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1. Basic pop structure

1 Arrangement from the point of view of the average computer musician mainly refers to the order in which the sections of a song are sequenced. Using the alphabet to represent these, one of the most well-used structures in pop is the ABABCB format, made of three sections: verse, chorus and bridge. 2 The A section represents the verse, while the B section represents the chorus. At the simplest level, a song might begin with a verse of eight or 16 bars, followed by a chorus of a similar length, to give a basic AB structure. This whole segment would then be repeated with a second verse and chorus, giving us ABAB. 3 The C section is a kind of breathing space in the middle, known as the ‘middle eight’ or ‘bridge’. This gives the listener something different before the chorus repeats again at the end of the song. This segment is known as the outro chorus – so ultimately we end up with ABABCB.