A refrain (from

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...

''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th line or lines that are repeated in poetry">Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry">Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music—the "chorus" of a song. Poetry, Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the villanelle, the virelay, and the sestina. In popular music, the refrain or chorus may contrast with the Verse (popular music), verse melodically, rhythmically, and harmonically; it may assume a higher level of dynamics and activity, often with 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.

Usage in history

Although repeats of refrains may use different words, refrains are made recognizable by reusing the same

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

(when sung as music) and by preserving any

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

s. For example, "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

" 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." Refrains usually, but not always, come at the end of the verse. Some songs, especially

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s, incorporate refrains (or ''burdens'') 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 A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

#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 Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

's "Troy Town": Phrases of apparent nonsense in refrains (''Lay the bent to the bonny broom?''), and

syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

s 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.

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" repeated with fixed lyrics are alternated with a sequence of different "verses". 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." 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 " Blowin' 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.

In jazz

Many Tin-Pan Alley songs using thirty-two bar form are central to the traditional

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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."Appen and Frei-Hauenschild 2015, p. 4.

Arranger's chorus

In jazz, an arranger's chorus is where the arranger uses particularly elaborate techniques to exhibit their 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 A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

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 Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

and saxophones, or between the ensemble and the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. Additionally, brass players frequently use extended techniques such as falls, doits, turns, and shakes to add excitement.

References