What is the section called when part way through a song, there is a major style change?

Question

I remember seeing this term on Genius at one point in time and can't for the life of me remember what it is. I Googled it and went to a Wikipedia page and remember it defined it as something along the lines of, "A second part to a song that has a significant style or tonal difference than the first. There is a quick change or shift in style." I'm fairly certain it started with an "S" as well.

The term describes the specific section that has a significant style change.

If you’ve heard

King’s Dead around 2:30 the entire song shifts to a totally new style and never returns to the original. That’s what I’m getting at.

Answer 1

In the context of rap this is almost definitely a "beat switch". Term doesn't apply outside that genre.

Answer 2

That’s the called the bridge. Especially in hip hop. The Godfather James Brown called out loudly and often for the bridge in many of his songs.

See also: https://beat.media/genre-guide-structure-of-a-hip-hop-song

https://genius.com/discussions/20302-Hip-hop-song-structure-is-it-too-standardised

There's a list of song terms on this site you might have heard of called Genius:

Introduction (Intro)

Verse

Refrain

Pre-Chorus (Climb)

Chorus

Post-Chorus

Hooks

Riffs/Basslines

Scratches

Sampling

Bridge

Interlude

Skit

Collision

Instrumental or Solo

Ad lib

Segue

Outro

https://genius.com/Genius-song-parts-annotated

It's obviously not scratching, sampling, or solo.

A skit is a separate section that could be anywhere in the song during which some kind of action happens like in a play or radio drama.

A segue is always at the end of a song but is a short section that is linking material between one song and another song. Segues are not always a significant style change, some of them actually connect the two styles of the songs and have hallmarks of both styles. Segues are also not always music. They can be quotes, sound effects, or almost anything.

It could also be called a pivot or key change.

Answer 3

In classical music we'd speak of the second (third, fourth...) movement.

Answer 4

Okay, sorry for all the confusion. The term that my brain was thinking of was "Interpolation." Yes, I know that's not what I'm describing, but let me explain.

On a the Genius page for Post Malone – White Iverson Lyrics, there's a box that gives the track information.

Under that box there is a credit titled, "Interpolates":

This is the Wikipedia article that came up after I Googled, "music interpolation."

You can see that it talks about "an abrupt change of musical elements, with the (almost immediate) resumption of the main theme or idea." My brain seemed to have not remembered the second half of the description and associated the first with another word, "Satz" somehow.

Anyway, thank you for all your help. I know interpolation is nothing like what I described, but I found my solution. Thanks!

Answer 5

Trio?

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

Trio \Tri"o\, n. [It., fr. L. tres, tria, three: cf. F. trio, from the Italian. See {Three}.]

[...]

2. (Mus.)

   [...]

   (b) The secondary, or episodical, movement of a minuet or scherzo, as in a sonata or symphony, or of a march, or of various dance forms; -- not limited to three parts or instruments.

Answer 6

I'm fairly certain it started with an "S" as well.

Now I realize that you subsequently realized that the word didn't start with S, but I would add this to Todd Wilcox's answer suggesting bridge:

According to Wikipedia's article on Bar form, the beginning of the Abgesang was known by the Meistersinger as the Steg, which in modern German denotes a particular type of bridge. Wikipedia further claims (without evidence) that this is the source of the modern sense of "bridge" as an element of musical form.

Bar form is an AAB form in which the last phrase of the repeated A section is frequently identical to the last phrase of the B section (Rundkanzone). Therefore, the first part of the B section is heard only once.

The A section was typically shorter than the B section, and the two instances of the A section were sung using different words. The A section wasn't necessarily half the length of the B section, but one may indulge in a bit of anachronistic comparison by noting that making the A section 8 measures long and the B section 16 measures long yields something very much like the classic 20th-century 32-bar popular song form, with the "middle eight" or bridge occupying precisely the same position as the Steg as a point that offers contrast where repetition is expected. Indeed, the Wikipedia article on Rundkanzone linked above notes that Rundkanzone may be described as ABABCB or AABA, with the latter being the usual schematic description of the 32-bar form.

The "Bar" in Bar form isn't the same "bar" in 32-bar form. It couldn't be, because Bar form was established several centuries before the development of modern metrical notation using bar lines. Wikipedia says

The word Bar is most likely a shortening of Barat, denoting a skillful thrust in fencing. The term was used to refer to a particularly artful song – the type one composes in songwriters' guilds.

Answer 7

One common description is simply that the piece is in multiple parts.

For example, the album/long version of Eric Clapton's ‘Layla’ ends with a piano-based instrumental section which was called ‘Part II’ (or the ‘Piano Exit’).

Similarly, many Jean-Michel Jarre albums are divided into ‘parts’ that are joined seamlessly.

And the two halves of an album-length piece that had to be split in order to fit onto a vinyl LP (such as ‘Tubular Bells’) were often described as ‘part 1’ and ‘part 2’. (In some cases they were rejoined into a single seamless track when mastered onto CD, showing that the break wasn't desired.)

Answer 8

In Rock Music It's called a Change-Up, it's where the riff completely changes

Answer 9

If it began with an s it could have been syncopation, sorry if someone already said that. syncopation is when the rhythm of music changes and more stress or exaggeration is put on a specific aspect of it. Well that's how I can best describe it.

Answer 10

Probably rhapsody. It's defined as an episodic sequence of elements in one connected movement. Prominent examples titled as such are "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.