6 Other elements of song structure
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.