Writing a Catchy Chorus

Writing a catchy chorus -- one that has a good "hook" that will sink into the listener's mind -- is one of the biggest and most important challenges for a songwriter. In this article, we'll look at three key concepts that can help a songwriter put a catchy chorus together:

• solid use of repetition
• a good melody
• smooth integration with the rest of the song

Let's take a look at each one of those components.

Repetition

A hallmark for creating a catchy chorus is strong use of repetition. Think of your favorite songs, or songs that have managed to get stuck in your head. In all likelihood, the vast majority of these songs will have a repetitive element to them; they may have a line that is repeated 10 or more times in the song. Such repetition helps to make the song infectious.

The chorus is the perfect place to use repetition in your song. Create non-repetitive elements and use them for your verses and other parts of your song so that you have a good mix of diversity and repetition, with each element complementing the other.

Good Melody

A strong melody is, naturally, the most vital element towards creating a catchy chorus. While there is no set formula for creating a great melody, there are some tips that can help you get started. For instance, try a I - IV - V chord progression. A I-IV-V chord progression is simply one in which you use your root chord, its fourth, and its fifth to create the basics of a musical piece. For instance, if you use A as your root chord, the fourth is D (since D is the fourth letter from the root A) and the fifth is E. Hence a I - IV - V chord change would consist of the A, D, and E chords when the root is A.

The I-IV-V chord progression -- or a similar variation of it -- is an extremely common one, and is used in many songs to create an infectious chorus. Consider the following songs:

"Minority" by Green Day. This song utilizes a IV-I-V-I chord change; the root is D, with a fourth of A and a fifth of G. Note the audio clip below.



Here's a video of "Minority" from a Green Day performance at AOL Sessions.



"With a Little Help From My Friends" by the Beatles. This song uses a IV-I-V chord change with root of A, hence creating a D-A-E progression. Check out the audio clip below.



Smooth Integration With Rest of Song

A catchy chorus does you no good if it does not mix well with the elements that surround it. One effective tactic you can use to ensure your chorus is well integrated into the rest of your song is to ensure that the chorus is written in the same scale that the rest of the song is written in. If you are creating a song with multiple pieces, try ensuring that your chorus is founded on the scale that is most fundamental to your musical piece. In doing so, you ensure that the chorus has the same foundation as the other elements of your song -- hence ensuring that it is smoothly integrate.

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