fragment use
at least three chords, ending on the tonic chord. Try to keep the same
mood and musical gestures.
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I'd love to hear from
you! If you find these lessons useful, or if you have any questions,
please don't hesitate to write me (Gary Ewer): gary@pantomimemusic.com
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2005-2008 Pantomime Music Publications
"The Essential
Secrets of
Songwriting
Online Free Songwriting Course" is the copyright property of Pantomime
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