How do you construct a song?

Answer 1

I think your typical construction of a song goes like this:

Intro Verse 1 Pre-chorus Chorus Verse 2 Pre-chorus Chorus Bridge Chorus Outro

I'll explain a bit about each:

The intro speaks for itself. It's the way of introducing the song and begin the first verse. This doesn't have to be too fancy or anything but it is what the listeners are going to be hearing first obviously, so you may want to think about how the song is going to start, and how you can use that sound to draw your audience in.

Verses are very important sections of the song. They break the song down and help the listener(s) understand the story of the song. You tend to write the problem in the verses and then the solution in the chorus.

The pre-chorus is, well, obviously the bit just before the chorus. Some people can know what a verse, intro, chorus, guitar riff etc. is but not know what a pre-chorus is. Basically it is the transition from the verse to the chorus. It helps the song change tempo, style etc. that the verse brings to match the right tempo, style etc. that the chorus brings. Pre-choruses are not that long, nor that important, so not including it in your song won't be a tragic.

A bridge is just a break between songs. You normally get one break in every song. You will find a break in nearly every song after the chorus is repeated the second time. The break plays a bigger role than some people might think. I say this because breaks help to lengthen the song, it helps to depart the current style, tempo, sound etc. of the chorus and verse and move to a slightly different sound. I suggest listening to alternative, rock, indie etc. bands as they will have this layout. After the second chorus listen out for a change in the sound. That is the bridge.

The outro, again, speaks for itself. It is a way of finishing the song, or wrapping up the story you could say.