MusichopperThe Official Blog of Pro Guitarist Allen ROBOT Van Wert

The band Breakin Benjamin started out local to me, I even shared the same practice space as a few of their members years ago. I talked with some of them at one point but I forget which members.

I like to study music and I am able to find formulas in the music of most bands. I thought it would be interesting to share my studies with you guys and let you see how I see things from a compositional analysis standpoint.

Firstly I will take a few songs that are big radio hits and within a few passes of the songs I discover and plot out the bands “formula”. This is a good way to learn about composition and how things fit together in a song. I would not suggest directly ripping off the formula of a band because you will end up sounding a lot like them in most cases. No one likes a copycat. (Ex: How Saving Abel is 100% copying Three Doors Down’s formula…listen to “18 days” from saving abel and then just about any recent Three Doors Down song.)

Here is how I do it:

I first write down the tempo or BPMs of a song. The tempo is very important to a song and can change everything.

I then listen through and count out how many measures per section, what sections they have (intro, verse,chorus, pre chorus, break, solo…etc.). I also mark down any odd things that stand out like a short set of measures of a post chorus or pre chorus.

Then I take the parts written down in order and mark down the amount of overall energy the part has. Apparent loudness level or excitement level. I also mark down if a section is more on the building tension side or release of tension side of things.

Then I figure out what tuning the song is on guitar, how many instruments are being used (I write down what instruments are being used in each section of the song, when they come in, their feel, rhythm, and use in the song EX: padding, rhythm, counter rhythm, melody or harmony.

Then I write down how many chords are used in each section of the song… are they staccato?…is it a riff? is it a set of openly held chords?

Then I write down the implied mode, key, or scale each section is in. For instance: If the intro and verse is revolving around G major and the pre chorus is playing around the C and D major chords.. I mark it as a basic IV and V tension building scheme to make the chorus sound bigger once it hits in on the G again.

Then I break down the song harmonically a little more and notice the types of notes in a scale they avoid on certain instruments and parts of the song.

Then I look at the rhyme scheme of the vocal part. I look at the tessitura or general range and register changes in the vocal melody. Then mark down the feel of each part…like.. whispering…raspy…open..loud.. etc. On the chorus, what format is it? Do they have a certain phrase or title of the song they repeat.. and when do they use it? how many times?

Next comes the rhythm. I note down all of the rhythm feels. What time signature are parts in…whats the rhythm and counter rhythm doing…is the bass locked with the kick or is it syncopated like in a Disturbed song for instance. This is done for all of the instruments.

Then sometimes I even get into the mix a little and figure out where the instruments are in the sound spectrum. You may notice by doing this that when a guitar palm mutes and 125 hz goes bumping that the bass guitar is all of a sudden in a higher register/octave so that they don’t have to share the same spot in the sound spectrum. By studying the mix you can certainly learn about song arrangement for different instruments. I also take note of the panning of instruments and if they change in parts or widen etc.

Then I compare all of this to the other hit songs they have on the album in the same fashion and mark down the things that happen to be the same in most of the songs… then the formula has been found.

Ok, so here is the first formula breakdown for the band “Breaking Benjamin”:

I just explained how I come to the conclusion of a formula so I will try to leave out redundant information.

song: Breath
About 92 BPM 4/4 time

2 measures of quiet intro on guitar
6 measures of loud intro full band
that makes it a total of an even 8 measures for intro
8 measures of a verse broken into two distinct melodies 4 measures each
8 measures that repeats the last 8 measures of verse with different words
Thats a total of 16 measures of Verse for verse one
6 measures of prechorus
2 measures of a quiet prechorus used to contrast the chorus to make the
chorus sound bigger.
Thats a total of 8 measures of prechorus
6 measures of chorus…the vocal melody of the chorus starts in the prechorus.
2 measures of post chorus/pre second verse
That makes a total of an even 8 measures for the chorus and the
post chorus together.. I am noticing a pattern…Breaking Ben likes even
sets of 8 and will make sure that parts all weigh out to sets of 8 for
consistency and evenness.

