Structure Markings

Structure markings are added to help you keep your place in a song. They appear in the left hand margin and are abbreviated to save space in a transcription. The list below explains what each abbreviation stands for along with a brief description. I have ordered them alphabetically:

  • b.s. - bass solo.
    An instrumental section where the bass guitar is the lead instrument. This could be the bass playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • br. - bridge.
    A bridge is used as a musical 'gap' between two sections.

  • ch. - chorus.
    Generally the main point of the song. All chorus's within a song will usually share the same lyrics and quite often the same drum part.

  • d.s. - drum solo.
    An instrumental section where the drum kit is the lead instrument. This could be the kit playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying. As a drummer you should get quite excited when you see this mark.

  • g.s. - guitar solo.
    An instrumental section where the guitar is the lead instrument. This could be the guitar playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • inst. - instrumental.
    There are various ways an instrumental can be described. It could be described as a section featuring no vocals or a section in which one or several instruments feature as the lead part.

  • in. - intro.
    A section of music that introduces the piece. When an intro is used it is normally the first thing that happens, but not always.

  • m.8 – middle 8.
    Similar to a verse but with a different musical part, middle 8s are used to add variety to a song.

  • o.s. - organ solo.
    An instrumental section where the organ is the lead instrument. This could be the organ playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • out. - outro.
    A section of music that ends the song. This is usually the last thing that happens in a piece, but not always.

  • p.s. - piano solo.
    An instrumental section where the piano is the lead instrument. This could be the piano playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • p.c. - pre chorus.
    A section of music that leads into a chorus, usually following a verse.

  • p.v. - pre verse.
    A section of music that leads into a verse. A pre verse is quite often the verse part without any vocals.

  • ref. - refrain.
    A refrain features a vocal part part that is repeated over and over.

  • sax. - saxophone solo.
    An instrumental section where the saxophone is the lead instrument. This could be the saxophone playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • t.s. - trumpet solo.
    An instrumental section where the trumpet is the lead instrument. This could be the trumpet playing on it's own or with other instruments accompanying.

  • v. - verse.
    This is the section that will contain the bulk of the lyrical content.

You will sometimes see a number following an abbreviation, mostly commonly with the verses. This is to differentiate between parts that function in a similar way structurally but are built from different parts musically.

The list above is for your average song, instrumental pieces use slightly different markings to show different sections. For these you will see capital letters in the margin.

Test your knowledge with our Structure Markings Quiz.

Lessons

Buy Me A Coffee

I hope you are enjoying this free content. If you feel like buying me a coffee to say thank you you can do so here.

Buy Me A Coffee