Thursday, October 13, 2016

MassMedia: Audio Media: Parts of a Song (W8-P1) [VID] Fa16


There are a variety of genres of popular music: blues, country, rock, pop, rap, etc.

No matter your favorite genre of music, generally the song lyrics are structured in the same way.

Parts of Popular Songs (Lyrics)
  • Title
  • Intro* -- unique section before 1st verse
  • Verse -- 2 or more sections; different words, but similar music and lyrical structure.
  • Chorus (aka: refrain, hook, etc.) -- section which is repeated in song
  • Bridge* -- connects 2 parts of song; different musically and lyrically; may replace 3rd verse; “pleasant surprise”
  • Outro (aka: coda, tag, etc.)* -- additional “lyrics” tagged on after the final verse/chorus
* Optional

Watch and listen to the following and see if you spot the parts.  Which parts?  Where?



Try to spot the parts in your favorite songs.


Now, let's another key aspect of song (and poetry), rhyming.
Let's focus specifically on rhyming in rap.

A good source for understanding perfect rhymes, slant rhymes, rhyming schemes, in-rhymes, and multi-rhymes is The Rapper's Handbook by Escher and Alex Rappaport.

With an understanding of these key terms let's turn to applying them to award-winning musical, Hamilton, which has been called "American history meet hip-hop."   To see the application of various rhyming methods see the Wall Street Journals careful analysis of some of the lyrics of the musical.



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