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you have about 1/20th of a tune. to make a successful track these days requires much higher density of ideas than you have in in your track.
you need:
a verse (the one bit you almost nearly have)
a chorus (the main hook… the thing people will remember)
middle 8 (takes it way from the main hook)
build (ppl go crazy)
Hey Phil, can you explain the middle 8 you mentioned. What do you mean by taking it away from the hook.
Middle 8s are used a lot in more commercial songs… they can use the chorus chords but generally do something a bit different with the hook.
Something to take the “story” in a different direction for 8 bars.
normally happens between the last 2 choruses.
I would worry about this towards the end.
If i where you i would focus on a chorus - a main riff or main hook… normally its the melodic or main vocal hook.
Have you any reference tracks you are using for arrangement or general structure/ideas?
You should definitely look at copying tracks and arrangements… i did it for years… it really helps you to build a picture of where everything goes and how frequent stuff should be happening.
song structure is a pretty interesting subject. you can go with something super simple (i.e. AABA) or it can be more complex. When I was writing more rock/metal type songs it would typically be like
intro/verse/pre-chorus/chorus/bridge/solo/outro
I have been working at adapting this to trance (well, psytrance)
As I see it, the intro well, is basically the beginning. The verse is the main melody line with much of the backing (e.g. drums, bass, pads, etc).
Now chorus. I was interpreting this as the break. I figure, make the pre-chorus the build-up and then the big hit would start the chorus and this is where it gets big, with lots of instruments.
the bridge typically for me is almost another build up. This would lead up to the solo. now, i know the solo is not actually typical for trance but it’s what i am doing, heh. figure by solo i mean like a guitar solo.
I think in terms of 4 bars, well, really 8 bars. so every 4/8/16 bars something changes. this might be a transition from the intro to the verse, or verse to pre-chorus. At each point when a transition happens, things change. either you make an interesting drum roll, or drop something out, or something. Something to make it very clear that a change is happening.
in essence, it can seem really daunting to write a song. however, if you use these songwriting tools it can really help. first, make an almost outline of your song. something like…
intro(4 bars) — verse(8 bars) — pre-chorus(4 bars) — chorus(8 bars) — verse(8 bars) — pre-chorus(4 bars) — chorus(8 bars) — solo(16 bars. cuz i am just one of those guys) — chorus(8 bars) — outro(8 bars. probably another solo here. ;-). )
(that is my typical song, heh)
anyway, now that you have that you don’t need to think of the song as a whole. just start dropping things in. Of course, this is purely a guideline. Songs become awesome when you move away from formulas and really try to reach outside your comfort zone.
anyway, not sure how helpful that is, just something i have picked up along the way.
-r