Rock music is in the product of a number of influences-Blues which is the basis of "rhythm and blues".
Country music influences blended with blues are the basis of rock and roll. Rock takes its influences from Blues, Rock and Roll and the improvisation seen in Jazz. Here is a timeline showing how pop music developed over the 20th century to the 21st century.To make a good pop song it needs to have a hook. A hook makes it catchy and easily remembered so people are likely to go out and but the CD or download the track. It must have killer riffs, which are a sequence of notes repeated over again, for example the bass riff in Thriller.
The melody must be simple, pop songs only tend to use a range of five notes, this is because most of the singers these days do not have a good range in their voices, also if the audience are able to remember and sing the tune themselves then they are more likely to enjoy it more. The hook could be anything from the chorus, the introduction and the beat. What ever it is, repetition is really important. A good pattern would be: Two verses/chorus/sequence then develop the tune/change key. A good example of this would be "Imagine" by John Lennon from the Beatles.
A pop song is usually 3 minutes long which comes from the limits of old technology when you used old record players and there was only enough room on the records for 3 minutes of music. The opening is important because if people are board at the beginning they are not going to want to listen to the rest of the song. Another good way to engage the listener is to move to a major key during the chorus. Also having a bridge is a good way to catch people's attention.
A bridge is an instrumental break, known as a middle 8, which is 8 bars.The lyrics must deal with real live situations or things that people are interested in. The language must be simple and express an emotion or story. A good example of this is "Going Underground" by Paul Weller: The Clash. Pop songs can define times in your life.
Lilly Allen and the Artic Monkeys are the present writers for today capturing the British Life.Restative is now a popular way of writing, this is where there is one single chord played and lots of lyrics are sung over the top of it. Another is "Rhyme within Line" such as hip hop structure. It uses word play and packed in formation. Using nonsense words like "La la la" by Kylie in "Can't Get You Out Of My Head".
