structure & elements of pop music

Parts/ key elements:

Intro: a brief melody that gives your audience a gist of what the song is like, usually the intro is less fancy with less instruments involved than other parts of the music and does not include the vocals.
Verse: introduce the voice of the singer and tells the story. This part is typically 8-16 bars long. At this part you need to try catch your audience’s attention and create a good impression.
Pre-Chorus: lyrically similar to the verse but with some variations. This is where you will need to build up the tension to introduce/foreshadow the chorus.
Chorus: this is the most enjoyable part of the song and where people will sing if they like it. Melody is of the essence.
Bridge: Something to break the repetition of the chorus that ideally lead directly into the pre-chorus or even the final chorus.
Instrumental/Solo: a catchy melody played but without vocal.
Outro: It’s similar to the intro since it’s minimal and does not include vocals. This is the part where the song ends.

Some popular song structures:

1. Typical pop song:

2. A/B pop:

Or some variations such as Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus.

3. Pop song with pre-chorus:

4. Pop song with an instrumental

5. Opening chorus pop song

(Not recommended for beginners unless you are super confident about your chorus that it does not need a build-up)