Verse 2 is same as verse one except for new words and more action in the
bass guitar part because the excitement of the song needs to build and not
fall back to the same exact dynamic in the first verse. This is good to
note when writing.. The drum has more action too. So the rhythm section
has some more excitement to it.

This prechorus has 6 measures and does not include the quiet part like in
the first prechorus. So we lost 2 measures. This is because the audience
wants to hear that chorus again and they feel it may be a little pointless
to play the quiet part again because it would not be nearly ass effective
this time around since the momentium is building more and more and it
could be a bad move to drop the momentium here. So we have a different
set of measures for this prechorus being that it is only 6… lets see if
they add 2 measures somewhere else indicating that they may have OCD (just
a joke).

8 measure chorus same as first chorus
4 measure break without vocal that contrasts the rest of the song… this
section is basically a pre break section to the actual vocal break section
that comes next…
4 measure break part with vocals that end in a scream and go into a
chorus.
That’s a full 8 measures of break or contrast section that are used
to build up to the next chorus portion. So this can be seen as a prechorus
of sorts, however, since it is used to break the monotony of the rest of
the song it is called a break section.
8 measure chorus with a different bass feel
then the final ending of the song is you guessed it.. 2 measures and then
a hold fade.. 1 measure of clean guitar and one measure held notes.. then
it fades… They did find a way to keep it in sets of 8 afterall.

Here is the section list in an easy to read format:
Intro:8
Verse:16
prechorus:8 last 2 measures are quiet
chorus:6
preverse:2
verse:16
prechorus:6 without the quiet 2 measures
chorus:8
break:8 first 4 without vocal
chorus:8
outro:2 then fade

So we have a total of 88 measures at 92 BPM about 3 minutes and 30 seconds
(That is a great song length for pop radio) Also notice that the intro is
only about 22 seconds before the vocal and verse come in. The rule is
usually 18 seconds or less so I am guessing that on the radio they
sometimes cut off the first 6 seconds of the song (The quiet part). A good
rule of thumb is to have an intro under about 18 seconds. Breakin Ben
broke this rule…probably because of the slower tempo forcing this to
happen. It is only by a few seconds so its no big deal here because the
intro sounds exciting and sets the pace for the rest of the song.

That is the structure of parts.. now we go into a more detailed breakdown
of the individual parts:

Intro a:
Quiet guitar on a narrow band of eq – this is a trick that is used
a TON to make the band sound bigger when it all kicks in.

Intro b:
Full band in Drums, bass, distorted rhythm guitar, distorted lead
guitar. No vocals.

Verse a:
One clean guitar with chorus and some reverb or delay to create
atmosphere. Vocal. Drums playing softly. Bass with more motion than
expected in its part. Some light lead guitar feedback now and then to
also create some atmosphere.

prechorus a:
loud drums with cymbals smashing, 2 rhythm guitars distorted.
bass. Vocals shouting volume.

prechorus b:
This is the quiet prechorus part of 2 measures. Acoustic guitar,
quiet lead guitar, very quiet drums on the hi hat. no bass… the no bass
and no kick drum here will make the chorus sound explosive by contrast
when it comes in.

chorus a:
drums smashing cymbals, bass playing a more focused chord
progression part, distorted rhythm guitar, distorted lead. Vocal doing a
sing songy melody. Song title is mentioned in the chorus “Breath” right on
the ONE beat in the first measure. the rhyme scheme is A-A-B-B.

postchorus/preverse a:
same as verse

verse 2:
same as first verse. EXCEPT the snare drum now has more crack to
it…probably a different snare drum. Band generally has more energy in
this verse. Bass plays around with octaves a little more it seems

prechorus 2:
same as first but there feels like some treble or gain has been
added a tiny bit to the guitars and the drums feel a little bigger.

chorus 2:
feels same as first chorus

break a:
drum feel is on the toms like a big fill section almost. rhythm
guitar is still distorted but it playing stacato. Lead guitar is distorted
still and is playing staccato as well. bass is playing whole notes and not
holding them long until the last part. So staccato feel is what they are
doing… This contrasts the open feel in the chorus to come. The contrast
in rhythm is another tool they use to make the chorus sound bigger or like
a release. So this break is used as a tension section.

