Songwriting Tip #7 – Using Unconventional Song Forms
In songwriting, it’s common practice for most of us to adhere to common or popular song forms such ABAB or AABA. However, this doesn’t mean that these are the only song forms we should ever use. Through analysing Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, we’ll discuss how using unconventional song forms can lend to the uniqueness of a song.
In “We Will Rock You”, we hear three verses and three refrains back-to-back with each other. This is then rounded up with a soaring guitar solo at the very end of the song. Although other songs also feature this format, what makes this song really special is that the verses and refrains are acapella and drums all the way through.
This not only creates a sense of predictability, but also provides an unexpected twist for the listeners when the guitar solo comes in.
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The Guitar Solo
At the end of the song, Brian May plays a solo with some really heavy electric rock guitar and great single note playing. The part about this that’s really special, is the little rhythmic riff that he settles into.
Up until this point, the song mostly revolves around the E Minor chord. However, in the guitar solo, Brain May instead opts to focus on the A Major chord instead, thus providing a great change in mood to the song. The lick that he uses in the solo is essentially a country lick that he plays on the electric guitar up on the 14th fret with lots of distortion.
What we can take away from this, is that there’s often a lot of crossover between blues, country, folk, rock, R&B and soul. It’s important for us to know how to use our knowledge of these genres, and blend that into the songs we write. Although we might not necessarily play any of those genres, the skills we can pick up from them are still applicable, and can transfer over beautifully to the genre that we’re writing in.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #7 – Using Unconventional Song Forms
As aspiring songwriters, “We Will Rock You” teaches us a valuable lesson – it’s okay to embrace unconventional song structure. By stepping outside the norm, we can expand our creativity and create music that resonates deeply with audiences.
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A common issue that songwriters often struggle with, is how to determine the length of their song. In this blog post, we’ll learn the importance of song length, by studying Queen’s famous rock anthem, “We Will Rock You”.
The original recorded version of “We Will Rock You” is two minutes and two seconds. It’s straight to the point, with absolutely no fluff or filler. In order to understand why the song is this short, we have to first understand the purpose the song was written to fulfill in the first place.
Queen created this anthem to encourage people to sing and clap along. To this end, the song has three refrains which in turn provides the audience three opportunities to join in. However, once that’s been done, the song would have served its purpose.
Imagine, if the song had been even 30 or 40 seconds longer, we may have felt that it was dragging and thus, the punchiness and impact that the refrain currently has might have been entirely lost.
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Questions to Ask Ourselves
Based on what we know about the length of “We Will Rock You”, we can surmise that it’s important for us as songwriters to ask ourselves the following questions when determining the length of our songs:
What is the purpose of our song?
Does the length of our song currently support its purpose?
Have we given enough time so as not to detract from the punchiness of our refrain/ chorus?
Remember that there isn’t a fixed answer to how long a song should be. Some songs might even need as long as six and a half minutes to tell the full story. Instead of trying to follow a specific songwriting formula, what’s important is that we tailor our song lengths to suit the purpose of our songs.
In the case of “We Will Rock You”, Queen felt that it needed to be short and sweet, with three verses and three refrains. This keeps the song punchy, and successfully carries its point across.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #6 – Keep It Short
As an overall, it’s important to remember that every song is unique and the appropriate length will vary. However, embracing the concept of keeping it short and sweet, as exemplified by “We Will Rock You,” can lead to powerful and memorable compositions that leave a lasting impression on our listeners.
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As songwriters, we’re often focused on the details of our songs and the creative process. However, it’s important for us to remember that our audience deserves to feel like they’re a part of our songs as well. Through analysing Queen’s song “We Will Rock You”, we’ll discuss the importance of listening to your audience as a songwriter.
The story goes that the song came about after Queen had played a show at Bingley Hall in Stafford on 29th May 1977, and at the end of that show the crowd began to sing a classic football anthem known as You’ll Never Walk Alone. Brian May in particular was really moved by this experience.
In an interview with Radio One, he said “We were just completely knocked out and taken aback. It was quite an emotional experience really”. Following this, the band felt inspired to create their own anthem that a crowd could engage with, sing along to, clap along to, and even stomp along to.
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What We Should Learn from This
What’s important to notice here, is that instead of dismissing his experience as just him having a particularly rowdy and excitable crowd, he took it and sought to create a song where he could give back to his audience. He actively tried to learn from this, and wanted to include the audience and seek more engagement with them to make them feel like they were part of the show.
This is one of the reasons that Queen became one of the most successful live bands of all time. As songwriters and musicians, we often value the creative process over everything else. While this is definitely a crucial part of the process, this doesn’t mean that we should overlook what we can give back to the audience instead. In hindsight, the greatest rock anthem of all time was born out of this very simple idea of giving everyone in the crowd a song that they could perform with the band.
