I dont know where the beginning quote comes from originally but I think it was the title of the first album of Swedish band Roxette (if I am mistaken feel free to let me know) but it does sum up the concept of the chorus.

Don Walker, keyboard player and principal songwriter of seminal Australian band Cold Chisel once said "the quicker you get to the point the better". The chorus is generally the focal point of the song, it is what the listener usually remembers long after the song has finished. It is where the hook, the title or the main story idea of the song usually resides.

It's like the chorus is the destination and the rest of the song is the journey towards it. Choruses are meant to be uplifting, standing out from everything else and powerful enough to get people to sing or hum along to the song.

Most songwriters I know come up with the chorus before anything else. I think this is because the chorus is like the synopsis or the summary of the song. I know I have mentioned in previous articles that initial ideas that you come up with through you songwriting process today become the choruses of the songs you write tomorrow.

I am amazed though at how many songwriters dont pay enough attention to the chorus as much as they should. In my role as a songwriting judge it is quite often that I see on the printed lyric sheet a section marked as the chorus that sounds almost the same as the verses when you hear the song played. That to me is a wasted opportunity to really grab the listeners attention. Sad really.

Choruses (more than any other part of a song) will be less effective if there are too many words in them, they are melodically monotonous or the rhythm of the whole section is clumsy and lacking in flow. Songs can be saved and redeemed by a cracking, stirring chorus.

I'm not going to tell you how many bars a chorus should run for or how dynamic the melody should be, that is up to you to experiment with the ideas that you create. All I am doing is outlining some characteristics that you, the songwriter should be mindful of and afterall, isn't observation and mindfulness part of your songwriting process?

Listen to songs that you have grown up with and love and pay close attention to the choruses of those songs. Chances are they are the very things that you sing along to. There are a lot of songs from my "child of the 80's" past that float around in my head that the chorus is the only part of the song that I recognise.

Have you ever had a song that enters your head and it just wont go away? How annoying is that (it happens to me all the time)? What is the part of the song that is stuck in your mind? Yes, THE BL@#DY CHORUS!!!

There is a reason why that happens.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: songwriting 101, song writing, songwriting, roxette, cold chisel, songwriting tip, free songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting technique, songwriting basics, corey stewart