Tips on Songwriting Step #5 - THE ARRANGEMENT
- THE THEME
- THE TITLE
- THE LYRICS
- THE VOCAL MELODY
- THE ARRANGEMENT
- THE PRODUCTION
A lot of otherwise good songs are ruined by poor arrangement. In fact it can be the one area that is neglected and considered not important.
A good arrangement is very important and is more complex that one may first think.
You may want to have a standard three and a half minute song, and you'd be wise in doing so seeing as most hit songs run at this length ( Maybe it's the optimum length for a human brain to absorb information without getting bored?!)
let's assume your going for a three and a half minute song, that doesn't give you much time to squeeze everything in, and in what order should you place things? What good ideas should you leave out? These are tough questions and ultimately come under one heading "The Arrangement".
The average song will have the following arrangement (although this is only a guide):
| Up tempo Song |
Slow Song |
Quick Tips: |
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- Intro
- Verse 1
- Bridge
- Chorus
- Verse 2
- Bridge
- Chorus
- Chorus
- Middle 8
- Chorus
- Chorus
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- Intro
- Verse 1
- Bridge
- Chorus
- Verse 2
- Chorus
- Middle 8
- Chorus
- Chorus
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- Don't make the intro too long, stick to 8 or 16 bars.
- Listen back to your song from the beginning and ask yourself if it flows naturally, or if there are sections that lose energy/interest.
- Get to the hook/chorus quickly to 'grab' the listener.
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Go to the next part: Tips on songwriting - The Production
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