By making it all about the beat and the chanting, everybody in the crowd was able to feel like they were a part of the song and weren’t limited by not being able to play an instrument. Instead, they got to use their feet, hands and voices so that for a very brief moment, they got to feel like they belonged in a rock band.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #5 – Listening to Your Audience
In conclusion, it’s important for us to take into account our audience’s or listener’s needs as well when writing a song. This way, our song will be able to capture the attention of our listeners, thus further ensuring that it sticks to their minds and hearts.
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Songwriting Tip #4 – Turning the Chorus into an Anthem
The goal in most songs is to shine a spotlight on the chorus, and really ensure that the hook sticks in our listener’s minds. In this blog post, we’ll analyse how “We Will Rock You” by Queen turns their chorus into a powerful anthem.
If we take a look at the phrasing of the verses, we’ll see that it goes from extremely busy at the start of the verse to less busy as the song heads towards the chorus. This is an interesting phenomenon that is known as phrasal declaration.
In a nutshell, phrasal deceleration is when we go from having a lot of notes in a bar to having less notes in a bar. This results in us feeling a sense of deceleration, even though the tempo of the song remains unchanged. By using phrasal declaration, we anticipate the refrain even more, as it provides a release from the tension that was building in the verses.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can build tension and release in a song, download this free PDF entitled “Functions of Chords in a Diatonic System”:
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #4 – Turning the Chorus into an Anthem
By creating a sense of anticipation using phrasal deceleration and ensuring that the refrain only lands on downbeats, Queen successfully creates an anthem that resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds. As songwriters, we should learn from this and try to implement these techniques in our own songwriting as well.
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Songwriting Tip #3 – Moving the Story Through a Timeline
A common problem that songwriters face is not knowing how to structure our verses. Through analysing Queen’s hit song “We Will Rock You”, we’ll learn one of the ways we can develop the storyline of a song.
Sometimes when we write songs, we’re simply describing a specific moment. In the case of “We Will Rock You”, they’ve instead opted to describe the different phases of a character’s life. Observe the first line of each of the verses of the song, as below:
Verse 1 “Buddy, you’re a boy, make a big noise”
Verse 2 “Buddy, you’re a young man, hard man”
Verse 3 “Buddy, you’re an old man, poor man”
From this, we can see that the verses take us through different stages of Buddy’s life. Verse 1 describes him as a boy, Verse 2 describes him as a young man and Verse 3 then describes him as an old man.
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The Effect This Has
This chronological storytelling approach evokes a sense of nostalgia and reflection.
By assigning each verse to a different era of Buddy’s life, this allows listeners to contemplate the various stages and challenges we all face throughout our lives. The lyrics suggest that despite growing older, Buddy’s circumstances and struggles remain unchanged, creating a sense of constancy and a never-ending cycle of hardships.
While “We Will Rock You” is often seen as a confident and empowering anthem, this storytelling technique adds depth and complexity to the narrative. It portrays a character who persists in the face of adversity, regardless of the challenges that life presents.
It’s to be noted that as with any song, interpretations may vary, and listeners may find their own meanings and connections within the narrative. This is just one of many potential interpretations, but it’s not necessarily the only one that there is.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #3 – Moving the Story Through a Timeline
“We Will Rock You” is a great example of the power of storytelling in songwriting. It’s important for us to learn from this song and remember that a song doesn’t necessarily have to be about just a moment, but can take us through the timeline of a story instead.
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Songwriting Tip #2 – Using the Voice as a Percussive Instrument
Usually when we write songs, we focus a lot on using a good amount of variation between our verses and choruses. This is so that we can create a build-up of tension, followed by resolution in the chorus. However, it’s entirely possible to place very little emphasis on pitch movement to create a release of tension. Here, we’ll discuss how Freddie Mercury uses his voice as a percussive instrument in Queen’s song “We Will Rock You”.
Similarly to a lot of great anthems, Queen’s hit song is largely about the refrain line i.e. the line that goes “We will rock you”.
So, the verses are there to take us on a lyrical journey and provide a build-up for the song’s narrative. This build-up in tension can then be released when the refrain line lands. The unusual thing about the lyrical phrasing in the verses of this song is that there’s very little emphasis on pitch movement and a lot of emphasis on rhythmic movement.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can build tension and release in a song, download this free PDF entitled “Functions of Chords in a Diatonic System”:
How Is this Achieved?
