Song Forms

[john]

Hey gang

 

I thought I would start by asking a few questions about song form:

 

How would you rate your knowledge of song forms?

 

Do they have any bearing at all to your writing process?

 

Do you use knowledge of song forms to help guide your decisions?

 

If you do, do you do so formally, or are you just vaguely aware of the restrictions a form uses?

 

Do you know the most common song form you use? If so, what is it?

[Richard Tracey]

I have a rough idea of song forms, but tend to be influenced more by how the song is progressing. What I might see as a straight up chorus, others might see as a pre-chorus and expect something to come at the end of it. I don’t tend to worry too much about that kind of thing. If the song appears to flow okay.

[Mahesh]

I have a pretty basic yet clear knowledge on songforms. 

 

Though knowing the concept of it has been useful, I'm not sure if I actively involve the information during my songwriting process. I tend to take the song where it wants to go. There are times later in the process I notice certain things could be made more solid by changing things around and I could say that the information on songforms helps me then. ABABAC being the most common song form out there helps to bring a sense of familiarity among the common audience while keeping an ample amount of dynamics. Naturally my songs tend to take that or a version of that form. Lately I've been listening to a lot of RnB and Neo Soul which doesn't necessarily follow such forms. It tends to move from one independent section to another quite freely while the chorus connecting the thread. There are times when the chorus itself is interpreted differently each time. 

 

[Pahchisme Plaid]

I’d like to know more.  I have a general idea of song forms having researched early on to learn, but then just did the writing and sometimes it just felt right to not follow exactly with certain songs.  I go by feel a lot of times now, but try to have a general form.  Mine are often dictated by the lyrics since I’m not an instrumentalist, though I do also write lyrics and put melody to existing music through collaborations and when I do that, the music and the feel of the music are key.  The lyrics and where they are placed are dictated by what (1) the feel reveals as an appropriate theme (2) the twists and turns in the music determines the placement of the lyrics and the lyrics are built around what I hear.  It causes me to write differently than when I start out with lyrics and so, the structure is determined more by the music and what sounds right in blending the words to the music.  My personality is such that there’s a free-form aspect to it.  In drawing, I despise rulers and graphing and anything too geometric.  Feels stuffy and tortuous to me, while my brother only draws with graphs and ruler—his personality. I do faces and try to capture emotion he does autos and designs architectural things. It’s a little tighter than that with lyric writing.  I use forms as a guideline.  What I don’t think I’m so familiar with is how genre prefers particular song forms.  I’d like to learn more about that.  

[MonoStone]

On 11/26/2017 at 7:28 AM, john said:

How would you rate your knowledge of song forms?

Extremely limited in terms of the technical, formal, whatever the word is knowledge of them...ABBA or whatever. But I know what I know if you know what I mean  

 

On 11/26/2017 at 7:28 AM, john said:

Do they have any bearing at all to your writing process?

 

Maybe. I care that the form/structure feels right. I don't know the formal terms really but I do take note of how other songs I like are formed and I might have a vague idea of the form I want sometimes. Or... If a structure isn't seeming to work, I might take note of the way other songs I like are formed and use that for ideas to restructure.

 

On 11/26/2017 at 7:28 AM, john said:

Do you use knowledge of song forms to help guide your decisions?

 

 

As above...maybe in some ways... 

 

On 11/26/2017 at 7:28 AM, john said:

If you do, do you do so formally, or are you just vaguely aware of the restrictions a form uses?

 

It's all very vague. And whilst I might end up within typical restrictions if it feels right, I don't like the idea of 'restrictions'

 

On 11/26/2017 at 7:28 AM, john said:

Do you know the most common song form you use? If so, what is it?

 

No but... can you tell me what forms these two are?

 

 

[The S]

Mmm...used to be more into it, back in my working days as a songwriter. We had to. Now, it's a blessing not to think of it, or more truthfully, I noticed I tend to really shy away from the modern (popular) song form, verse, pre, chorus, repeat, mid, chorus, chorus. I think I took it too far back in the day, I thought too much of what's a hit and what's not, so today, I can't stand it when I fall back in that kind of thinking. Takes the fun away. 

 

For me, it's more important how the whole song sounds, the feelings it might evoke, the balance of it all, instruments, production, the whole package. It needs to be interesting all the way even if there's only a lyrical hook. Words and music must work harder together to get the message across, and at (all) times hopefully convey the overall feeling of the song.  I'm not there yet, but working on it. And it's super fun! 

 

So today I seem to just stick with the 'ol AAA or AABA song form and take it from there. 

 

/Peter