More than any other part of a song, the Pre-Chorus’s main function is to help the other parts of a Verse/Chorus song work better. It bounces out of the Verse and prepares us for the Chorus. Often it does this by building excitement and drama, sometimes by misdirection.

Like the knee connecting the upper and lower parts of the leg, it’s where the spring comes from.

Usually a Pre-Chorus is not longer (and often it’s a lot shorter) than the Verse or the Chorus. This is logical – if it’s building and connecting, it generally shouldn’t have more ‘weight’ than the other sections it’s serving.

If it can be shorter, it probably should be. And if it doesn’t need to be there at all, it shouldn’t be – if the song works as well or better without it, try leaving it out.

Of particular importance in a Pre-Chorus is its last line. This is what sets up the payoff – the Chorus (where the Title is often in the first line).

To me this ‘set-up line’ – the last line before the Chorus – is usually the second most important lyric in a Verse/Chorus song (after the Title).  Here the songwriter has the opportunity to choose how to direct the listener’s focus heading into the Chorus.

Some examples:

Billie Jean/Michael Jackson

Musically, the Verse (‘She was more like a beauty queen from a magazine’) and the Chorus (‘Billie Jean is not my lover‘) are similar, with the same chords and bass line.

The Pre-Chorus (“People always told me…‘) takes a different approach. It moves to a new chord – the first major chord in the song. It quiets things down… and builds them back up again (with the last line, ‘Be careful what you do, ’cause the lie becomes the truth, hey…‘) into a big V chord that drives us relentlessly into the Chorus.

Lyrically, the Pre-Chorus’s statement (spoken to the singer by ‘people‘ and ‘mama‘) ‘Be careful what you do, ’cause the lie becomes the truth‘ leads directly to the singer’s own main declaration – ‘Billie Jean is not my lover‘.

Royals/Lorde

Musically, the main way this song’s Pre-Chorus builds into the Chorus is by rhythmic acceleration.

In the Verse, the rhythm of the melody is syncopated but leisurely.  In the Pre-Chorus (‘Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin’ in the bathroom…‘), the words tumble out in a quicker, steady flow of 8th and 16th notes.

The Verse melody is over one chord – which is implied, not played.  The Pre-Chorus moves to a 3 chord pattern, which is also used in the Chorus.

Lyrically the Pre-Chorus ends with the defiant line, ‘We don’t care; we aren’t caught up in your love affair‘, which sets up the definitive Chorus/Title statement, ‘And we’ll never be Royals‘.

Someone Like You/Adele

The Pre-Chorus (‘Hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited…‘) is melodically the simplest part of the song (barely 4 notes). But, similarly to ‘Royals’, Adele picks up the rhythmic pace here considerably, building excitement and tension heading into the Chorus.

Also, from the last note of the Pre-Chorus to the first note of the Chorus there’s an powerful melodic leap of a minor 6th.

Lyrically, the last line of the Pre-Chorus is ‘That for me, it isn’t over…‘.  This is immediately, directly, and devastatingly contradicted (utilizing that minor 6th leap) by the first line of the Chorus: ‘Never mind, I’ll find Someone Like You’. Another great – and surprising – setup/payoff.

(Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’, despite being so different stylistically, uses almost exactly the same structure and Pre-Chorus ‘acceleration’ buildup strategy as ‘Someone Like You’)

It’s easy to take Pre-Choruses for granted, but if there is one… and it’s not doing its job… the Chorus will sink along with it. A lot of the impact of a Chorus depends on how it’s set up, whether by a Verse or a Pre-Chorus.

It’s like telling a joke – more of them fall flat because of a bad setup than because of a bad punchline. But only the comedy pros notice this.

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