Editing Refrain (section)

== In popular music ==
There are two distinct uses of the word "chorus". In the [[thirty-two-bar form|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."<ref>Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice'', Vol. I, p.317. Seventh Edition. {{ISBN|978-0-07-294262-0}}.</ref>

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 (song)|Yellow Submarine]]": "We all live in a..."). According to the [[Musicologist|musicologists]] Ralf von Appen and Markus Frei-Hauenschild

<blockquote>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. <ref>Appen, Ralf von / Frei-Hauenschild, Markus [http://www.gfpm-samples.de/Samples13/appenfrei.pdf "AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and their Historical Development"]. In: ''Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e.V.'' Ed. by Ralf von Appen, [[André Doehring]] and [[Thomas Phleps (musicologist)|Thomas Phleps]]. Vol. 13 (2015), p. 5.</ref></blockquote>