Intro and outro
The intro is the opening of a track, before the first verse; the outro is the ending, after the last chorus or drop. An intro sets the tempo, the key and the mood, and in dance music it gives a DJ a beat to mix in on; an outro winds the energy down, or stops it dead. In the track below both are 4 bars: the intro adds parts as it goes, and the outro takes them away and lands on the home chord.
The intro and outro, in context
The intro runs into the verse; the outro follows the breakdown. Press play for the whole track.
Start and end a track well
Unit 1 of the course is free with a Google sign-in: the loop, the beat and your first beat on the grid. Intros, endings and the rest of a song’s shape are in Unit 7, Form and energy.
Pick up where you left off
Carry on with Unit 1; song structure is Unit 7.
This track’s intro and outro
The intro is a kick on every beat, eighth-note hats and a quiet pad holding the chords. For the last two bars a clap joins on 2 and 4, the backbeat, a small lift that says something is about to start. Then the verse brings in the bass and the piano.
The outro runs the other way. Two bars of kick, hats and bass, then the bass and hats leave and a pad holds the last two chords. The chords change at the end: instead of Am, F, C, G, the outro goes Am, F, G and back to Am, so the track finishes on its home chord with one last kick.
Ways to start
- Build it up: start with one or two parts and add the rest, as here.
- The hook first: play the chorus melody or riff before the first verse, so the listener knows it before it arrives.
- A cold open: no intro at all; the song starts on the verse or even the chorus.
- A DJ intro: in club tracks, 16 or 32 bars of mostly drums at a steady tempo, so a DJ can blend it into the track before.
Ways to end
- Strip it back: take parts away until little is left, as here. In club tracks this is the DJ outro, the mirror of the DJ intro.
- A hard stop: everything stops together on one last hit, ideally the home chord.
- A fade-out: the chorus repeats while the volume falls to nothing, so the song seems to carry on somewhere.
- Back to the start: end with the intro’s parts, so the track closes a circle.
Ending on the home chord, A minor here, sounds finished. Ending on any other chord sounds like a question, which can also be the point.
How long?
Songs made for radio and streaming tend to get to the first verse or hook quickly, often within a few seconds. Club tracks take their time: long intros and outros are there so DJs can mix, and nobody is in a hurry on a dance floor. Either way, both sections are counted in bars, in fours, like every other part of the structure.