If we break-down the melody of the verses, we’ll notice that Freddy Mercury focuses on one repeated note that he hits in a short staccato rhythmic way, before then descending at the end of the phrase down the pentatonic scale. Take a look at the first verse of “We Will Rock You”, as below:
Buddy, you’re a boy, make a big noise Playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday You got mud on your face, you big disgrace Kicking your can all over the place
The sections highlighted in yellow are approximately where the melody starts descending down the pentatonic scale. From this, we can see that a large portion of the verse doesn’t have much melodic variation at all.
The Effect this Has
By limiting the melodic movement, and instead opting to focus on rhythmic movement, this creates a verse that’s extremely tribal in nature, as well as being easy for anyone to sing along to.
Even if we remove the lyrics, the melody line still feels like it’s driving the song because of the way it’s been phrased rhythmically. As a result, the verses feel punchy, and really help drive home the point of the song. This also has the effect of making the refrain sound like a huge event that we’ve all been waiting for, and further emphasises the release in tension that occurs.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #2 – Using the Voice as a Percussive Instrument
From Queen’s song “We Will Rock You”, we can clearly see how using the voice as a percussive instrument can be used to great effect. By limiting melodic movement and instead emphasising rhythmic movement, it’s possible to build tension in an entirely different way, thus helping us to create anthems that truly stand out.
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As songwriters, we try hard to distinguish ourselves and create memorable songs. Unfortunately, many songwriters often feel as if things need to be complicated in order to stand out – this is inaccurate. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the power of simplicity through studying Queen’s classic rock anthem “We Will Rock You”.
“We Will Rock You” begins with the drums playing a classic rock groove, predominantly using the kicks and snares. However, what differentiates this groove and really makes it stand out, is that the kicks and snares are being accented with foot stomps and claps.
Although all of this sounds extremely simple, it’s actually very difficult to execute it well because the reality of it is that simple is hard to do. The fewer elements there are, the harder those elements have to work to stand out. Otherwise, the simplicity of it could backfire and instead result in the song sounding boring. As Chopin eloquently says, “Simplicity is the final achievement”, and in the case of “We Will Rock You”, simplicity equals powerful.
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Why Does this Work?
The drum groove that is created feels tribal and primal. Even though it’s so simple and uncluttered, it still manages to drive the song forward from that very first beat because the general arrangement of the song is so sparse. When Freddie Mercury’s voice comes in, we’re hyperfocused on his delivery because of the very few elements that are in the mix in the first place.
This is where the power of simplicity really shines, as it allows us to draw the listener’s attention to a few specific elements and really make those elements land emotionally with the listener.
How Is this Achieved?
This powerful groove couldn’t have been achieved without layering the kicks and snares. There are a few ways we could go about this:
Get other people to join in: You could record other people stomping their feet and clapping, and then use those recordings to layer with the kicks and snares. This creates a really cool natural variation to the layers.
Record yourself: If you aren’t able to record other people, you could always record yourself stomping and clapping. This way, you’ll still be able to create a more natural feel, even without recording others.
Using samples: You could also layer using different samples of people stomping and clapping. There are loads of free sample libraries online, and even Logic Pro X’s stock library has ample amounts of samples to work with. Through manipulating these audio files, you’ll be able to create lots of different layers and textures without needing to record anything live.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #1 – The Power of Simplicity
In conclusion, “We Will Rock You” teaches us that simplicity can be a potent tool in songwriting. By focusing on a few key elements, you can create a powerful impact and draw your audience’s attention to the core message of your song.
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Songwriting Tips to Learn from Queen’s “We Will Rock You”
“We Will Rock You” by Queen is arguably the greatest rock anthem of all time. In this blog post, we look at some of the songwriting secrets buried within its seemingly simple form.
“We Will Rock You” begins with a deceptively simple drum groove that packs a powerful punch. Brian May’s clever use of hand claps and foot stomps to emphasize the snare and kick drums gives the song a tribal and primal feel. This uncluttered and straightforward arrangement allows listeners to be hyper focused on Freddie Mercury’s vocals once they come in.
Whilst the groove is really simple, the power of it really comes from the layers used to create it. From this, we can see that simplicity allows us to draw our listeners attention to a few sparse elements in a song, thus helping to ensure that they land emotionally with the listener.
Using the Voice as a Percussive Instrument
Similarly to most great anthems, this song is mostly centered around the refrain line, which is “We will rock you”. The verses are meant to build tension, thus creating a satisfying release once the refrain hits. However, unlike most songs, the verses use variations in rhythm rather than pitch to achieve this.
By using his voice as a percussive instrument, Freddie Mercury creates an infectious rhythmic drive that keeps the song moving forward. Even if we remove the lyrics, just listening to the short, staccato, and rhythmic melody in the verse allows us to feel the bounce, rhythm and drive of the song.
