Hacking Hit Song Structure eBook

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HIT SONG STRUCTURE

By TotalControlAudio.com

Hit song structure analysis performed by totalcontrolaudio.com

HACKING

Stop Writing Songs Even Your Friends Don’t Remember

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HIT SONG STRUCTURE

Even if your goal isn’t writing a hit song, you can quickly learn the framework to make your songs catchier and more

memorable. In this eBook, we’re

hacking hit songs

to understand the similarities and differences from one hit song to

another hit song. We hack across popular genres...so you don’t have to!

Song structure for the Songwriter is like the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling

1 _{was for Michelangelo’s painting. It’s your canvas.}

Now let’s get started.

HACKING

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“Just because you can sing the phone book doesn’t mean you can write with weak song structure.

Unless you’ve had a hit, always start with intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus,

chorus, bridge, outro.”

2 ~ Desmond Child

3

2. Desmond stated this during the ASCAP Expo 2008 Presentation on Hit Songwriting. 3. He has written over Seventy Top-40 Hits and has sold 300 million records.

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6 Reasons to Read this eBook

Even If You HATE Hit Songs (As I Do, Sometimes)

Hacking Hit Song Structure isn’t an eBook about how fantastic Hit songs are, though it might look like it. Even if you

hate Hit songs, here are six reasons why you should glance through the Hit Song Structure examples:

#1 We start with AC/DC!

Okay, maybe you hate rock songs too, but “Shook Me All Night Long” has stood the test of

time. And, it’s very similar in structure to the global smash hit “Firework” by Katy Perry. We’ll show you both.

#2 It doesn’t take much work.

The eBook will take you less than 15 minutes to peruse. We use big diagrams so you

don’t have to read much.

#3 It’s interesting stuff.

We’re hacking into the structure of Hits. It’s fascinating to see the similarities and differences.

#4 We’ve done the analysis for you.

For Free!

#5 There aren’t any wrong answers.

You just might get inspired to try something new. It’s the awesome thing about

songwriting. Write what you want to write.

#6 Because it’s fun to write songs people like.

And, maybe you’ll get rich! As Bruce Lee said, “Adapt what is

useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”

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Summary of the Song Sections:

The

Intro

has become a very short part of the hit song. Today’s Hits often have Intro’s less than 10 seconds long. Many Hits have

Intros of 5-8 seconds. Yes, “Livin’ On A Prayer” had a 38-second Intro, but that was 1986. “Wrecking Ball” has an 08-second Intro today.

Most of today’s Hits have only two

Verses

of 12 -16 bars each.

The

Pre-Chorus

is a 2 - 8 bar lift prior to the Chorus. Using a Pre-Chorus is common in Hit Songs. Since we’re hacking the Hits to

understand the basic structure, we simply define the Pre-Chorus as any lift that happens prior to the Chorus. What others might call a

B-part, extended verse, pre-hook, or lift, we simply call a Pre-Chorus.

The

Chorus

or Hook in Hit Songs is typically 12 - 16 bars, with 16-bars being extremely common. Most Hits have two Choruses.

The majority of today’s Hits have a

Bridge

, which is sometimes called the Middle-8 because the Bridge is often 8-bars.

The

Outro

almost always repeats the Chorus and sometimes elements of the Pre-Chorus, Bridge, and Intro. Most Hits are less than

four minutes long.

Hit Song Structure

The Sections

Intro

_Verse

Pre

Chorus

Verse

Bridge

Pre

Chorus

Outro

Six Steps to a Hit Song:

1. Make your

Intro

extremely short

2. Try a

Pre-Chorus

in your song

3. Get to the

Verse

within one minute

4. Use only two

Verses

(or three for Rap)

5. Include a

Bridge

6. Skip the solo

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“It is possible to become world-class in just about anything in six months or less. Armed with the

right framework, you can seemingly perform miracles, whether it’s Spanish, swimming, or anything

in between.”

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Hit Song Structure

On the following pages we’ll hack into the “framework” of Hit Songs. We’ll start with classic songs

and work our way to current Hits.

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16-Bars

SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG - AC/DC

Hit Song Structure

Intro

Verse

Pre

Chorus

Gtr Solo

Outro

12-Bars

4-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

24-Bars

:30

@ 1:02

Song Length 3:30

Tempo 125 BPM

FAST FACTS About “Shook Me All Night Long”

Written by Young, Young and Johnson

Tempo: 125 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: G Major Length: 3:30

Intro Length: 30 seconds

Hit Song Information

US Billboard Hot 100 #35

No. 10 on VH1's list of "The 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s"

Back in Black Album 26m+ sales

Played at every AC/DC concert Released August 19, 1980

Youtube Link: Shook Me All Night Long

Verse

Pre

Chorus

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16-Bars

LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER - Bon Jovi

Hit Song Structure

Verse

_Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Verse

_Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Solo

Outro (fade)

16-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

9-Bars

20-Bars

:38

@ 1:25 sec

Song Length 4:10

Tempo 122 BPM

FAST FACTS About “Livin’ On A Prayer”

Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Desmond Child

Tempo: 122 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: E minor

Length: 4:10 (Album) & 4:47 (Full Version) Intro Length: 38 seconds

Billboard Hot 100, #1 Hit Song for 4 weeks Top five on 12 charts around the world

Slippery When Wet album has sold 28m+

Released October 31, 1986

Youtube Link: Livin’ On a Prayer

Intro

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SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT - Nirvana

Hit Song Structure

FAST FACTS About “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Written by Cobain, Novoselic, and Grohl

Tempo: 115 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: F minor

Length: 4:30 (Single Version) Intro Length: 11 seconds

US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks: #1 Nominated for two Grammy

Sold over 2 million copies

Released September 10, 1991

Youtube Link: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Tempo 115 BPM

Intro

Verse

Chorus

Solo

Outro

12-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

:16

@ :57 sec

Song Length 4:30

Pre

Chorus

8-Bars

Verse

Chorus

12-Bars

16-Bars

Pre

Chorus

8-Bars

Verse

12-Bars

Pre

Chorus

8-Bars

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8-Bars

LIVIN’ LA VIDA LOCA - Ricky Martin

Hit Song Structure

Intro

_Verse

Pre

Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Outro

20-Bars

10-Bars

28-Bars

8-Bars

10-Bars

28-Bars

10-Bars

55-Bars

:11

@ :53 sec

Song Length 3:59

Tempo 178 BPM

FAST FACTS About “Livin’ La Vida Loca”

Written by Luis Gómez Escolar, Desmond Child, Draco Rosa

Tempo: 178 BPM Time Signature: 4/4

Key Signature: C# minor Length: 3:59

Billboard Hot 100, #1 Hit Song for 5 weeks #1 on 20 charts around the world

Sold over 8 million copies Released March 23, 1999

Youtube Link: Livin’ La Vida Loco

Verse

_Chorus

Pre

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8-Bars

LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING - Tim McGraw

Hit Song Structure

Intro

Verse

Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Verse

Bridge

Outro

16-Bars

5-Bars

14-Bars

16-Bars

11-Bars

6-Bars

24-Bars

:24

@ 1:05 sec

Song Length 4:28

Tempo 80 BPM

FAST FACTS About “Live Like You Were Dying”

Written by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman

Tempo: 80 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: G Major

Length: 4:21 (Radio) & 4:58 (Album) Intro Length: 24 seconds

Billboard Country charts #1 seven weeks Billboard’s #1 Country song 2004

ACM Single & Song of the Year, NSAI Song of The Year and CMA Song of the Year, and Grammy Best Male Country Performance Released June 7, 2004

Youtube Link: Live Like You Were Dying

Pre

Chorus

5-Bars

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EMPIRE STATE OF MIND - Jay Z

Hit Song Structure

FAST FACTS About “Empire State of Mind”

Written by Hunte, Keys, Shuckburgh, Keyes, Sewell-Ulepic, Carter, Robinson

Tempo: 86 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: E Major Length: 4:34

US Billboard Hot 100, Rap, R&B: #1 Grammy, Best Rap Song

Sold over 5 million copies in the US Released October 20, 2009

Youtube Link: Empire State of Mind

Tempo 86 BPM

Hit song structure analysis performed by totalcontrolaudio.com

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Intro

_Verse

_Chorus

_Bridge

_Outro

14-Bars

10-Bars

6-Bars

10-Bars

@ :55 sec

Song Length 4:34

Pre

2-Bars

4-Bars

Verse

Chorus

14-Bars

10-Bars

Pre

2-Bars

Verse

Chorus

14-Bars

10-Bars

Pre

2-Bars

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4-Bars

FIREWORK - Katy Perry

Hit Song Structure

Intro

_Verse

Pre

Chorus

Verse

Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Bridge

Outro

16-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars

24-Bars

:08

@ :54 sec

Song Length 3:44

FAST FACTS About “Firework”

Written by Katy Perry, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean

Tempo: 124 BPM Time Signature: 4/4

Key Signature: Ab Major Length: 3:44

Billboard Hot 100, #1 Hit Song in 2010 and 2011

Top five on 20 charts around the world Sold over 10 million copies in the US Released November 24, 2010

Youtube Link: Firework

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8-Bars

GANGNAM STYLE - Psy

Hit Song Structure

Intro

Verse

_{Pre Chorus}

Chorus

Verse

Chorus

Bridge

Outro

16-Bars

13-Bars

16-Bars

13-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars

11-Bars

:14

@ :1:07

Song Length 3:39

FAST FACTS About “Gangnam Style”

Written by Park Jae-Sang, Yoo Gun-Hyung

Tempo: 132 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: G minor Length: 3:39

#1 Hit Song on 35 charts globally 1.8 billion Youtube views

Sold over 4.5 million copies in the US Released August 14, 2012

Youtube Link: Gangnam Style

Hit song structure analysis performed by totalcontrolaudio.com

Tempo 132 BPM

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4-Bars

DIAMONDS - Rihanna

Hit Song Structure

Intro

_Verse

Pre

Chorus

Pre

Chorus

Bridge

Outro

8-Bars

16-Bars

8-Bars 4-Bars

16-Bars 4-Bars

16-Bars

:11

@ :52 sec

Song Length 3:45

FAST FACTS About “Diamonds”

