Songwriting Basics: Song Structure

Part 1: Introduction and historical background

My first ever substack post, created on 9 June 2022.

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Sections 1 & 2 (of 5 sections)

*Please note that there are currently free audio podcast read-aloud versions of parts of this article available here.

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Overview of all sections

1. Introduction

2. Historical background

3. Songwriting paths & the main types of song

4. Songwriting building blocks

5. Popular song forms, a song’s structure

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SECTION 1. 

Introduction

Songwriting is an immense topic. I’m not sure it would be wise to attempt to create a definitive ‘how to’ book on this topic. Surely such a work would run to literally tens or even hundreds of volumes of huge tome-like books?

I do think that there are a few, let’s say, more general, useful, universal basics that are worth diving into a little more in-depth, just for example song structure.

When I say ‘general’ I’m pointing to the fact that the vast majority of what goes into writing a song is very personal, by which I mean it’s an individual choice that each songwriter makes.

Choosing a style to write in is personal. The content of the lyrics is personal. Choosing chord progressions and chord voicings are personal. The choice of musicians and instrumentation for a recording of the song are personal. And, of course, for many solo singer-songwriters guitars and which ones to use, and how is crucial and all very personal. The way that one songwriter approaches all of these may be wildly different from how another songwriter would go about it all.

Just take one of these personal choices, for example ‘style’, and we could all probably quickly name at least twenty or thirty songwriting styles or genres that we are aware off — funk, soul, jazz, rock, hip hop, rap, bebop, blues, country, flamenco… on and on. Each of these styles is worthy of at least one absolutely huge book about it just to get you started!

So attempting to cram everything about songwriting into one definitive book seems like a fool’s errand.

When writing a song there are a few things you’ll need to consider, all of them eventually come down to individual personal choice. For example.

• Tonality. Major? Or minor? Or both? Or neither? Maybe modal? Maybe your song idea is poly-rhythmic and relies more on groove and spoken word, like for example some kind of rap, so tonality is not really a key issue?

• Talking of key issues — suitable/preferred key? Maybe more than one key? Who do you hope will be singing the song on the recording? You? Someone else? Do you know the suitable range for either scenario?

• Chord progressions and voicings? Or maybe the song is riff-based, with no real chord progressions to speak of?

• Melody and harmony?

• Tempo?

• Rhythm? And feel? Metronomic? Pushed? Syncopated? Free?

• Dynamics and timbre?

• Instrumentation and which musicians to use?

• Musical style/genre? Musical and stylistic influences?

• Lyrical style, content and influences?

• What’s the song’s purpose? Who is it aimed at and why?

• How do you want to record the song? What equipment and facilities are available to you? Maybe you want to go Old School analogue? Maybe released on super-vinyl? Or digital-nomad style, whilst exploring the Amazon, just you, your backpack, a laptop and mobile internet? 

This is by no means a definitive list of considerations. However, every single item on this list above is a vast topic in itself. Yet, eventually, it’s totally up to the songwriter how to go about all of this. There are no rules.

I do think it is useful to dip into such general topics to get a sense of their flavours and to begin to comprehend just how vast and sumptuously rich the overall topic of songwriting is. And that’s exactly what all my planned music infotainment content will focus upon, dipping into any and all of these topics, bit by bit.

I don’t like to think too hard about this, however, I have had more than forty years of direct in-depth hands-on experience with all of this! From working as audio engineer in top studios in London, to writing, recording and releasing songs with top music publishers and recording companies. I also have a degree in music. So apart from all of the practical playing experience and music theory you need under your belt to complete such a degree, I also studied music history, music technology, and composition. So I could talk in-depth about all of these topics listed above, and much more. However, as I’ve said, I don’t think it is wise to attempt a deep definitive dive into these topics, they are all so expansive, and how to approach, combine and apply them is a very personal and individual process. Indeed that is the beauty of songwriting, the journey through this sumptuous topic is never boring and full of surprises…

For now, my idea is to lay a foundation for all of these songwriting ingredients mentioned above with what I perceive to be some universal songwriting basics.

Firstly, and this will be the main overall topic of this particular work, I think it is incredibly useful to be able to listen to a song and immediately get a sense of its overall structure. How was the song constructed? What are its sections? What are the song’s main building blocks? From where, from which part of musical history, did those ideas derive from? Basically speaking this is musical analysis, and it’s a vast topic — musicologists and ethnomusicologists get degrees and PhDs in this stuff! However, we can say some very general things, and really useful things, about this topic, and that’s my aim here. If you can listen to a song and quickly understand its basic structure, well, from that vantage point, all of the other songwriting ingredients on the previous list can in turn be analysed and understood. Understanding structure is a crucial first step, a foundational building block.

Further to this, I think that one major songwriting consideration, if not the most major consideration, is — what type of song do you want to write? By ‘type’ I don’t mean lyrical content, I don’t mean is it a love song, or a protest song, or some kind of a lament? And I don’t mean style or genre, I don’t mean is it rock’n’roll or indie pop or heavy metal. No. What I mean is — who is singing the song and to whom? Is it sung from a first-person perspective, the singer talking directly to the subject of the song (“I just want to tell you that you broke my heart”)? Is it a narrative about an event (“they could not believe what they saw that day”)? Is about something current, going on now? Or about something in the past or perhaps the future? The key question becomes —  what is the direction of the song’s narrative: who is saying what to whom, why, where, and when?

Basically in asking and answering this question you gain perhaps the two most important insights into how your song should develop. 

Firstly you identify your audience, whom the song is being sung to. At this point you need to ask yourself, and answer honestly — do I know my audience? Did I do my homework, do I know who I am writing for?

Secondly, you identify the main flavour of your song. If you know who is singing the song — not the actual singer, but the character who is singing the song, the character you want the singer to adopt whilst singing —  and you know exactly who they are singing it to and why, then without even writing one line of lyric or a single line of melody, you already have enough information to establish the overall taste that will be left in your audience’s ears and hearts when they first hear your song. With this information, you are now able to more precisely decide about every other ingredient you need to add in order to achieve the flavour you’re aiming for. Your choices become more informed, less is left to chance. But don’t get me wrong, chance is also good. Mistakes or unintended chance ideas are sometimes the best ideas.

The final element on my list of required songwriting basics is having some knowledge of the historical background of songs and songwriting. Again, this is a massive subject, that could only be completely contained within tens, if not hundreds, of huge books. Yet, I think it is a topic worth taking at least a quick dive into, if for no other reason than to experience its enormity and depth. If you only scratch the surface of this topic you will almost immediately begin to release the immense cultural importance of its legacy. If you are a songwriter you will come to understand that you are part of an unbroken global tradition going back millennia, most probably to the dawn of humanity itself.

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SECTION 2. 

Historical background

The first thing to say is that I love history. I read history books. I know history is not an exact field, it can be subjectively contentious. And I also know that history is not for everybody, some people just aren’t that interested.

The fact remains that almost everybody I’ve met and read about who has mastered a particular field (whether it be becoming an architect, a racing driver, a surgeon, or a songwriter) has been a passionate nerd on that subject, it absolutely fascinates them. Ask a chef who their favourite chef is and why, and most likely you’ll be there for hours listening to a reverential micro-detailed historical account of maybe ten chefs you probably never heard of, and all their signature dishes!

As I’ve already mentioned (in the introduction) it simply is not realistically possible to attempt a detailed historical account of songwriting. My aim here is to give you a taste. To highlight songwriting’s cultural significance globally and leave you with a sense of the importance of the songwriting legacy and the positive impact it has had on humanity.

*Please note that there are currently free audio podcast read-aloud versions of parts of this article available here.