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This article is about a bridge section in a piece of popular or classical music. For the part of a musical instrument which transmits the vibrations of strings to a soundboard, see bridge (instrument).

In popular music, especially occidental, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section. The bridge may be the middle-eight in a thirty-two-bar form (the B in AABA), or it may be used more loosely in verse-chorus form, or, in a compound AABA form, used as a contrast to a full AABA section, as in "Every Breath You Take". Very commonly the "bridge" is in a contrasting key to the original melody.^{[citation needed]} More often than not, the "bridge" is a perfect 4th higher.^{[citation needed]} For examples, see Richard Rodgers' "Mountain Greenery" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Meditation" Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... A Violin Bridge blank and finished bridge A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air balls. ... For the music genre, see Pop music. ... Occidental means generally western. It is a traditional designation (especially when capitalized) for anything belonging to the Occident or West — the western part of the classical world (Europe) and the New World, and especially of its society. ... The thirty-two-bar form, often shortened to AABA, is a musical form common in Tin Pan Alley songs, later popular music including rock and pop music, and jazz. ... Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. ... The thirty-two-bar form, often shortened to AABA, is a musical form common in Tin Pan Alley songs, later popular music including rock and pop music, and jazz, though there were few instances of it in any type of popular music until the late teens, it became the principal... Every Breath You Take is a song written by Sting and originally performed by The Police. ... This article is about the American composer. ... Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 in Rio de Janeiro – December 8, 1994 in New York City), or Tom Jobim (as he is fondly known in his home country), was a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, pianist/guitarist and one of the primary forces behind the creation...

What is a Bridge?

Lyrically, the bridge is typically used to pause and reflect on the earlier portions of the song or to prepare the listener for the climax.^{[citation needed]}

The term may also be used to refer to the section between the verse and the chorus, although this is more commonly referred to as the pre-chorus.^{[citation needed]} The Beatles song, "In My Life" has a pre-chorus that is simply referred as the "bridge".^{[citation needed]}

The theme "The Song That Goes Like This" from the musical play Spamalot spoofs in its lyrics the abuse of the bridge in romantic songwriting: Now we can go straight / into the middle eight / a bridge that is too far for me.^{[citation needed]} The Song That Goes Like This is a song from the musical comedy Spamalot. ... Monty Pythons Spamalot is a comedic musical lovingly ripped off from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). ...

Classical music

Bridges are also common in classical music, although they are much freer in form and length.^{[citation needed]} Often referred^[who?] to as a bridge-passage, they are used to delineate separate sections of an extended work, or to smooth what would otherwise be an abrupt modulation such as the transition between the two themes of a sonata form. A more formal way of describing this transition between two musical subjects is by referring to it as the "transition theme";^{[citation needed]} indeed, in later Romantic symphonies such as Dvořák's New World Symphony or César Franck's Symphony in D minor, the transition theme becomes almost a third subject in itself, occupying some thirty bars in the Franck.^{[original research?]} Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The expression romantic music and the homophone phrase Romantic music have two essentially different meanings. ... Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( , often anglicized DVOR-zhak; September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of romantic music, who employed the idioms and melodies of the folk music of his native Bohemia and Moravia in symphonic, oratorial, chamber and operatic works. ... New World Symphony redirects here; for the Miami-based orchestra, see New World Symphony Orchestra. ... César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (December 10, 1822 – November 8, 1890), a composer, organist and music teacher of Belgian origin who lived in France, was one of the great figures in classical music in the second half of the 19th century. ... The Symphony in D minor is the most famous orchestral work and only symphony by the 19th century Belgian composer César Franck. ...

The latter work also provides several good examples of a short bridge to smooth a modulation. Instead of simply repeating the whole exposition in the original key, as would be done in a symphony of the classical period, Franck repeats the first subject a minor third higher in F minor. A two-bar bridge achieves this transition with his characteristic combination of enharmonic and chromatic modulation. After the repeat of the first subject, another bridge of four bars is needed to lead into the transition theme in F major, the key of the true second subject. In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1750 to 1830, despite considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ... In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ... In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...

A famous^[who?] example of a bridge-passage used to separate two sections of a more loosely organized work occurs in George Gershwin's An American in Paris. As Deems Taylor described it in the program notes for the first performance: "Having safely eluded the taxis ... the American's itinerary becomes somewhat obscured. ... However, since what immediately ensues is technically known as a bridge-passage, one is reasonably justified in assuming that the Gershwin pen ... has perpetrated a musical pun and that ... our American has crossed the Seine, and is somewhere on the Left Bank."^{[citation needed]} Gershwin redirects here. ... An American in Paris is a symphonic composition by American composer George Gershwin which debuted in 1928. ... Deems Taylor (born Joseph Taylor) (1885 - 1966) was a U.S. composer and music critic. ...

See also

• Song structure (popular music)
• Break (music)
• Interlude