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Refrain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A refrain (from Vulgar Latin refringere, "to repeat", and later

from Old French refraindre) is the line or lines that are repeated
in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms
that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the
sestina.

The use of refrains is particularly associated with where the

verse-chorus-verse song structure typically places a refrain in
almost every song. The refrain or chorus often sharply contrasts
the verse melodically, rhythmically, and harmonically, and Musical notation for the chorus
assumes a higher level of dynamics and activity, often with of "Jingle Bells" Play
added instrumentation. Chorus form, or strophic form, is a
sectional and/or additive way of structuring a piece of music based on the repetition of one formal
section or block played repeatedly.

Contents
1 Usage in history
2 In popular music
3 In Jazz
3.1 Arranger's chorus
3.2 Shout chorus
4 See also
5 References

Usage in history
In music, a refrain has two parts: the lyrics of the song, and the melody. Sometimes refrains vary
their words slightly when repeated; recognisability is given to the refrain by the fact that it is
always sung to the same tune, and the rhymes, if present, are preserved despite the variations of the
words. Such a refrain is featured in "The Star-Spangled Banner," which contains a refrain which is
introduced by a different phrase in each verse, but which always ends:

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

A similar refrain is found in the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which affirms in successive verses
that "Our God," or "His Truth," is "marching on."

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Refrains usually, but not always, come at the end of the verse. Some songs, especially ballads,
incorporate refrains into each verse. For example, one version of the traditional ballad "The Cruel
Sister" includes a refrain mid-verse:

There lived a lady by the North Sea shore,

Lay the bent to the bonny broom
Two daughters were the babes she bore.
Fa la la la la la la la la.

As one grew bright as is the sun,

Lay the bent to the bonny broom
So coal black grew the other one.
Fa la la la la la la la.

...

(Note: the refrain of 'Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom' is not traditionally associated with the
ballad of The Cruel Sister (Child #10). This was the work of 'pop-folk' group Pentangle on their
1970 LP 'Cruel Sister' which has subsequently been picked up by many folk singers as being
traditional. Both the melody and the refrain come from the ballad known as Riddles Wisely
Expounded (Child #1).)

Here, the refrain is syntactically independent of the narrative poem in the song, and has no obvious
relationship to its subject, and indeed little inherent meaning at all. The device can also convey
material which relates to the subject of the poem. Such a refrain is found in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's
"Troy Town":[1]

Heavenborn Helen, Sparta's queen,

O Troy Town!
Had two breasts of heavenly sheen,
The sun and moon of the heart's desire:
All Love's lordship lay between,
A sheen on the breasts I Love.
O Troy's down,
Tall Troy's on fire!

...

Phrases of apparent nonsense in refrains (Lay the bent to the bonny broom?), and solfege syllables
such as fa la la, familiar from the Christmas carol "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly", have
given rise to much speculation. Some believe that the traditional refrain Hob a derry down O
encountered in some English folksongs is in fact an ancient Celtic phrase meaning "dance around
the oak tree." These suggestions remain controversial.

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In popular music
There are two distinct uses of the word "chorus." In the thirty-two bar song form that was most
common in the earlier twentieth-century popular music (especially the Tin Pan Alley tradition),
"chorus" referred to the entire main section of the song (which was in a thirty-two bar AABA
form). Beginning in the rock music of the 1950s, another form became more common in
commercial pop music, which was based in an open-ended cycle of verses instead of a fixed 32-bar
form. In this form (which is more common than thirty-two bar form in later-twentieth century pop
music), "choruses" with fixed lyrics are alternated with "verses" in which the lyrics are different
with each repetition. In this use of the word, chorus contrasts with the verse, which usually has a
sense of leading up to the chorus. "Many popular songs, particularly from early in this century, are
in a verse and a chorus (refrain) form. Most popular songs from the middle of the century consist
only of a chorus."[2]

While the terms 'refrain' and 'chorus' often are used synonymously, it has been suggested to use
'refrain' exclusively for a recurring line of identical text and melody which is part of a formal
section—an A section in an AABA form (as in I Got Rhythm: "...who could ask for anything
more?") or a verse (as in Blowing in the Wind: "...the answer my friend is blowing in the wind")
—whereas 'chorus' shall refer to a discrete form part (as in Yellow Submarine: "We all live in a...").
According to the musicologists Ralf von Appen and Markus Frei-Hauenschild,

In German, the term, "Refrain," is used synonymously with "chorus" when referring to a
chorus within the verse/chorus form. At least one English-language author, Richard
Middleton, uses the term in the same way. In English usage, however, the
term, »refrain« typically refers to what in German is more precisely called
the »Refrainzeile« (refrain line): a lyric at the beginning or end of a section that is
repeated in every iteration. In this usage, the refrain does not constitute a discrete,
independent section within the form. [3]

In Jazz
A large number of Tin-Pan Alley songs using thirty-two bar form are central to the traditional jazz
repertoire. In jazz arrangements the word "chorus" refers to the same unit of music as in the Tin
Pan Alley tradition, but unlike the Tin Pan Alley tradition a single song can have more than one
chorus. Von Appen and Frei-Hauenschild explain, "The term, "chorus" can also refer to a single
iteration of the entire 32 bars of the AABA form, especially among jazz musicians, who improvise
over multiple repetitions of such choruses." [4]

Arranger's chorus

In jazz, an arranger's chorus is where the arranger uses particularly elaborate techniques to

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exhibit his or her skill and to impress the listener. This may include use of counterpoint,
reharmonization, tone color, or any other arranging device. The arranger's chorus is generally not
the first or the last chorus of a jazz performance.

Shout chorus

In jazz, a shout chorus (occasionally: out chorus) is usually the last chorus of a Big Band
arrangement, and is characterized by being the most energetic, lively, and exciting and by
containing the musical climax of the piece. A shout chorus characteristically employs extreme
ranges, loud dynamics, and a re-arrangement of melodic motives into short, accented riffs. Shout
choruses often feature tutti or concerted writing, but may also use contrapuntal writing or call and
response between the brass and saxophones, or between the ensemble and the drummer.
Additionally, brass players frequently use extended techniques such as falls, doits, turns, and shakes
to add excitement.

See also
Bridge (music)
Burden (music)
Hook (music)

References
1. Poems of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, inc. "Troy Town" (https://web.archive.org/web/20040225114223/http:
//www.iath.virginia.edu/rossetti/poems/1-1870ed1doc.html) at the Wayback Machine (archived February
25, 2004)
2. Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p.317. Seventh Edition. ISBN
978-0-07-294262-0.
3. Appen, Ralf von / Frei-Hauenschild, Markus "AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song
Forms and their Historical Development" (http://www.gfpm-samples.de/Samples13/appenfrei.pdf). In:
Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for
Popular Music Studies e.V. Ed. by Ralf von Appen, André Doehring and Thomas Phleps. Vol. 13 (2015),
p. 5.
4. Appen and Frei-Hauenschild 2015, p. 4.

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