Written by Sia Furler, Benjamin Levin, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen

Tempo: 92 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: B minor Length: 3:45

#1 on 23 Charts around the world

Top five on 36 charts around the world Sold over 7.5 million copies worldwide Released September 27, 2012

Youtube Link: Diamonds

Tempo 92 BPM

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THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT - Luke Bryan

Hit Song Structure

Intro

_Verse

_Chorus

_Verse

_Pre

_Bridge

_Outro

10-Bars

15-Bars

10-Bars

2-Bars

15-Bars

8-Bars

19-Bars

:08

@ :35 sec

Song Length 3:10

FAST FACTS About “That’s My Kind of Night”

Written by Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano, Thomas Walker, and Ashley Gorley

Tempo: 110 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: E Major Length: 3:10

Intro Length: 7.7 seconds

US Billboard Hot Country Songs: #1 Sold over 1 million copies in the US Released August 5, 2013

Youtube Link: That’s My Kind of Night

Pre

2-Bars

Chorus

4-Bars

Tempo 110 BPM

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4-Bars

WRECKING BALL - Miley Cyrus

Hit Song Structure

Intro

_Verse

Pre

Chorus

Bridge

Pre

Chorus

Outro

8-Bars

9-Bars

10-Bars

8-Bars

18-Bars

16-Bars

25-Bars

:08

@ :41 sec

Song Length 3:32

FAST FACTS About “Wrecking Ball”

Written by Gottwald, McDonald, Moccio, Skarbek, Walter

Tempo: 120 BPM Time Signature: 4/4 Key Signature: D minor Length: 3:32

Billboard Hot 100, #1 Hit Song Released August 25, 2013 Youtube Link: Wrecking Ball

Tempo 120 BPM

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Now What?

5 Steps Toward a Hit

Alright, so we’ve looked at a handful of massive Hits. What can you do with this song structure stuff?

Step One:

Decide if experimenting

with Hit Song structure is for you. If it seems cool then proceed. That’s easy!

Step Two:

Pick one Hit Song from this eBook and listen to it while referring to our structure hack. We’ve include a

YouTube link on each song’s page to make it easy for you. When you feel confident in identifying each section of the

song, listen to another one of the Hits and do the same.

Step Three:

Play the best song you’ve ever written. Listen to the structure. How similar is it to the Hits?

Step Four:

Use your favorite audio program (i.e. GarageBand, ProTools, Sonar, etc.) drop in one of the Hit Songs

and use our

free Songwriter Loop Pack

to build a new drum track.

Step Five:

Delete the Hit Song track.

Write a new song using the drum track you built!

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Now What?

FIREWORK Example in GarageBand

HACKING

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ASCAP

BMI

SESAC

HFA

Nashville Songwriter Association International

Berklee Online

SOCAN

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Songwriters Guild of America

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Lilac Writer

Hooktheory

Groove3

Chromatik

SoundCloud

Writing Hit Country Lyrics

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“I'm sick to death of people saying we've made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we've

made 12 albums that sound exactly the same. It’s just rock and roll. A lot of times we get criticized for it.

A lot of music papers come out with: 'When are they going to stop playing these three chords?' If you

believe you shouldn't play just three chords it's pretty silly on their part. To us, the simpler a song is, the

better, 'cause it's more in line with what the person on the street is.”

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“My vocation is more in composition really than anything else—building up harmonies using the guitar,

orchestrating the guitar like an army, a guitar army. I always felt if we were going in to do an album,

there should already be a lot of structure already made up so we could get on with that and see what

else happened.”

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“I didn't really know what I was doing when I started. I just started writing songs. After two songs I just

continued to explore it. I don't force it. If you don't have an idea and you don't hear anything going over

and over in your head, don't sit down and try to write a song. You know, go mow the lawn.”

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“There’s a lot of craft that goes into achieving a hot song—at the beginning of your career, you’re

usually more inspiration than craft, and you get great when those intersect.”

~ Kara DioGuardi

6

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“I've just really been into melody and lyrics and songwriting. Writing a rap, to me, is easy. I could write

a rap like that. But writing songs and melodies and st that's hopefully going to stick around for 30, 40**

years is fking hard. If you have good songs and you're talented, people will eventually come to your**

shows, people will buy your music.”

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“I don't think rock n' roll songwriters should worry about art. I don't think it comes into it. As far as I'm

concerned, Art is just short for Arthur. I look for ambiguity when I'm writing because life is ambiguous.

A painter's got a canvas. The writer's got reams of empty paper. A musician has silence.”

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Hit song structure is not just about what you’re reading in this eBook. There was much

more we wanted to include. We’re busy doing song analysis and building useful tools for

songwriters and recording musicians. Yes, we specialize in drum loops, but we’re about

writing memorable songs.

If you’re not on our email list, please sign up here. We give away useful stuff.

And, since you’ve read all the way to the end of this book, we have some bonus drum

loops for you!

www.totalcontrolaudio.com/bonus/

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