GOOD BEGINNINGS
A single word, a hooky phrase, or a really strikingly sung melody are all good attention-getting devices to start a tune with. It doesn’t hurt to remember your “Ws”, either—who, what, when, where, why and how—and set the scene for the rest of the song in the first verse. Who is the singer? What is the singer doing? When did the singer do this and when is the setting of the song? Where and why did the singer do the action being discussed? The plot can always develop from here, but it doesn’t hurt to establish a solid starting point in the opening lyrics. A flashback to a time the singer is remembering or a benchmark event in the singer’s life is a common device, and so is the emotional buildup to a potentially important event. Whatever you do, give it your very best shot—this may be as far as your song gets if it doesn’t sell itself to the listener—and don’t forget that 60-second rule we discussed previously, either.
THE CHORUS
Hopefully, you have now established just what your song is about, and have reached this point in under a minute, so now you need a good chorus. Most songs follow the basic formula of verse/chorus, verse/chorus, bridge, verse/chorus or AABA (there are many fine deviations and derivations of this formula, but we will just use this more popular one, here). Once you have set the basic scene for your story, you then need to make the point of your song, if you haven’t done so, already. This chorus section will be repeated three times, so it should drive home whatever the crux of your song is, and be very singable and memorable at the same time—this is the part of the song you’d like your audience to sing along with. Do you want to provide a rallying cry to people who have lived the same story? Do you want to point out the reason behind the singer’s actions in the story? Do you want to voice the singer’s hopes and dreams for the outcome? Think about these ideas and decide what the best course of action would be for you, here, and which would further your story line the most.