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Moving the Story Through a Timeline
The lyrical structure of “We Will Rock You” moves the story through a character’s life journey, instead of just a particular moment or day in their life. Each verse represents a different phase in the character’s life, showcasing the progression from a boy to a young man and eventually an old man. This narrative style invokes a sense of nostalgia in listeners, and prompts them to relate and think back to phases that we all go through in our own lives.
Each of the verses also features a play on the line “You got mud on your face, you big disgrace”. This makes us feel as if nothing has changed, and that the character is always struggling, even up till the very end. When this is combined with the refrain “We will rock you”, we get an extremely relatable story of a character who’s always struggling but still chooses to continue to fight.
Turning the Chorus into an Anthem
If we observe the lyrics of “We Will Rock You”, we’ll notice that the lyrics go from being very busy in the verse, to being less busy as the song heads towards the refrain line in the chorus. This is a technique known as phrasal deceleration. When we go from having lots of notes in a bar, to having less notes in a bar, it results in us feeling deceleration even though the tempo is the same.
In addition, the refrain lands entirely on downbeats. Since downbeats are extremely stable, this further reinforces the central message of the refrain. This technique adds to the chant-like quality of the chorus, inviting the audience to participate and creating a memorable anthem that compels listeners to sing along.
Listening to Your Audience
The story goes that “We Will Rock You” was written after Queen had played a show at Bingley Hall in Stafford 29th May 1977. At the end of that show the crowd began to sing what is known as a classic football anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. Brian May was really moved by this experience and wanted to write an anthem of their own that the crowd could sing along with, as well as stomp and clap to.
Instead of dismissing the experience as just him having an easily excitable crowd, he took it and used it to create a song that he could use to actively engage the audience with. As songwriters and musicians, we’re often very focused on details, and our own creative process. However, consider that one of the most famous rock anthems of all time was written to allow the audience to participate regardless of an instrument, and feel like they belonged to the band.
From this, it’s clear that it’s important for us as songwriters to listen to our audience as well, rather than just serving ourselves in our songs.
Keep It Short
At just over two minutes and two seconds, “We Will Rock You” is short and to the point. A question that often comes up at this point is “How long should my song be?”. Unfortunately, the answer is rather philosophical, which is as long as the song needs to be. To do that, we need to decide what the purpose of our song is, and ponder upon why it was created.
In this instance, Queen’s goal was to create an anthem that the crowd could sing along to and clap with. To achieve that goal, the song has 3 refrains, thus providing the crowd 3 opportunities to join in. Once that’s been done, the song has served its purpose. If the song had been even 30 or 40 seconds longer, we might have felt that it was dragging rather than memorable.
There is no exact formula for how long a song should be but in the case of “We Will Rock You”, it being short and sweet helped it to serve the purpose of the song well.
Using Unconventional Song Forms
Instead of following the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure or other popular song forms such as AABA, “We Will Rock You” consists of three refrain lines and three verses, followed by a soaring guitar solo at the end. What makes this even more unusual, is that the entirety of the three refrains and verses is done acapella with only drums as accompaniment.
The contrast between these sections creates a delightfully surprising and charming song. In addition, Brian May’s guitar solo focuses mostly on the A Major chord, even though up till this point, the song has mostly centered around the E Minor chord. The guitar lick he plays is essentially a country lick, played on the 14th fret with lots of distortion.
The important thing to take away from this, is that there’s so much crossover between blues, country, folk, rock, R&B, and soul, and we can often find so much inspiration from other forms of music. Even if we don’t play them, these concepts can transfer over beautifully to the style that we’re making music in.
Conclusion: Songwriting Tips to Learn from Queen’s “We Will Rock You”
There are lots of aspects of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” that make it a memorable song. The important part is for us to adapt what we learn from this classic rock anthem into our own music. This way, we too can create songs that captivate our audiences and withstand the test of time.
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What these songs DO have instead of a chorus is a REFRAIN LINE—a line of lyric that repeats in almost exactly the same way in the verse sections (usually all of them). The refrain line is lyrically and musically a part of the verse; it’s not a separate section. But it often confuses the ear of a listener – they hear a repeating thing, and call it a chorus, even though a chorus is really something else.
The refrain line usually appears as the last line of a verse section (as in, “there’s nothin’ like doing nothin’ with you” in Bruno Major’s song); or as the first line (as in “I can hear my neighbours making love upstairs” in Neighbour Song by Lake Street Dive).
In this video tutorial, we take you through 2 different approaches to song form: those with a chorus, and those without, and explain how and why to use one or the other.
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