The Typical Structure of K-Pop Song

Abstract

Something I’ve notice about K-Pop is how willing songwriters are to experiment with song structure that being said maybe we should look at what standard pop structure looks like first. This video explains the typical structure of K-Pop, that exclusively based on the hyper subjective opinion. The typical structure of K-Pop are:

“Basic Pop Structure”, “The Half-Time Second Verse”, “:58 The YG Party Chorus”, “Tempo Changes”, “Key Changes”, “The ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Effect”, and “Post-Credits Scene”.

Keywords: K-Pop, music, structure of song,

Timeline in the video

0:00 Girls’ Generation (소녀시대), “Oscar” ⇒ https://youtu.be/D0KBRYJCwck

00:00 Basic Pop Structure

00:18 fromis_9 (프로미스나인), “DM” ⇒ https://youtu.be/4gXmClk8rKI

01:13 The Half-Time Second Verse

01:17 MOMOLAND (모모랜드), “BBoom BBoom” (뿜뿜) ⇒ https://youtu.be/JQGRg8XBnB4

01:40 BTS (방탄소년단), “ON” ⇒ https://youtu.be/gwMa6gpoE9I

01:58 The YG Party Chorus

02:02 TREASURE (트레저), “JIKJIN” (직진) ⇒ https://youtu.be/ZJaKdBBzUYk

02:31 BLΛƆKPIИK (블랙핑크), “How You Like That” ⇒ https://youtu.be/ioNng23DkIM

02:55 iKON (아이콘), “KILLING ME” (죽겠다) ⇒ https://youtu.be/RyVS7R9PN6U

03:06 Tempo Changes

3:11 IVE (아이브), “ELEVEN” (일레븐) ⇒ https://youtu.be/--FmExEAsM8

3:40 MAMAMOO (마마무), “AYA” ⇒ https://youtu.be/UoI9riNffEU

04:10 Key Changes

4:16 LOONA/Chuu (이달의 소녀/츄), “Heart Attack” ⇒ https://youtu.be/BVVfMFS3mgc

4:39 4:39 Girls’ Generation (소녀시대), “Mr. Mr.” (미스터 미스터) ⇒ https://youtu.be/Z8j_XEn9b_8

05:05 BLΛƆKPIИK (블랙핑크), Forever Young ⇒ https://youtu.be/wV6qz89SU2c

05:37 BTS (방탄소년단), “Interlude : Shadow” ⇒ https://youtu.be/PV1gCvzpSy0

06:27 f(x) (에프엑스), “NU ABO” (예삐오) ⇒ https://youtu.be/E8ZrPFMr_nY

06:57 f(x) (에프엑스), “Red Light” (레드 라이트) ⇒ https://youtu.be/iv-8-EgPEY0

07:26 The ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Effect

07:33 Red Velvet (레드벨벳), “Zimzalabim” (짐살라빔) ⇒ https://youtu.be/YBnGBb1wg98

08:15 aespa (에스파), “Next Level” ⇒ https://youtu.be/4TWR90KJl84

09:08 aespa (에스파), “Savage” ⇒ https://youtu.be/WPdWvnAAurg

09:48 NMIXX (엔믹스), “O.O” ⇒ https://youtu.be/3GWscde8rM8

11:04 TXT (투모로우바이투게더), “Eternally” ⇒ https://youtu.be/mxlloUcfUy0

12:21 Post-Credits Scene

12:36 Girls’ Generation (소녀시대), I Got a Boy (아이 갓 어 보이)⇒ https://youtu.be/wq7ftOZBy0E

References