When it comes to writing pop songs, there is a general formula that is used for song structure. But even before we get closer to the specific structure of a pop song, it’s important to know the purpose of a pop song because it helps to make the most of the structure.

Purpose of a pop song

The purpose of the pop song is to get listeners hooked on the song as soon as possible and to keep the listener interested for as long as possible in a span of about 3-4 minutes. This is the age of consumerism where people buy, then get bored, then buy again, then get bored again, and so on. it’s a cycle. The same is true of pop music today. People listen and find music very appealing, then get bored, so they listen to new songs and then get bored again. So the pop song basically needs three things: familiarity, variety, and hook.

Structure

So knowing that we want the song we write to appeal to listeners, how does that translate into the structure of a pop song? We have to figure out what doesn’t work first, then get to what works and what works well.

Here is a question. Would a song that had only verses work as a pop song? I do not think. Why wouldn’t it work? It wouldn’t work because you would quickly get bored of the song. The verses may be catchy, but if there’s nothing to change them, they’ll get old fast. So what do we do? Add another section.

So the lesson here is to give the song variety and to avoid making the song too mundane. But on the other hand, having too much variety wouldn’t work either. For example, if you were to introduce a new section each time without repeating a section, it would be hard to take in the song. Let’s say I have a song that has the structure A – B – C – D (each letter represents an individual section. For the listener to get some sense of familiarity, they will probably have to listen to the song again for a while). a few times, even if each section was catchy. But if you had a song that reintroduced sections like A – B – A – B, the listener might become familiar with one or two listens. But remember that the song should keep the listener interested with the hook.

The general structure of a pop song is A – B – A – B – C – B, also known as verse – chorus – verse – chorus – bridge – chorus. This works very well because not only does it add a sense of familiarity by repeating sections A and B, but there is also a sense of variety by adding section C. The familiarity is then reinforced by maintaining a fresh feeling by ending the section with B. This structure of a pop song is effective when the hook takes place in the chorus section, where the lyrics remain the same each time the section is sung.

You can use A – B – A – B – C – B as the basis for your song and add sections to it to add effects of familiarity and variety. Here are some examples.

A-A-B-A-B-C-B

A – B – C – A – B – C – D – C (This is known as verse – prechorus – chorus – verse – prechorus – chorus – bridge – chorus)

A-B-A-B-C-A-B

There are many options when it comes to the structure of a pop song. Remember that having the structure of a pop song is not what makes a song popular. You need a hook which is usually in the chorus section of the song. Have fun devising your structure!