Beat layout and structure
As a producer you have to make decisions that will be good for the artist that is purchasing your beats. You have to present the music in a format that will be usable by the artist. With that in mind you should approach beatmaking with a more traditional style of music creation.
Your beats should have a familiar song structure to them that fits the genre of music you are making the beat for. This will be helpful to the artist in many ways. Also, if they want to alter the beat and take a new approach they have all the parts to chop up and take in a different direction.
How to compose hooks for your beats
Most hip hop and R&B beats will have roughly 4 to 5 hooks in them. The hook also known as the chorus will be the part of the song that repeats the most. The hook is what will captivate the listener and will often become the sing-along part of the track. Your hook is typically made of 8 bars and sometimes double that length for the final hook of the song.
With your hook you really want to keep things consistent. Since you want this to be a memorable part of the track you don’t want to have a lot of variation between the different hooks of the song.
How to compose verses for your beats
The typical verse length of a song will be 16 bars. Your verse will be the part of the song that you really want to add a lot of variation and change things up a bit. Since the verses are done in large sections you have to find ways to make them less repetitive and enjoyable to listen to. This is especially true when you are providing them to potential artists as they won’t have lyrics at that point in time to keep them interested.
Common beat layout and beat structure
There are many different beat layouts or beat structures you can use for your beats. One common layout is the following:
- Intro
- Verse
- Hook
- Verse
- Hook
- Bridge
- Verse
- Hook x 2
I like this layout because it incorporates a lot of different parts. This allows the artists many different things they can work with. They don’t necessarily have to use all the different parts but it is nice that they have the option.
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