What chords to use for a bridge

JohnHurley

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
So new song it goes C G Am F its a rock/pop. Chorus and verse same pattern ( so maybe its all verses ? ).

If i wanted to try putting in bridge what chords to try? I guess song is in C.

Would i try Dm Em C C? Dm Em F C?

All ideas welcome?

The song hits fairly fast should i change pace of bridge or strum pattern for a bridge.
 
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dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
(Disclaimer: My opinion here, formed from my somewhat limited songwriting experience, observations from a reasonably large number of songs I have learned, and a bunch of stuff I've read.) (Also, this is more of a songwriting answer than a music theory answer.)

Verse and chorus can have the same chords, that's common. Usually the verses tell the story and each verse is different, while the chorus emphasizes the hook or the title and the chorus is the same (or nearly so) each time it comes around.

For a bridge you can do anything you like, but a good place to start would be any set of chords you like in the key of C. The two you listed certainly qualify. Another option (still in key of C) would be to do something that has an Am sound (Am/Dm/Em). Also, a lot of bridges start with the IV chord. Experiment!

If I wanted to build something danceable, I wouldn't change the tempo for the bridge, but changing the strum pattern is a fine idea.
 
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cowboy

cowboy

Blues, Booze & BBQ
my first question would be what is the purpose of the bridge?...where/how do the leads fit in, if any...let your ears do the work...later.

cowboy

btw, I tried a Bm -> Em x 2...
 
dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
PapaBear said:
You could also slip into a similar Key like maybe G or F
Click to expand...
Yep. And I don't mean to imply one should avoid a key change. Beato just put out a youtube about the disappearance of key changes (haven't watched it yet) and there was this a couple of weeks ago from NPR https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139707179/where-did-all-the-key-changes-go.

Another cool way to have a key change is to jump up a half-step and stay there for the rest of the song. Check out The Gambler - no bridge, but it goes from Eb to E between the first chorus and the next verse (1:35): https://youtu.be/7hx4gdlfamo

Dark Side of the Street comes out of the bridge with a half-step rise into the final verse (1:45): https://youtu.be/HC3AXQ8dPJM
 
ChrisGSP

ChrisGSP

Blues Journeyman
John, a "standard" way of treating a Bridge is to back-cycle the circle of fourths/fifths.

Looking at your verse structure, in the key of C, you've got I - V- vi - IV. You could start your bridge with the iii (which is a nice half-step down from the IV preceding it), then back-cycle through the vi - ii - V, (maybe do that twice, from the iii) and it resolves nicely back to the I at the start of the verse.

So, that's Em, Am, Dm, G. Any or all of those could be 7ths.
 
JohnHurley

JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
ChrisGSP said:
John, a "standard" way of treating a Bridge is to back-cycle the circle of fourths/fifths.

So, that's Em, Am, Dm, G. Any or all of those could be 7ths.
Click to expand...

Thanks ok gave that a shot it worked nicely.

Might do a full intro C G Am F / C G Am F / Em Am Dm G / Em Am Dm G ... then fall into verse/chorus of C G Am F until bridge in the middle somewhere.

But heres demo without that full intro using that bridge ==> demo wbridge
 
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