Stages
Verse
Line length, the second-verse problem, and how to keep a four-chord loop from going flat.
The verse carries the information: who, where, when, and what changed. Its craft problem is that information is boring unless the line lengths are doing something. Half of the verse entries here are about line length and stress, and the other half are about the second-verse problem — the one where verse two repeats verse one with different nouns.
A four-chord loop is not a limitation and it is not automatically a song either. What keeps it alive is where you put the melodic peak and which chord you refuse to resolve. Both of those are decisions you can make on paper before you play a note.
entries in Verse
- VerseBreakdownCase: The Shrinking Verse — 8 Lines, Then 6, Then 4
案例：递减的主歌——八行、六行、四行
F# minor (F#m–D–A–E), drop D tuning · ABCB across both verses
- VerseTechniqueThe Dynamics Map: Arrangement Decisions Made While Writing
动态地图：在写作过程中做编曲决定
D major (D–A–Bm–G), drums enter at verse two · AABB in verse one, ABAB in verse two
- VerseExercisePlace-Name Verse: Rhyming With a Town You Have Actually Been To
地名主歌：用一个你真去过的小镇来押韵
Any; use the same two chords for all eight lines · ABAB, with the place name used as the rhyme itself
- VerseTechniqueSeven Ways to Vary One Chord Loop Without Changing a Chord
在一个和弦都不改的前提下变化同一个循环的七种方法
A minor (Am–G–F–G) with a modified second pass · ABCB
- VerseTechniquePre-Chorus: Pick One Job, Question or Lift
前副歌：只选一个任务——提问，或者抬升
B minor (Bm–G–D–A); pre-chorus stays on Bm–G only · verses ABAB, pre-chorus AABB
- VerseExerciseSensory Detail Prompt: Eight Lines With No Sight and No Sound
感官细节命题：八行里不许有视觉和听觉
Write unaccompanied; harmonise later · ABAB with one deliberately unrhymed line
- VerseTechniqueThe Second Verse Problem: Four Jobs That Solve It
第二段主歌难题：四种任务分工
C major (C–G/B–Am–F) with a walk-down in bar four · ABAB in verse one, ABCB in verse two
- VerseTechniqueVerse Line Length: Counting Stresses Instead of Words
主歌行长：数重音，不数词
G major (G–Em–C–D), no capo · ABAB