Changing the second verse melody - Sibelius Tutorial

- [Instructor] One way you can use melody to add excitement and unpredictability to your song is by changing the melody of your second verse. Typically one a song's verse melody is established, it's repeated in every verse with the occasional rhythmic or melodic variance. But that doesn't always have to be the case. There are instances in pop music where the second verse of a song uses a completely different melody on top of the same chord progression. You can find great examples of this in Michael Jackson's Rock with You, John Waite's Missing You, Blackstreet's No Diggity, and Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle. Let me show you how we can use this technique with our song example, Never Gonna Let You Go. I'm gonna play it for you as a refresher from the first verse through the pre-chorus and chorus, and stopping right before the second verse. ♪ Here I am on my own ♪ ♪ No good at being alone ♪ ♪ My heart darkened by fear ♪ ♪ And you're nowhere near ♪ ♪ Tell me why can't you see ♪ ♪ What you mean to me ♪ ♪ It's not an easy thing to do ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ Typically, we'd start the second verse with the same melody as the first verse and just change the lyrics to have them tell more of the narrative, like this. ♪ Working all of my days ♪ ♪ Thinking all of the ways ♪ ♪ You were a part of my life ♪ ♪ Wish you were my wife ♪ ♪ Tell me why can't you see ♪ The purpose of the verse is to push the story of the song forward, so there's less of a need to repeat it exactly the same way every time. The listener is already expecting for the second verse to have some variation. Also, because the chorus typically sounds the same way every time we sing it, it can function as an anchor for the listener. As a sense of home. As a result, we are allowed more leeway with how the second verse sounds. This technique simply makes use of that leeway. So now, have a listen to this alternate second verse I created for Never Gonna Let You Go. I used the same lyrics, I just switched up the melody a bit. ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ ♪ Working all of my days ♪ ♪ Thinking all of the ways ♪ ♪ You were a part of my life ♪ ♪ Wish you were my wife ♪ ♪ Tell me why can't you see ♪ When we hear this alternate melody for the second verse in context, our ear accepts it because it's followed by the pre-chorus and the chorus melody that's already been established. Have a listen to the entire song starting with the first verse and going all the way through the new second verse with the second pre-chorus and the second chorus. You're gonna see that it doesn't sound out of place at all, because we're coming back to a pre-chorus and a chorus we're familiar with. ♪ Here I am on my own ♪ ♪ No good at being alone ♪ ♪ My heart darkened by fear ♪ ♪ And you're nowhere near ♪ ♪ Tell me why can't you see ♪ ♪ What you mean to me ♪ ♪ It's not an easy thing to do ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ ♪ Working all of my days ♪ ♪ Thinking all of the ways ♪ ♪ You were a part of my life ♪ ♪ Wish you were my wife ♪ ♪ Tell me why can't you see ♪ ♪ What you mean to me ♪ ♪ It's not an easy thing to do ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ ♪ I will never get over you ♪ ♪ Get over you, you know it's true ♪ Interesting, right? In this example, I decided to keep the melody's rhythm the same in the first and second verses, but you can push this concept to its limits and have the rhythmic, melodic, and lyrical information completely different between both verses. As long as you keep the same basic chord progression, and make sure you follow the second-verse variation with an established section, like a pre-chorus or a chorus, you can almost make the second verse as different as you want without losing the listener. Try making the second verse of one of your songs completely different from the first, and see if it brings new life into your song.