字幕 (138)
0:01There's so many different things that
a song is meant to do,
0:04but I I think that when you're honest about
what a song is for people,
0:09the intent is to connect.
0:12Hey, you. Yes, you!
What's that light inside of you?
0:17Is it a dream, a beat, a beautiful sound,
a heartbreaking song?
0:22 Whatever it is,
we're here with working musicians
0:25to help you grow and share that gift
with this wild and wonderful world.
0:34Pop songs tend to follow a structure
that goes:
0:39verse, chorus, verse, chorus,
bridge, chorus.
0:48You want the first verse melody
to pull you in immediately.
0:51You want someone to know
what that song is
0:52in the first 4 seconds it even starts.
0:56Because that's your first impression.
0:57I will sometimes spend literally
days and weeks
1:00working on just the first line of a song.
1:03I can call out basically every
Queen song within the first beat.
1:12The verses set the conversation tone,
1:15and you're involved in the story
each moment after the next.
1:20It's the setting, it's where we are,
it's who I am.
1:23It's how I feel about this person
or myself.
1:26Your verse might be split up
into the main part of your verse
1:29and then what we call pre-chorus.
1:30It connects the dots between your
verse and your chorus.
1:34The prehook is introducing—
a lot of the times— the conflict.
1:38That has to feel different
than the setup.
1:40And then you have your hook.
1:45I really like the phrase:
1:47write the verse for yourself, and
write the chorus for the audience.
1:53So in the chorus,
focus on something universal.
1:58And in the verse, just write
something really personal.
2:02 For me, a great chorus will
have symmetry,
2:05and a clear lyric that is easy
to sing along with.
2:10Does it sing well?
Is it easy to understand?
2:13When you're writing a melody,
there's a certain rhythm to it,
2:15in the same way that a
conversation has a rhythm.
2:17Sometimes the phonetics
help me write the lyrics.
2:20So if I'm writing a melody,
I'll just sing nonsensical lyrics.
2:25What vowels feel good?
2:26The marriage of great phonetics,
with a unique but familiar lyric,
2:33and a catchy, symmetrical melody are
kind of like the perfect marriage
2:38to writing a great hook.
2:39The goal when you write a song
in pop music is to be able
2:43to sing along with the chorus
by the second time you've heard it.
2:45If you're Max Martin, it's going
to be always the rise of the song.
2:49He says whatever note that you
start on the verse of the prehook,
2:52that hook needs to be higher.
2:54Now, that's a psychological trick,
2:56a feeling like now we're going
somewhere that we haven't gone.
2:59But if you ask Billie Eilish,
we're going to do the drop hook.
3:02And the drop hook means we're not
going to do the typical and obvious.
3:06And now we're going into the chorus,
and it's the big moment.
3:10When the chorus hits, it's like a release
of all of this tension and anticipation
3:16that is set up in all the verses.
3:18If the song has to leave you with one thing
or one memory or one thought,
3:21that's where the chorus does it.
3:23It's about the way it makes you feel
and the thing that you remember,
3:27and where you were the first time
you heard it.
3:30They hold tremendous significance.
3:33Usually the standard is you want to get to
the chorus at about the 1 minute mark.
3:38The term "don't bore us,
get to the chorus" is very real.
3:43So, practice writing choruses.
3:46Remember they can be simple.
3:47And really more importantly,
make it something you believe,
3:51because if you believe it then
probably someone else will.
3:56So, verse one is what happens to explain
why we're going to sing this big chorus.
4:01Verse two is elaborating on that.
4:04Now we know what the chorus is,
let's elaborate on the thought.
4:07And usually verse one and verse two
are going to be different
4:10as far as the lyric and also
sometimes the melody.
4:14And if you're feeling a little bit crazy,
you have a bridge.
4:17The bridge, or the middle eight,
is the last little bit of information
4:23before we launch back into our
memorable chorus and our outro.
4:28If the listener has made it to the bridge,
they love the song.
4:32The bridge is 2 minutes in, minimum.
4:35So if you make it there, amazing.
4:38The hardest thing is to get them
to the chorus.
4:40It's all about that chorus.
4:42So I think that bridges are sort
of the first thing that people scrap.
4:46I love them— there's always a place
for a section that is not anticipated.
4:50Bridges are always an exciting
challenge as a songwriter
4:53to lift the song to heights it
wouldn't have gone without it.
4:58But it's equally as compelling
to write a song with no bridge
5:01and have it communicate directly
and not need a bridge.
5:06So I never let structure get in the way
of a good song.
5:14As far as song structure and my relationship
to song structure in the modern era,
5:19I'm not beholdened to it because I think
that's what makes music and artists
5:25in particular stand out when you are
going against the grain.
5:30of what is popular at the time.
5:32There are a lot of songs where they
don't have a super clear structure
5:36and it might just be a series of hooks
that kind of tell the story.
5:41 A lot of Afro beats music
operates with that structure,
5:43where you really just have sections
of the song that are undefined
5:48I know the structure down
and I can do that all day,
5:51but then once in a while you go,
I'm going to forget the structure
5:53and let the music go where it wants.
5:55My favorite song is "Fast Car"
by Tracy Chapman.
5:57She doesn't have the normal structure
of each verse being the same length.
6:01It takes like a minute before you even
hear the chorus in the song.
6:06I have songs, they don't even
have a chorus,
6:09it's just one long verse.
6:10And I feel like a lot of funk songs
are like that,
6:13where they'll just hang on like one phrase
and that for like 8 minutes,
6:17and that's the song—
which I love.
6:19But other songs may have three verses
before they get to the chorus.
6:24I feel like Bob Dylan has a couple
of songs like that,
6:27where it's just so many verses
and then finally the payoff.
6:31A lot of the times when it comes
to song structure, I stick with it,
6:35but I've had songs that have been hit songs
6:38that completely break those rules
as well.
6:41It really, really depends.
6:42I try not to get too caught up
in what the rules are,
6:46because I've built a career on also breaking the rules.
6:51I would say a song is great when it
describes something that's really relatable,
6:56and really universal,
but in a really specific way,
7:01that either you haven't heard before lyrically,
or melodically, or production-wise.
7:09Like some sort of fresh take
on a human experience,
7:14I find to be the most interesting music
7:16because I think we're constantly looking
into music to help keep us company
7:22and make sense of what
we're experiencing.
7:25A great song is not necessarily
the same ingredients
7:30as what makes a song great.
7:32So you can have a great song
that's a very momentary flash.
7:37You know what I mean?
Oh, that was a great song.
7:39But, what makes a song great?
What also might make a song timeless?
7:44Relatability, ease of singing,
and ease of memory.
7:50It just sits in your brain easily.
7:52The songs that stand the test
of time have a great melody,
7:57have a great, unique lyric,
memorable lyric,
8:01and there has been care put
into the production.
8:05And don't be afraid to be vulnerable.
8:07Songwriting is a really,
really intimate experience.
8:12You're creating something,
you're pulling something out of thin air,
8:15And so, you have to be willing to be
vulnerable and honest
8:21 to make something authentic.