break b:
This is the break with vocal. Double kick on the drums. Heavy
rhythm guitars and the lead guitar seems to be holding the fifth degree of
the key of the chorus part to create more tension and release. So this is
tension and release using pitch as well. This part consists of whole
notes… so the tension in “break a” caused by the staccato feel is now
released to this break of a whole note feel but the tension is kept
because of the harmonic content pitch wise. Vocal is hinting at the root
of the chorus but the harmony of the guitars and bass is not in the chorus
part yet.. so it is doing a push and pull thing to create tension in the
form of anticipation.

chorus 3:
this one starts off with quarter note hits on the drums to make it
sound like a reprise of sorts for 2 measures. The lead guitar now has a
harmony on it to make this chorus sound bigger. The band is going all out
because its the final chorus.

outro:
This outro is clean guitar playing a release of the verse
sections. The vocal holds out the word you…and the rest all hold out
their last note and drum hit until fade.

Now for the harmonic breakdown in progression:

intro a:
Major 2nd on the first three beats of every measure and minor 3rd
on the 4 beat. The 2nd degree and 3rd degree of the root in the verse to
follow. The b3rd is also the key of the chorus as major. Breakin Ben likes
to go to the Relative Major in their choruses BTW.

intro b:
Rhythm guitar and bass are playing b3rd first measure, major2nd
second measure. Then measure 3 and 4 are bass playing the verse root of F
minor except they go to the major 2nd around the and of the 3 beat, and
minor 3rd on the 4 beat. The rhythm guitar sticks on The minor root of F.
The lead guitar is playing a melody around the G# major scale that is used
in the chorus. Playing almost as broken octaves. If this melody was played
on its own it would sound major and sing songy like a little kids melody.
This lead is played for the first two measures first over the G# and then
over the G. This sort of drilling in of the major scale regardless of the
chord changes beneath it is an interesting way to hint at the chorus key
of the song. Its like a weird foreshadowing element. Then on the last two
measures each time its playing around what can be viewed as part of a G#
major 7 arp or as a part of a D# major arp which would make it spell out
an F minor 9 including the b7 in the first case.. or in the second case it
would be seen as the V or dominant chord of the G# major root in the
chorus. This is played while the rhythm section plays over an F minor. So
I see this as an interesting idea in composition. Here is what is
happening… The verses are in F minor.. the choruses are in it G# major.
The rhythm section is playing around tension and release into the F minor
and the lead guitar part is playing as if its a release and then tension
in G# major. This is very cool.. so we have.. rhythm going Tension
release to The minor, and at the exact same time we have the lead part
playing Release and THEN tension to the Major. This is a very kick ass
push and pull idea that someone should give Ben some props for composing
and having the balls to even attempt lol. He is actually indicating two
roots at once. This is something that you should really study into and
play with in your own stuff. The last part of the intro has the lead
doing a new melody based around the G# major still except it aims more to
the F minor in its last two notes. The rhythm guitar is doing its same
walkdown. It sounds like the bass chooses an end note of D# or else the
rhythm guitar is holding that while playing the G. The D# is the V of the
G# major. So its like the rhythm section and the lead section change roles
at the same time right before we resolve to the verse in F minor. This is
like some little musical joke Ben is playing with us. Pretty cool stuff!

verse 1:
The bass is playing all over the F note. for the first 4 measures.
Then plays on the b6th of F minor being the C# for two measures and then
back home to its root in F minor for 2 more measures. So we have two
chords in the verse. Only two chords back and forth is all you need to get
the tension and release going people. The rhythm clean guitar plays around
the F sus2 and the F minor, meaning its using the 2nd and 3rd degree of F
minor like in the intro. Its more firmly based in F minor this time
because of the bass guitar enforcing that. Then when the bass goes to the
C# the clean rhythm plays around a C# major7 chord. It hints at the 9th
degree for a moment and then resolves that into the major 3rd degree
(which just so happens to be F…the root of our verse), so thats a form
of anticipation pitch wise on the guitar to show that we want to go back
to the F next. And we do. The vocal melody is playing around F minor and
has its own little ups and downs melodically to give it its own call and
response interest.

