Hi forum folks!
I am guilty of writing and recording songs that plough on verse and chorus with no change or development. More recently, I’ve been thinking about how I can develop the arrangement of a song so that it keeps a listener engaged. I’ve listed some ideas I’ve used to achieve this, but wondered if you have some ideas to contribute as well?

  • Build up - starting off a song with minimal instruments, then building up e.g. drums and bass come in on verse 2 etc.
  • Unpack - the opposite of the above - withdrawing instruments as the song goes through the outro
  • Add more instrument layers - particularly for the chorus to provide ‘zing’. ELO we’re good at this back in the day.
  • Add backing vocals or harmonies to the chorus or subsequent verses
  • Modify the chord progression by adding chord variations e.g. swap major chord to the relative minor; add chord extensions; add quicker chord changes by using new chords from the same key. I first came across this device in a song by English group Stornoway ‘Zorbing’.
  • Use a pre-chorus or a bridge to create tension/release or variation respectively
  • Add a solo over a verse
  • Use a breakdown - a stripped back verse or section, then ‘pow!’ when the full band comes back in.


Any other suggestions or techniques?

Andrew

Regards,
Andrew D
Adelaide, Sth Aust
Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/SQE4btVvNVkLq74e9
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