The art of arranging

Often when I am teaching students how to remix music, I have them listen to pop music. Really cheesy, middle-of-the-road pop music. Sometimes I'll be sure to add a Beatles tune in there, or some other artist that I actually admire, but for the most part I choose what's popular, and not what's great.

The reason I do this is to analyze the structure of the arrangements of music. Music is experienced in movements. These movements are different parts of a story. Some movements are repeated, while other movements stand on their own. In music that we hear commonly on the radio, there are usually three movement types—the verse, chorus, and bridge.

Of course there are other movements as well, but these are the main parts of any pop song. You may have an intro, but usually that is derived from the verse or chorus. You might have a pre-chorus as well, which is used as a setup, but the verse, chorus, and bridge are the main ways that these stories are told...