Why does this country song sounds like a Hip Hop song?

We all know that to have a good song, you have not only to produce a good beat and put a few lyrics onto It. One aspect that often gets overlooked in the process of creation of an individual track Is how the message should be packed and the intentions It tries to convey. Also, we use to think that every genre is tied to conventions while trying to put an specific structure, though you'll be surprised how flexible different formats are when trying to tell your story in a beautiful medium as It is music. Now, to make this more clear, we'll present some of the most common types of song structure, their function and the genres they're most commonly associated with. In this way you can recognize what makes your favorite tracks so memorable in their respective ways. Let's begin.

To facilitate the process of identifying any component on these particular structures, we'll assign a letter to every common element of a song, so as to avoid making It seem like a tongue-twister as you read It:

A: Verse

B: Chorus

C: Bridge

D: Pre-Chorus

E: Intro

F: Outro

In the same vein, to avoid any confusion, we'll assume that the time measure of the song in question will be 4/4. Now that this is clarified, we can pass to mention the following structures in a much more easier way:

Straightforward, Long Verses (EABABABF)

As you can see in the order of verses followed by the chorus, this is not very complex structure-wise, and It can have two approaches: Putting the message of the song in a not so complex and digestable manner so It can drag out in 8 bar sections across hooks and verses or, If you're going more for a storytelling direction, then you can elongate the size of the verses to a 12-16 bar format where the appeal of the song will depend on If your story of message is captivating enough to keep them at the top of their feet for whole verses. As It has been mentioned before, this structure is more commonly used for tracks where the strength lies in the lyricism and storytelling of Its verses, like Hip-Hop (Mostly Boom Bap) And Spoken-Word.

"Typical" Hit Song Structure (EABABCBF)

If you want to take the attention of the listener for enough time to stick to the end, you surely don't want to make the track too long, though not too stale at the same time, always variating. To Achieve this effect, Convenient Verse Length and the addition of a bridge near the end works wonders. Usually the Verses (A) are made to fit the 8 bar range, same as the chorus and a bridge that go from 4 to 8 bars, making all for a thoroughly enjoyable and short song. These kind of structures are used in almost any genre due to Its flexibility, though they're most likely seen in pop and rocks songs.

Elevating The Chorus (EADBADBCB):

This is more of a variation of the two structures presented previously, where we add Pre-Choruses that repeat throughout the song as means to heighten the impact of the chorus, putting just enough suspense and variation as to call for a great resolution. To put the cherry on the top, adding even more variation with a bridge before the last repetition of the chorus can get the listener to be always alert as to detect changes in the song. In order to craft a song with this amount of components, the verses are usually short, in the 4 bar range, as to make space for 4 bar Pre choruses and in this way keep the overall track compact enough. As the previous types of structures, this one is flexible enough to be used in a great amount of genres, though It can easily be seen In 60s Pop and Pop Ballads.

As We conclude this piece of information, It's safe to say that these are not the only types of structures that exists, due to the fact that we can change, eliminate or add sections of the track as to fit better to the purpose of our song and in which specific part you want to stand out from the rest. We hope that this can be useful to you in the future, as a mean to take more into account the selection of the right kind of packaging for your messages and elevate your understanding of how structure changes everything.