Pre chorus a:
This has a lot of tension because of the bass, rhythm guitar, and
the lead playing around the C# for 3 beats and then hitting the C an
octave higher on the 4 beat.. The C is tense to the C# and also the F
because its the natural 7th of C# and the 5 of F. Its like a pivit point
between two worlds and works the same in each. TENSION. Then we add more
tension by walking up 8th notes on C then F then G. This is like saying..
ok we established the C as a tense pivot. now we are gonna use the G as
one too. because G is the b5 of C# and also the 2nd of F. See the thing
is the last note there.. they go back to C# BUT.. that little walk up of
tension is actually a walk up of resolution if they would have hit the G#
on the end of it instead of the C#. So this works in three ways. Its a
tension builder because of the pivit point idea between the F and C#. Its
a tension because it goes to the C# and it would be happier if it went to
the G# major. And it works because the G# is the fifth degree or top end
of a powerchord of C#. So its tension while still holding some harmonic
sense in all aspects. Very cool stuff. Again we are playing off the 2nd
and b3rd of F minor. The vocal melody is doing a walk down of b3rd 2nd
root of F minor. Then it follows the walk up with the instruments. This
vocal melody is an octave higher in register than the verse.

pre chorus b:
The tension finally breaks harmonically when we go to the G# major
chord and stick it for a while in this quiet section. We came from a c#
major so its like going from the IV to the root at this point. The lead
guitar in the intro was hinting at this moment as was the “prechorus a”
section. So what happened here was we released the tension in one way
(harmonically) and we introduced tension in another way.. all of a sudden
we are forced to hear things differently in the context of Major or
happy… and the volume drops out.. so its like a little sign that we are
gonna have some sort of explosion. Its a tension of the dynamic type. To
really drive home the new key feel of G# major the lead guitar is playing
on the five and three of G# Major back and forth. Which is D# and C..
those are also a decent way to get back to F minor.. which we do on the
start of the Chorus. The vocal melody is down back to the same octave as
the verse which is a contrast before the vocal jump and musical explosion
in the chorus.

chorus:
Long holds on chords here. 2 measures per chord!! That is quite a
contrast from what we have been hearing thusfar. First chord is F minor..
then we have C# major.. hes becoming friendly isnt he. Then we have the D#
and then it falls back to F minor for the preverse/verse 2. I see this as
a progression that is used a ton and it holds lots of emotion in it. Its
the Root, B6, B7, root thing going on here. The cool thing is that it can
also be heard as the 6, 4, 5. In G# Major. The vocal melody is totally
outlining a G# major arpeggio. However since there is only one note
different between an Fminor chord and a G# Major chord it all works
without a weirdness feeling. So again, Breakin Ben is about the Relative
Major/Minor thing. You will see interviews with Ben talking about how he
likes his songs to be sad but then uplifting in the chorus. There you have
it. This is one big stand out event in the formula you should take good
note of. Also note that the lead guitar ends on the fifth degree of F
minor.. setting up the verse again as well.

Verse2:
same as verse 1

prechorus 2:
same as the first except no quiet part.. now you can also see the
quiet part from the first prechorus as the chorus… and here is why…

chorus 2:
This starts out on the G#, which is where the quiet last 2
measures of the first prechorus was playing. The vocal melody is the same.
All the rest the same from there on. So its like the first prechorus quiet
part was a foreshadow of the “REAL” chorus with the full band and volume
in G# major.

break a:
Same harmonic content as the first chorus with the root, b6, b7
movement. But it goes back down to the b6 at the end. Lead guitar plays
around these changes. but when the rhythm goes to the b7 or the D#, the
lead goes to its fifth, the A#. and then goes to the 5th of the c# when
the rhythm goes back there. Then the lead walks down right into the F.

break b:
Same as “break a” except the last two chords are G# to G. Setting
up the G# chorus by using tension in the G since its the G#’s natural 7th.
The vocal is playing around the G and G# to build tension and then ends on
the third of G# Major which is a scream on the note C.

chorus 3:
Lead guitar is now playing a different melody and is really
driving home the G# major key, then It goes up a diatonic third and does
the same thing there.. which is like a call and response to its own major
third harmony.

outro:
Ends on F minor.. clean rhythm guitar plucks out a final F minor
to quick F minor 9 or F sus2 chord. The addition of the 9th degree on an
ending chord always makes a song feel a little more special to me.

