While my Guitar Gently Weeps. The Verse and Bridge Form

Let us hear "While my Guitar Gently Weeps," written by George Harrison from The Beatles


It has no choruses. Although, there is an introduction and an outro; and one can identify two main alternating sections, one of them being a verse section.

An analysis comes next

On Verses and Choruses

A verse is a section in which the lyrics change in every new presentation, while a chorus is a section in which lyrics remain constant.

Choruses normally are meant to be sung by a group of persons, while verses are supposed to be sung by a solo singer. That is why choruses repeat the lyrics; because it is very difficult to convince a group of people to learn complex lyrics.

The chorus is that part of the song that a group of friends would sing very loud in a saloon with a couple of beers and a high alcoholic content in the blood. Therefore, a good chorus must be simple and easy to sing. Normally, it is the part of the song that is remembered most easily.

The verse, on the other hand, can be quite complex, as it is supposed to be sung by a more "professional" singer.

The verse and the chorus must be clearly differentiated so that the listener is able to notice clearly that they are different sections. Different lyrics and the fact that the verse is sung by a single person and the chorus by more than one, normally is not enough to stablish a sufficient contrast. Common additional contrasting elements between verse and chorus include instrumental timbre and harmony.

What is exactly and Intro? ...And an Outro?

One is tempted to describe the introduction as the first section of a song. The problem is that "Yellow Submarine" begins with a section that must be clearly classified as a verse. Therefore, a better definition would be:

The introduction —or intro— is a section that appears at the beginning of a song, and it is not repeated.

Most songs possess and introduction, but —as "Yellow Submarine" is showing us— the introduction is not compulsory.

The introduction can be as sort as a single chord, or last several minutes.

Introductions are erasable. They can be removed without affecting the essence of the song, which is located normally in the chorus.

What is a coda?

We would be tempted to describe the coda —or outro— as the last section in a song. But, for the sake of consistency, this is not a suitable definition. Rather, we should define the coda as the last section of a song, provided that it has not been presented previously.

The problem is that, using this more restricted definition of coda, we are left with very few songs possessing a genuine coda, because, most times, the coda is built from recycled materials previously introduced. Typically, the coda is made out of recycled chorus, as it happens in "I`ve Just Seen a Face" and "Yellow Submarine."

Nevertheless, I prefer to use this more restricted definition of coda, and describe it as the last section of a song, whenever it is a unique section that has not been presented previously in the song.
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This more narrow definition of coda helps to better illustrate the simplicity of many songs. For example, under this definition "Yellow Submarine" must be described as:

V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-Cn

rather than as

V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-O

The notation V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-Cn captures the fact that "Yellow Submarine" contains only two different sections, verse and chorus.

Yellow Submarine. Another Song with the Verse and Chorus Form

Let us hear "Yellow Submarine" from The Beatles:



In variance with "I`ve Just Seen a Face," "Yellow Submarine" lacks Introduction. It begins right on the first verse. It features the common alternation of the verse and chorus sections, and finishes with a fade out while the chorus is repeated.

"Yellow Submarine" possesses the following form:

V(8)-V(8)-C(8)-V(8)-C(8)-V(Instrumental, 8)-V(8)-C(8)-C(8)...

which can be simplified as:

V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-O

It is very instructive to compare "I`ve Just Seen A Face" with "Yellow Submarine."

"I`ve Just Seen a Face"....I-V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-C-V-O
"Yellow Submarine"...........V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-V-O

In both cases the verse is repeated twice at the beginning, before the first chorus. After the first chorus, the verse appears only once, before the next presentation of the chorus.

Interestingly, in both songs the instrumental verse appears at the same location. Although, in "I´ve Just Seen a Face" it is followed by a chorus, while in "Yellow Submarine" it is followed by another verse.

An instrumental verse makes a sufficient contrast with a normal verse, and therefore it can be followed by a normal verse without compromising novelty.

