A Reason To Rhyme 2: More Reasons To Rhyme (strikes back… harder).
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At long last! It’s here. The highly anticipated sequel to A Reason To Rhyme: A Reason To Rhyme 2: More Reasons To Rhyme (strikes back… harder).
Since sequels are traditionally inferior to the originals, It means the deck is stacked against me. BUT, since so long has passed since part one of this article (I’ve been busy. Netflix has a lot to offer), and most of you probably don’t remember it, that also means expectations are not high… so yay! On the scale of sequel quality, I’m going to aim for somewhere between Empire Strikes Back and Weekend at Bernie’s 2, just to give myself a wide target. If you wanna catch up, you can do so Here. (also, check out Weekend At Bernie’s 2. It still holds up)
So we know why we rhyme (pattern recognition, musical device, accents, etc. I told you to catch up, right? ), But when should we rhyme? When is it appropriate not to rhyme? Where would one learn the answer to this mystical query, and what is the meaning of life? Well, let me tell you. No, not about the meaning of life (I have a different blog for that).
The truth is, there is no answer to that question. I cant definitively tell you when you should or shouldn’t rhyme because there are too many variables to consider. Ultimately each case is different.
This is the part of the sequel where things are dire and hopeless. Not getting the answer to the rhyming question is like John McClain getting all the way to the antenna array in Die Hard 2, only to then watch it explode!
But fear not!(plot twist), Though I can’t answer the question of when you should or shouldn’t rhyme because of all the variables it presents, I can tell you a bit about some of them:
lyrical styles:
Sometimes we’re conversational, and sometimes we’re poetic. Sometimes we write in a stream of consciousness, and sometimes we write for the sound of the words more than for the content. The point is that each of these styles will require different use of rhyme.
Musical styles:
Different styles of music use rhyme in different ways. What works in a repetitive hooky pop song, might not work in a singer-songwriter story song. What works in a country song might not work well in a hip-hop song. Take for example the complicated rhyme schemes of Eminem, which rely on his rhythmic patterns more than anything. Such patterns would be less effective in more of a country-story song like ‘Cost Of Living’ by Dunn.
Rhyme Scheme (What happened before/ what happens after):
If we set up a certain rhyme scheme, we set up an expectation. Wether or not we fulfill that expectation will have an effect. Conversely what happen after we rhyme also has an effect on it. As Miles Davis famously said: “there are no wrong notes, only wrong resolutions.” We can have small rhyme schemes and large ones. Simple ones, and complicated ones.
Musicality:
Melody has structure. A good phrase has form, which relies on development and repeats. Putting the rhyme in the appropriate part of the phrase goes a long way to help accent the different sections of a melody. For example, a fast repeating rhythmic phrase in the middle of a larger phrase could benefit from what we call “internal rhymes.” Or making sure we hit a rhyming word in the same spot of a repeating phrase helps the accent the repeat.
Look at the alphabet song. The letters are not split up equally. They are split up to fall on a rhyme. And when there aren’t enough of them to fit in the melody, the song adds the word AND to the lyrics, so the rhyme falls in the appropriate spot. Then it adds two more lines to that rhyme to complete the musical phrase, and give us resolution. These little tricks make the song super catchy, and that’s why every school child uses it to memorize the alphabet.
Good old fashioned creative choices:
Remember that Rhyme is a musical device. The same way the backbeat in the drums helps us settle into the groove of the song, a rhyme helps us solidify a hook and make it catchy. If you want your audience to easily remember your hook, a good rhyme goes a long way. If you are less concerned with how hooky your song is, and its more important to you to tell a story regardless of the “Hook Factor,” not rhyming will hammer your point home. In fact, sometimes the lack of rhyme in certain songs, draws attention to the lyrics as our brain tries, with no success, to find the pattern.
There are many more, and we can discuss and dissect them endlessly. But in the end, the reason you rhyme is guided by what your end goal is.
I write pop music. And so my goal is to create a catchy song. I rhyme because it makes my point easily digestible to the listener, and helps the song become stuck in their head forever (diabolical laugh).
There was a moment I was considering turning this into a trilogy, with a third installment called: A Reason To Rhyme 3: Return Of The Rhyme With A Vengeance, The Search For More Rhymes. But the subject didn’t quite feel like it needed a third act, and I blew most of my budget on the special effects (get your VR set. Its like the words are coming right at you!)
Suffices to say that whether or not you live and die by the rhyme as I do, gaining an understanding and basic mastery of how to rhyme, is crucial to the songwriter, and can only elevate your craft.
Award winning and multi platinum selling songwriter/producer Chen Neeman's songs have been recorded by artists such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Joe Jonas, Zendaya, and The Muppets, among others. Chen is dedicated to helping aspiring songwriters learn how to write better songs through personalized one-on-one coaching sessions via Skype, FaceTime, or in person at his L.A Studio.
Find out more about Chen’s Pro Songwriting Coaching, at HitSongCoach.com