Now that we’ve got a theme, title, lyrics, structure and a chorus we can start massaging our lyrics to rhyme and flow. But first why rhyme in the first place?
Rhyme is used to help us memorize words, places and events like: Snickers Really Satisfies (actually it can cause diabetes) where an advertiser tries to drive in some belief deep into our subconscious mind so we will buy their products. Rhymes also function to release tension where the first part of the rhyme is considered a setup and the second part is the release or completion.
Do I have to Rhyme?
No, actually too much rhyming can sound like a nursery rhyme song and make your it too predictable. Give yourself the choice to add rhyme or not, this way you can say what you really need to say. The only time you may want to seriously consider using rhyme is in the chorus, which needs to be memorable. But once again, its not 100% necessary. Listen to POD’s “Beautiful”, which really only uses “assonance” where the first consonants match on the second line “little love” and “whole wide world.” Check out the whole chorus below:
“life is beautiful
you share a little love with the whole wide world
every boy and girl sing along
when we sing why-o, why-o”
Types of Rhymes
There are really two categories of rhymes which include “perfect rhymes” and “near rhymes.”
- The most common rhyme is the “perfect rhyme,” where two words sound alike because they share the same vowel sound followed by the same consonant sound like dog and frog or jump and slump.
- Consonant rhymes are “near rhymes” like the example in POD’s song above… little love and whole wide world, where the beginning consonant of each word is the same.
- Vowel rhymes are also “near rhymes” and may at times sound similar to a perfect rhyme but they only share the same vowel sound followed by a different consonant sound like: I’m feeling good – We really can (feeling and really share the same vowel sound).
Do Rhymes have to be of equal length?
No, in fact if you mix it up and extend your release line it creates more tension and a greater release. This isn’t always the case but you may want to try it and see if it helps your song. While you can mix up the length of a rhyme within a verse or a chorus be careful not to change from verse to verse or chorus to chorus as your listener is expecting a familiar rhyming pattern in your second verse and second chorus.
Write your Rhyme Using A Melody
If you’re writing rhymes down on paper with no melody be prepared to make lots of changes. On the other hand if you have a couple melodies that may work for your song sections try writing your lyrics and rhymes with these melodies. This not only saves you time in re-writes, but also creates rhymes that sound more natural and not like a nursery rhyme or greeting card.
Try this Exercise:
Find a melody of a song you like and ditch the words. Now create your own rhymes using all you’ve learned in this lesson. Try spending a good 30 minutes to an hour just listening to songs and their rhyme schemes, then create 2-3 rhymes using your own lyrics. Once you’ve got this down its time to come up with your own melody to your own song and massage your lyrics into a rhyming scheme that feels natural and hooks people in.
Remember… Never Give Up on Your Dreams
Chad – Music Launch Pad
p.s. feel free to comment below on your own experience with rhyming and what works best.