A song is a fight of the composer to grab and keep the attention of the listener. On one hand, for the sake of coherence, the same material must be reproduced repeatedly. Otherwise, the song would lack unity and sound like a radio while we manipulate the dial. That is, it would sound like a succession of songs. On the other hand, there must be novelty. That is why the alternation of two different sections is so effective in producing good songs. Furthermore, the two sections must alternate so as to strike a balance between unity and novelty.

I must add that novelty can be achieved by introducing completely different sections, as well as by presenting the same sections in different ways. This can be done, for instance, by small —or big— melodic changes or by instrumental changes, including the alternation of voice with instruments, as in normal verses versus instrumental verses.

I`ve Just Seen a face-IV. Verse and chorus form

"I`ve Just Seen a Face" belong to the so-called Verse and Chorus form. A song belonging to the verse and chorus form is a song that possesses verses and choruses. Of course, these songs can possess more sections, and almost always they also possess an intro and a coda. However, in songs belonging to the verse and chorus form, the verses and the choruses form the core of the song. They represent what the listener normally remembers most easily. Additionally, we could say that the chorus is normally the part that the listener would identify with the song.

To tell the truth, to say that a song possesses verses and choruses is not very precise. These sections can be arranged in many different ways.

In the case of "I`ve Just Seen a Face," we have the following structure:

-Introduction: 11 measures
-Verse: 12 measures
-Verse: 12 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures
-Verse: 12 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures
-Verse (instrumental): 12 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures
-Verse:12 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures
-Chorus: 8 measures

We may simplify the notation in the following way:

I(11)-V(12)-V(12)-C(8)-V(12)-C(8)-V(instrumental, 12)-C(8)-V(12)-C(8)-C(8)-C(8)

An additional simplification would be.

I-V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-C-V-C-C-C

On the other hand, the last three choruses form the outro, which can be considered a different section. We would have, therefore:

I-V-V-C-V-C-V(I)-C-V-O

A further simplification would be:

I-V-3x(V-C)-V-O

I`ve Just Seen a face-III. Form

In the previous video the different sections were highlighted with colors. The introduction —aka intro— was in green; the verse in blue and the chorus, or refrain, in red.

The introduction is self-explanatory.

A verse is a section in which lyrics change in each new repetition.

A chorus is a section in which lyrics do not change.

An outro or coda is the final section of a song.

¿What is the form of a song?

The form of a song is the way in which different sections are structured. The sections of a song can be structured in thousands of different ways. Therefore, we could talk about thousands of different kinds of forms. However, effective songs tend to belong to certain forms.

I`ve Just Seen a face-II. Sections

A song is formed by a succession of sections, and a book is formed by successive chapters.

¿How do we recognize the sections of a song?

The acoustical landscape of each section is different and the transition between two sections is clear… at least in a well-structured song. On the other hand, in variance with the chapters of a book, sections in a song are very often repeated. Normally the repetitions are not identical, but in all pop songs there are fragments that are repeated several times.

In the following video the different sections of “I`ve Just Seen a Face” are highlighted in different colors, and their names included:

I`ve Just Seen a Face-I

This is my first post. This is a blog about the analysis of songs. I am not going to analyze the lyrics, but the music. It means that the analyses will be very subjective. I could simple list the chords used in a song. But this lacks interest. The most interesting thing about a song is the feelings that it arouses, and these feelings must necessarily be very subjective.

I will talk about things like form, tonic, dominant, chord function, section, phrase, motive, hyperrhythm, and many interesting concepts that help understand why a certain song sounds in a certain way.

We will plunge ourselves below the shallow surface formed by the character of different instruments, and penetrate into the core of the emotion delivered by music, that dwells in the realm of the notes and harmonies.

¿How should be these concepts explained?

We could just define them; but these could be very confusing. It would be like trying to explain the soccer rules reading the FIFA manual. The best way to learn the soccer rules is watching a match. Similarly, the best way to learn concepts dealing with song analysis is to listen to songs and analyze them.

¿What is the first step to analyze a song?

It is very simple: you must sit down, relax and… listen to it. You must pay attention and notice how the music evolves like a journey through diverse acoustic lands.

We will begin with a song from The Beatles called “I`ve Just Seen a Face.”