Songwriting Prompts #1: Form

Here’s a short series focusing on practical songwriting tips, with exercises you can try on your own!

Playing with Form

Musical form defines the large scale structures that we hear in music.

“Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus” is one example of writing out a pretty standard pop song form that’s often called “Verse-Chorus form”. You can hear examples and variations on this form across pop music history, from Michael Jackson to Taylor Swift.

Different musical styles will have different styles of form associated with them: “Sonata form” is an example of a form that’s most often heard in the classical concert hall.

Forms can be complex or simple: “A, B” is also a form.

You might not have ever tried mapping out the form of a song before you start to write it. You don’t always have to write music this way, but it can be a fun way to mix things up and keep it fresh!

Writing Exercise A: Writing by Section

Try writing different collections of material by section. Write a bunch of choruses in a row, then verses, bridges, etc. Be quick, and don’t get bogged down with making it perfect. If you like it fine, then it’s good, and try writing another one. Once you’ve got several examples of each section written, see if any of them work well when placed together.

This might be a little weird for you, if you’ve never tried writing this way before. That’s the point!

The purpose of these exercises is not to develop great material, though I certainly hope that happens! Rather, the purpose here is to get your writing brain flexing in a different way, to get you out of your comfort zone, and to increase your familiarity with the creative process. This exercise can also be a great cure for writers block, if you’ve been trying to write for a while and are stuck!

Writing Exercise B: Minimal Form

Try to make a song work using as little creative material as possible, maybe by using just a single riff or repeated sound. How concise can you make your writing, while still making an interesting statement?

Writing Exercise C: Maximal Form

Try to make a song work using as much creative material as possible. How many sections/chords/lyrics is too many? Is this a fixed number, or does it depend? What does it depend on?