How Pop Music is Structured

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

Contents

How Pop Music is Structured: You may not think about it when you’re bobbing your head to the latest pop song on the radio, but music is actually a very complex art form.

Introduction

Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid-1950s. The terms “popular music” and “pop music” are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many diverse styles. “Pop” and “rock” were synonymous terms until the late 1960s, when they became increasingly differentiated from each other.

Generally, pop music is understood to be commercially recorded music with the goal of having mass audience appeal, with no consideration of artistic merit. Pop music has been influenced by other genres of popular music, including rock, hip hop, disco, and electronic dance music. It also incorporate elements of classical, jazz, and folk musics.

Pop music typically consists of a simple melody and chord progression with a catchy hook or chorus. Pop songs are usually between two and five minutes long, although some artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber have produced longer songs.

Verse

A typical pop song is usually divided into three parts: the verse, the chorus, and the bridge. The verse is typically eight bars long and contains the song’s melody. The chorus is usually four or eight bars long and contains the main theme of the song. The bridge is typically four or eight bars long and usually contains a different melody than the verse or chorus.

chorus

The chorus is the part of the song that is repeated multiple times. The chorus usually contains the song’s main melody and is where the majority of the lyrics are sung. The chorus is typically repeated two to four times in a song, and often comes after the verse(s).

Bridge

A bridge is a section of a song that provides contrast to the verse or chorus. It usually has different lyrics and a different melody. The bridge can be any length, but is typically 8 measures long. It often contains a modulation, which is a change in the key of the song. The bridge helps to create interest and variety in a song, and can be used to build up energy for the final chorus.

Conclusion

Pop music is usually made up of verses and choruses, with each verse getting progressively faster and more intense until it reaches the chorus, which is the biggest, most dramatic part of the song. After the chorus, the song usually calms down a bit before building back up to another chorus. This verse-chorus structure can be repeated several times throughout a song, or a song can have multiple sections that contrast with each other. However, verse-chorus form is by far the most common in pop music.

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