Choruses That Grab Attention
by Kapa Freeman
Lauren Daigle made Billboard history with her song "You Say." It was at the top of the Hot Christian Charts for a record 100 weeks.
Part of what makes the song work so well is how the chorus starts. She starts by repeating the same note and rhythm. That's it.
No, seriously...that's the whole technique.
"You say I am loved..."
"You," "Say" and "I" are all the exact same note and the exact same length.
This technique is used in lots of other #1 Songs, in different styles of music, and different time periods.
Sometimes it's a repetition of the note, but the rhythm changes. Sometimes it's a repetition of the rhythm, but the melody changes. But one thing is certain...
Back to back repetition at the beginning of a chorus is a great way to make a song people love. Songs like Adele's "Someone Like You...", Maroon 5's "This Love...", Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Joni Mitchel's "Big Yellow Taxi...", Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing...", Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You." (Made popular by Whitney Houston.), and John Legend's "Ordinary People..."
And the list goes on.
There are some things that work regardless of time period, or style of music. There are some things we're just hardwired to love.
Kapa Freeman is the Founder and Songwriting Coach of The Intentional Songwriter, whose goal is to help musicians become publisher-ready songwriters so they can access songwriter-only income streams that pay more money for less of their time.
After taking an "assembly line approach" to songwriting, Kepa added consistency to his songwriting and went from song rejections to publishing deals over the course of a year. Now he uses this same approach to help musicians go from beginning to publisher-ready songwriters in a matter of weeks.
https://www.prosongsonpurpose.com/