Now for the Rhythm breakdown for the formula:

intro:
All parts locked. The lead guitar is almost used as a counter
rhythm part.

verse:
Bass is playing nonstop filling up the space so the rest of the
instruments are way laid back. The lead guitar is being used as a
syncopated counter rhythm here. Probably to give it a loose feel so it
implies chords rather than have it doing a boring static part with the
groove. So its being used as a counter rhythm and a pad to outline the
chords. Drums quiet right down and move to the hi hat.

prechorus:
They hilight the pivot chords on the 4 beat by playing them an
octave higher. and near the end of this section they play them staccato.
and lower. The drums add some of their own fills to give it life.

prechorus quiet:
This is a quiet part to contrast the chorus. The acoustic guitar
and lead are filling up space. Bass drops out. Drums are very light and
only using hat and or cymbals.

The rest is the same besides aforementioned changes.

The break:
Staccato and tom fills for the first part. and then wide open with
cymbal smashing for the final vocal part.

last chorus:
First two measures are using a new drum feel of half time. Then it
all kicks back in.

Rhyme scheme:

A-A-B-C in verses
A-B-C-C-D-D In pre chorus
A-A-B-B In Chorus.
A-A-B-A In Break

END..

Ok. So in this big ass analysis on the song Breath from Breaking Ben we
have discovered some really great compositional tricks. The big one they
seems to be into is the use of relative Major/Minor. Another I notice is
the use of lead guitar as a counter rhythm. Or Syncopating the rhythm
part. Another is the use of dynamics as tension and release. Soft to Loud
etc.

So Breaking Ben’s formula:

1.> Dynamics play a big role…the song builds and builds. It has moments
of quiet to contrast, creating an explosion. From snare changes to a
little more gain or treble on guitars, They do it almost like an additave
dance composer does. Adding parts as the song progresses to keep interest.
They do it with Dynamics in volume. This type of writing was really
brought to life by Nirvana. Think about how Smells Like Teen Sprit goes
soft to loud. Breaking Ben do it in a more thoughtful way. Almost like an
Orchestral.

2.> The lead guitar is not an extra musical thing going on just because
lead guitar is cool, It is used as a counter rhythm and lightly implies
chord changes. Note choice is clearly a big deal to this guy. No pointless
shred. The lead guitar serves the song. (See: Tom Petty style lead
guitar).

3.> Major melody over typical Minor progressions. They hinted at the minor
and the major at the same time in the intro of this song which is
brilliant.

4.> Mix of power chords and clean notes of the full chord. This is Dream
Theater type of thing to do. You have the bass and the rhythm heavy guitar
play power chords down low while the clean guitar plays a higher register
and highlights the chords like the distorted guitar couldnt without it
sounding like ass.

5.> Low verse register of vocal, higher vocal register in prechorus and
chorus.

6.> They seem to not end on root much. They use other chord tones like the
third and fifth in the vocal.

7.> They use long ass held out chords in choruses for two measures each.

8.> They use only a few chords to get their point across. They just use
those chords in interesting and powerful ways.

9.> They save screaming for the climax of the song. They dont just scream
like tards non stop.

10.> They use Rhythm to aid in projecting the proper emotion of the song
and its parts.

11.> The song has lots of little parts that all hint at the same big
picture. This keeps things interesting while still keeping uniform.

12.> They let the bass hold some power and highlight it in the verses.

13.> The rhythm guitar and the bass are not always licked on the same note. They let the bass tell another story along with the Rhythm guitar.

I hope you like my little study on the Breaking Ben FORMULA. To test this you need to do the same type of study on the other songs they have and see what is constant between most songs. If you find some let me know. It would be cool to hear from other people and what they discover when studying one particular band.

Also, let me know if you want a study like this done to find the FORMULA of any other band.

Thanks for reading!

Allen Van Wert