15.11.06

Scheming Rhyme Schemes

Another important aspect of poetry and songwriting is rhyme. As I mentioned earlier, not all songs use rhymes, but your song will have a smoother feel if rhymes are used along with even rhythm in the number of syllables. Even well-known poets who didn't utilize rhyme in their work made sure that they used a constant syllable pattern.

Rhyme patterns can be found by putting a letter of the alphabet, starting with A, at the end of each line. Lines that end with the same sound (they rhyme) have the same letter. A simple example would be:

I am a frog----A
I'm not a dog--A
I'm in a log----A
I am a frog----A

Seldom will you find a song or poem that rhymes every line. More often every other line will rhyme:

I am a frog--------A
I like to eat--------B
I'm in a bog-------A
My name is Pete--B

Of course, you could get really creative with your rhyme patterns, especially when you have more lines, and longer lines. Here are the examples from last time:

"My Hope is You"
Artist: Third Day
Album: Offerings

My hope is You---------A
Show me Your ways---B
Guide me in truth------A
In all my days---------B
My hope is You--------A

This one is a pretty straight-forward A-B-A-B rhyme scheme. Another common scheme is A-B-C-B, or a variation, such as A-B-A-C. These still have alternate rhyming lines, but the lines in between them do not rhyme.

"Praise You in This Storm"
Artist: Casting Crowns
Album: Lifesong

And I will praise You in this storm --A
And I wil lift my hands--------------B
For you are who You are------------C
No matter where I am--------------B
And ev'ry tear I've cried------------D
You hold in Your hand--------------B
You never left my side--------------D
And though my heart is torn--------E
I will praise You in this storm-------E

This one's more complicated. It's almost Shakespearian, actually--it's similar to a sonnet. Anyway, you'll notice that it has a lot more letters to it. The first line doesn't rhyme with anything (well, it does, but we'll talk about that later). After that, for the next 5 lines, every other line rhymes with "hand." The word "are" doesn't rhyme with any other ending words, so it has a letter of its own. Then we have "cried" and "side" as alternate line rhymes, and finally "torn" and "storm." Yes, I know they rhyme with the first line of the song, but since so many other letters (and rhymes) have been used between the two, the last two lines get their own letters.

OK, enought about rhymes for now. Let me know how your songwriting is going so far.

Tim Heider


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3 Comments:

Blogger You're a Princess said...

Me, mad at you? A
No, it's not true. A
Special really means - B
Two different things. B
But I think I took it right, C
'Cuz I'm precious in His sight. C
You're really very smart, D
At song-writing art! D

10:48 AM  
Blogger Tim Heider said...

Cute. You need to work on your syllables, though. :)

4:56 PM  
Blogger You're a Princess said...

Yeah, I know . . . But considering I had only a few minutes on my lunch break, that's not half bad! And I did it eating an apple!

5:57 PM  

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