Most songs are built from two main parts. The verse tells the story: its music comes back, but its words are new each time. The chorus says the big idea: its music and its words come back, and it usually holds the song's title.

  1. Verse: the story, the details. Usually 8 or 16 bars.
  2. Chorus: the point of the song, the part people sing along to. Usually 8 bars (sometimes twice that at the end).
  3. Pre-chorus (optional): a short ramp, 4 to 8 bars, that builds energy between the verse and the chorus.
  4. Bridge (optional): once, usually after the second chorus — the biggest change in the song, about 8 bars.
  5. Intro and outro: 4 to 8 bars to start and to finish.

The most common order is Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus — with an intro and an outro around it. Within each round the order stays the same (verse, then pre-chorus, then chorus), but you don't need every part. Most parts are a multiple of 4 bars, and most finished songs run about two and a half to four minutes.