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E V A N R E D S K Y 78 LESSON 5: ARRANGEMENT "There's no rules to writing music or writing songs, but it makes the job easier when you have a loose set of rules or a guideline to follow." When it comes to music, whether it's pop music, punk, music, even classical music, any type of genre of music is going to have an arrangement. In the same way that storytell- ing has a structure, a beginning, middle and end with a climax, arrangements of music typically have an intro, verse, chorus, maybe a bridge, and then another chorus. These elements help package your story and move your narrative forward. PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER Evan's songs typically follow a formula. Intro The introduction introduces the listener to the music, the key of the song, the sort of overall feeling the vibe with the chords you've chosen. After a few bars, you can start into your first verse. Your verse is really where the meat of your song is. That's where you get your point across - within the two to three verses in a three to five minute pop song or folk song or a rock song. That's your storytelling section Then the Chorus, the catchy big message that everybody can sing along to is generally what ties the theme of the song together. This is the essence of the song. Then there's Verse 2, where you push your narrative, you push your story, you take the story to the next level. Your second verse should echo your first in terms of the narrative perspective (I or We.) Next is the Chorus again and then the bridge. The bridge is either a musical break or another section of the song that's different. It usually has a little higher energy or com- pletely stripped back energy where you can say a little bit more. Finally, we move back into the chorus, because people are already singing along and humming to it. You can end with the first couple lines of the song, but the chorus is a great way to close out a song.