VII. Popular Music
Verse-Chorus Form
Bryn Hughes and Megan Lavengood
Key Takeaways
- Verse-chorus form is a versatile song form that rapidly took over rock-and-roll in the 1960s and has dominated the genre ever since.
- In verse-chorus form, the title lyrics, the most memorable music, and the main narrative are split between two core sections: the verse and the chorus.
Verse-chorus form is so named because the two most important sections are the verse and the chorus. Other possible sections in verse-chorus form are prechorus, bridge, and postchorus.
As an example, look at the form of Bon Jovi’s song “Livin’ on a Prayer,” given in
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“Livin’ on a Prayer” follows a typical verse-chorus form. It also illustrates common usage of five core sections in verse-chorus forms (and a bonus truck driver’s modulation!).
Notice that the sections used in “Livin’ on a Prayer” recur and seem to follow a pattern. Sections within a verse-chorus form have certain prototypical orderings and groupings. The verse, prechorus, chorus, and postchorus sections, for example, always progress in this order (though they don’t all need to be present). These groupings are referred to as cycles. In “Livin’ on a Prayer”:
- After an extended intro, the first cycle begins with a verse at 0:47.
- Then at 1:18, a prechorus increases energy and tension…
- …into the chorus at 1:34.
- After a brief interlude, this cycle is repeated beginning at 1:54, with the addition of a postchorus at 2:56.
- A final cycle at 3:00 is atypical and abbreviated, and it’s followed by a repetition of its final chorus multiple times, during which a fadeout ends the song.
A prototypical verse-chorus form song is illustrated in
.Sections within Verse-Chorus Form
Terms, concepts, definitions, and notational guidelines are taken from common convention and a combination of the resources listed below under Further Reading.
Verse (V)
- Verse sections are lyric-variant and often contain lyrics that advance the narrative.
- Until the 1960s, verse sections tended to be harmonically closed.
- Beginning in the 1960s, verse sections became more and more likely to be harmonically open (Summach 2012, 114).
- Verses (like strophes) tend to begin on-tonic.
Prechorus (P)
- Prechorus sections can be recognized most easily by energy gain.
- They bear many of the functional characteristics of the d phrase in srdc—fragmentation, acceleration of harmonic rhythm, movement away from tonic harmony, and harmonic openness.[1]
Chorus (C)
- Chorus sections are lyric-invariant and contain the primary lyrical material of the song (the title lyrics and/or lyrical hook).
- Chorus function is also typified by heightened musical intensity relative to the verse, including features like “a more dense or active instrumental texture; prominent background vocals; and/or a higher register melody” (Summach 2012, 106).
- Choruses most frequently (but not exclusively) begin on-tonic.
- Although the terms chorus and refrain are often used in