From the course: 20 Unofficial Rules of Songwriting

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Rule #17: Keep your song's introduction short

Rule #17: Keep your song's introduction short

From the course: 20 Unofficial Rules of Songwriting

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Rule #17: Keep your song's introduction short

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- Rule number 17, keep your introductions short. More often than not, you won't have the luxury of a long intro before you begin to tell your story. Your best bet is to assume that everyone listening to your song has a short attention span, whether you're trying to pitch the song to a recording artist or if the song is on the radio and people are listening to it. There are, of course, always going to be examples to the contrary. But as a rule, keep those introductions short. In the song example I'm going to play for you, "Long Long Time," the intro itself is seven seconds. That may be shorter than it has to be, but I feel like it still sets up the song in a very nice way to get straight to the verse. Let's give it a listen. (guitar music) ♫ Whisper of your little voice ♫ Now, for our GRAMMY award-winning song example, I'm laughing because it's "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse, where there is exactly no intro at all. Give it a listen on your Spotify playlist.

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