Songwriting Mini Course Part 3 – Writing A Chorus For A Song

Welcome back to your step by step songwriting mini course. Today I am going to show you how to write a chorus for a song. Also known as a “hook”, the chorus is going to be one of the most memorable, emotional, and climactic parts of your song. Think of times when you are trying to describe a song to someone else. How do you describe it to them? You probably say something like this: “You know that one song that goes like [insert melody]...?” This part is almost always the chorus. Your goal when writing a chorus for a song is to make it stick in the mind of your listeners for a long time after they hear it.

To show the importance of the chorus, imagine that every other section of the song up until the chorus is like taking a trip to climb a mountain. The intro is like hearing about the impending adventure and becoming excited, the verse is like taking the trip to the base of the mountain and beginning to climb…then finally pulling yourself up over the edge to reveal: An unforgettable view where you can see the sunset, the trees, clouds on the horizon, and the entire city below. This is the chorus. The part you remember most about the trip (song) will be that highly emotional and intense moment when you made it to the top.

Songwriting Step #4: Write A Chorus For Your Song

The chorus comes after the verse, and will usually contain the main point of your song (lyrically). It can also be only instrumental (even if other parts of your song contain lyrics). When writing a chorus for a song it will almost always be shorter than the verse section, and will usually be longer than the intro. Additionally, the chorus is sometimes placed at the beginning of a song to act in the place of the intro (more on this later in the mini course).

In order to write a chorus that is truly memorable, you will need to focus on creating a great musical climax. A good climax in music has 3 steps:

1. Building Up A High Level Of Tension

While writing your song chorus you will want to be creating tension to build up to the climax (this will happen at end). Here are a few good ways that you can create tension in your chorus:

If you are writing lyrics in your song, save the absolute, most important line for the last part of the chorus. In the mean time, try to “hint at” or imply what you will say without giving it all away too early.
As I mentioned in part 1, use melody lines that get higher in pitch. When we hear musical notes that “go up” like this, we feel like we are going somewhere. You can use this idea as you write your song chorus to maintain the listener’s interest.
Use chords that contain 5 notes or more. This is especially effective if your verse did not have very “big” chords or many melody lines.

As a side note, sometimes a transition section is used in between the verse and chorus. This is called a “pre chorus.” This short section (usually made of one or two melodies) functions to help increase the tension in the climax of the chorus. This section sometimes has a similar sound to the verse, but may also sound totally different.

2. Reach The Highest Point

The highest point of the chorus will be at the end. This is where you want to place your most important message if you are writing lyrics in your song. Musically speaking, this where you will place the highest note in pitch or in volume. For maximum effect, have this note sustain for a little bit longer than the others.

3. Resolve The Tension

Once you have built up tension and reached the highest point in the chorus of your song, you will want to resolve all the tension. This gives the listener a chance to relax and reflect on what they just listened to. After reaching the highest point of the chorus, it is very common to immediately return to repeat the verse section. Since the verse is less intense than the chorus, this quickly resolves all the built up tension.

Creating a great climax is an essential step to writing a song chorus. The points mentioned above are only a few of the many ways this can be done. To hear more ways to write a chorus in a song, I recommend that you listen to your favorite musical artists. How do they create musical tension? When does the highest point of the music occur during the chorus? If you really like what you hear in your favorite artists, see if you can use some of their songwriting methods in your own chorus. If you are still having a difficult time thinking of ideas for your chorus, use this songwriting ideas audio course to jump-start your creativity.

In the next part of this songwriting mini course, I will introduce you to a new section that can help you add more depth to your song.

Re-visit part 1 and learn about writing an intro to a song .

Return to part 2 to get started writing a song verse .