Rules for Building a Song

  • Play an intro that has the verse chords but feels like the chorus.
  • No embellishing the first verse. Make it almost bland.
  • Increase your pattern as you approach the first chorus.
  • Make sure the chorus has a different feel than the verse.
  • The second verse can have a busier pattern and you should embellish between vocal phrases. Jump up an octave and play a not or two starting with the note name of the key you’re in.
  • The second time through the chorus and from now on you can play with busier patterns, more embellishing and more aggressive.
  • The bridge should either be really big, or really small, and almost never at the same dynamic level as what you were. If you were big, go small, or vice-versa. If you were big and you want the bridge big, you need to plan ahead by not being too big on the chorus before the bridge so when you get to the bridge you can explode.
  • After the bridge, do a few big choruses and play an outro that sounds like the intro to create a memory for the listener.

These aren’t rules set in stone, but are standard usable guidelines for building a song either in a solo instrument or in a full band scenario.