What is a verse in a song?
A verse is the section of a song that comes back with the same music but new words each time. It carries the story, so it is usually calmer and sparser than the chorus: fewer parts, simpler rhythms, room for a voice. Most songs have two or three verses, each one leading into a chorus. Press Verse into chorus to hear the first verse set up the first chorus.
A verse, in context
The first verse, then the first chorus. Press play for the whole song, or tap any section.
Leave room, then fill it
Unit 1 of the course is free with a Google sign-in: the loop, the beat and your first beat on the grid. Verses and choruses are in Unit 7, Form and energy.
Pick up where you left off
Carry on with Unit 1; song structure is Unit 7.
What makes this a verse
- Long bass notes, two a bar, on each chord’s root. They hold the floor without pushing.
- The piano on the beat, two chords a bar, ringing.
- A plain backbeat: kick, snare on 2 and 4, quiet eighth-note hats.
- A soft pentatonic riff on a bell, standing in for a singer. In a song with words, the voice goes here.
The chords are the same as the chorus’s: Am, F, C, G. What the verse holds back is energy: the busier bass, the pushing piano, the clap and the hook all wait for the chorus.
How long is a verse?
The second verse
The two verses here are identical, so you can compare them with the chorus. In a real song, the second verse often keeps something the chorus brought in, a hat pattern or a busier bass, or adds one small part, so the song keeps moving forward. The words are new; the music changes only a little.
Writing a verse: leave room
- Start from the chorus and take parts away. The course’s Less lesson works exactly like this.
- Keep the rhythm simple in the bass and chords, so the words can be heard.
- Keep the melody lower than the chorus’s, so the chorus has somewhere to go.
Dance tracks without words often have a verse-like section too: the groove with the drums and bass but no hook, like the verse in the 32-bar track.