The Importance of Contrast

Have you ever been listening to a song, or not really, because it is so monotonous that you don't even know where the chorus starts?

Even though repetition is an important device for driving home the central idea or hook in a song, making the song memorable, repetition has it's limits. It can be carried too far and the song loses it's power to grab the attention of the listener. At this point, the song doctor orders a dose of contrast.

Contrast can be applied to a number of song elements to accomplish a "heads up" from the listener as an enticement to keep listening.

An important rule in song structure is to keep the meter (rhythm of the lyric), rhyme scheme, melody and chord progression the same from verse to verse, however, all of these elements should change when moving to another section of the song, a chorus or bridge.

Here are some ways you can apply contrast.

Vary your melodic and lyrical meter by:

• Having short note durations in the verse and long note durations in the chorus or vise versa.
• Changing the length of your lines from one section to another,. For example, long in the verse, short in the chorus and then maybe two medium lines and a long line in the bridge.
• Changing the length of your sections. For example, say you have an eight line verse, then have a four line chorus and a three line bridge.
• Changing the rhythmic accents or stresses on the syllables in your lyric.
• Changing the feel of your sections. For example, if you have a more rhythmic and less melodic verse, then create a strong soaring melody that is less rhythmic for your chorus.

Vary your rhyme scheme by:

• Changing your rhyme pattern for each section. For example if you have common meter (Mary Had A Little Lamb nursery rhyme) in your verse (xa xa xb xb), use couplets (Eenie Meenie Minie Moe nursery rhyme) in your chorus ( aa bb) or vice versa.

Vary your melody by:

• Keeping your melody in low to medium range in the verse and moving to the highest melodic range of the vocalist on the chorus, or vice versa

Vary your chord progression and keep them interesting by:

• Changing your progression for each section.
• Modulating in the bridge and returning to the same key.
• Modulating to a new key.

Another important contrast to consider is emotional intensity. Just as `in a novel, movie or any other story telling media, your three minute song story should have a scene setter (who, where & when), a conflict with rising action, a climax, and falling action with an outcome. Try drawing a graph of the emotional intensity of your song. Is it a dead flat line or does it have some wavy lift to it, culminating in a peak point for your climax?

©2009 Barbara McMillen _ All rights reserved.

The Bridge - Song Forms - THE CRAFT OF SONGWRITING

Through the years when discussing songwriting with other songwriters, the bridge is the most controversial section in the form of a song. Some songwriters say you don't need a bridge, others say add one only if you want to take your song to a new place lyrically, and some write a bridge with every song, using the AABA song form.
Listen to Billy Joel's I Love You Just The Way You Are for an example of this song form. In this case the B section (which starts with the lyric,

I need to know that you will always be

) is a bridge between the 2nd and 3rd verse.

I've previously stated that song forms fall in and out of fashion like bell bottom pants. The bridge section of a song form is also subject to falling in and out of fashion.

If you should choose to add a bridge in your song, here are some important things to remember. The bridge functions just as it sounds like it does. A bridge over a river connects one bank to the other. A musical bridge also carries the listener to new ground. It is a transitional section of the song form and should take the listener to a new place lyrically and musically. Something extra both musically and lyrically, the bridge should be different than the other sections of the song by changing the melody, chord progression, the rhyme pattern, lyrical meter or sometimes the key. Lyrically, it can offer a surprise in the story, a change in point of view or take the listener to a different time. Musically, it can break up the repeated sections of the song and keep the listener interested. The bridge can provide some contrast and an opportunity to try something different within the context of the song's vibe. You can go outside of what the rest of the song is doing and push the envelope with the bridge. Lyrically and musically, it can come from a different point of view and tell another aspect of the story in a way the verse and chorus maybe can't without losing continuity and focus. It often occurs near the end of a song and is lyrically and musically the climax of the song. Often the bridge is followed by the final chorus and the lyric and music, especially the last line leads smoothly right into the chorus.

For and example of a bridge towards the end of the song leading back to the chorus, listen to Because You Love Me by David Foster as sung by Celine Dion.

Many times a bridge is not necessary. A simple verse/chorus will do, or a short instrumental leading to a lift/chorus will do. If your not saying anything new with your bridge, then leave it out of your song.