A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human Voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (Lyrics). It is typically for a solo Singer, though may also be a duet, Trio, or for more voices (works with more than one voice to a part, however, are considered choral). The words of songs are typically of a poetic, rhyming nature, although they may be religious verses or free Prose. Songs can be broadly divided into many different forms, depending on the criteria used. One division is between "Art songs", "Popular songs", and "folk songs". Other common methods of Classification are by purpose (Sacred vs secular), by Style (Dance, Ballad, Lieder, etc.) or by time of origin (Renaissance, Contemporary, etc). The performer of a song is called a "Singer" or "vocalist", the act is called Singing.
Art songs feature in many European cultures, including but not limited to: Russian (romansy), Dutch (lied), Italian (canzoni), French (mélodies), Scandinavian (sånger), Spanish (canciones). Cultures outside of Europe may have what they consider to be a classical music tradition, such as India, and thus feature art songs.
Of the Romantic music era, the art song is considered one of the most distinctive music forms developed. The accompaniment of pieces of this period is considered as an important part of the composition. The art song of this period is often a duet in which the vocalist and accompanist share in interpretive importance. The pieces were most often written to be performed in a home setting although today the works enjoy popularity as concert pieces. The emergency of poetry during this era was much of what inspired the creation of these pieces by Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and other period composers. These composers set poems in their native language. Many works were inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. An art song with a German text is often referred to as a Lied. The romantic art song was often reflective of the popular poetic notions of despair created by places, legends, nature or lost love. Some composers would interpret the poem literally and create music which imitated the music and imagery of the music. The vocal melody was created to reflect the form and emphasis of the poem. The mood of the piece would often be summarized in the closing piano section called a postlude. To reflect the stanzas of a poem, the composer could use Strophic form to reuse music for each stanza. Another method would be to write new music for each stanza to create a unique form, this was through-composed form known in German as durchkomponiert. A combination of both of these techniques in a single setting was called a modified strophic form. Often romantic art songs sharing similar elements were grouped as a Song cycle. (Kamien, 217-18)
The above pop song structure is an extremely common way of building a modern pop song, including heavy metal, Rap, rock songs and all other genres of pop songs. Some extremely musically simple song structures have songs which have only a single section which is repeated with slight modifications in order to sustain a listener's interest in the song.
Pop songs also have rhyming schemes which are commonly used by lyricists. These are classified using capital letters of the English alphabet. For example, a song's verse section may have this rhyming scheme: ABAC ABAD. This means that the verse comprises of eight lines. Lines 1, 3, and 5 rhyme with each other. Also, lines 2 and 6 rhyme. Whereas lines 4 and 8 do not rhyme with any lines.
For a list of influential songs, see: