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Music vocabulary · Melody, Form and Songwriting

Bridge

Meaning in music, with examples

/brɪdʒ/nounCore term

In music, bridge means: A contrasting section of a song, usually heard once after the second chorus, that brings new chords or a new melody before the final chorus.

In Turkish: köprü, ara bölüm

How it is used

Used by songwriters, session players and producers. A song 'goes to the bridge' or 'needs a bridge'; the bridge often changes key or drops the drums for contrast. It also names the small piece on a guitar or violin that holds the strings up.

Example sentences

  1. After the bridge, we drop everything except the vocal for the first line of the last chorus.

  2. The song feels repetitive; maybe it needs a bridge in a different key.

Common collocations

  • go to the bridge
  • write a bridge
  • after the bridge
  • bridge section
  • middle eight
  • verseA section of a song that tells the story or develops the idea. Verses usually share the same melody but have different words each time.
  • chorusThe section of a song that repeats with the same words and melody, usually the catchiest part and the one that contains the song's main message or title.
  • arrangementA version of a piece that decides which instruments play which parts, how sections are ordered and how the song builds from start to finish.
  • keyThe group of notes and chords that a piece is mainly built on, centred on one home note. A song in the key of G major keeps returning to G as its point of rest.
  • transposeTo move a whole piece or passage up or down by the same interval into a different key, keeping all the notes in the same relationship.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Melody, Form and Songwriting

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