6 Other elements of song structure

This figure is a picture by Walter Crane, ‘Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes’, colour lithograph, song illustration from Pan-Pipes, A Book of Old Songs, Newly Arranged and with Accompaniments by Theo. Marzials, London, George Routledge & Sons, 1884.
Figure 6 Walter Crane, ‘Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes’, colour lithograph, song illustration from Pan-Pipes, A Book of Old Songs, Newly Arranged and with Accompaniments by Theo. Marzials, London, George Routledge & Sons, 1884. Photo: Prismatic Pictures/Bridgeman Images.

The alternation between contrasting verses and choruses is fundamental to many songs, but it is often part of a larger structure with other components. You will now look at some additional formal elements encountered in popular songs, each with its own specialist term: bridge, pre-chorus, introduction, coda and interlude.

OpenLearn - Listening for form in popular music
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