How to understand songs
The structure of pop songs
When I was 14 I started to analyse pop songs mostly Max Martin songs simply because they are well composed. Now at the age of 17 I call myself a pop music composer with lots of potential.
The key is structure.
I’m not talking about the basic structure of a pop song (intro, verse, chorus etc.). Important is the structure of the first two, four or eight tacts.
With this post I want to show my own theories that I created even though it’s quite hard to put creative work in words. By the way this is not going to be the only post that I will upload. I’m going to divide this whole topic into several different parts. So that one post won’t take much time to read and understand.
These methods are often used on pop songs:
- The “I don’t change much” songs
General explanation: Only the last subunit of a unit changes. The other subunits are equal to each other.
Example: On My Mind by Ellie Goulding
Explanation of On My Mind’s structure:
A unit has eight tacts and a subunit contains two tacts. So within a unit there are three subunits which stay the same and one last subunit that changes.
Subunit= 2 tacts
Unit= 4 subunits or eight tacts
Unit of the chorus:
Another example would be Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night.
In this case a unit contains four tacts and a subunit includes one tact.
Subunit= 1 tact
Unit= 4 subunits
Unit of the chorus:
Please check out my own produced and composed songs on soundcloud to get an impression of my authenticity as a writer and music as a composer.
Link: Vibe
Do you know any further songs which apply to the “I don’t change much” category?
Let me know.
That’s it for the first part.