Songwriting Rhymes

There are several types of songwriting rhymes. But should you use them? After all, this is the 21st century, right? Whether you use rhymes in your songs or not, it's absolutely your decision. However, there are a couple of reasons why you should consider including some in your lyrics:

Why should you use rhymes in your songs?

✓ Rhymes help listeners remember your song better
✓ Rhymes give a feeling of "satisfaction" to the ears
✓ A cleverly used rhyme emphasizes the message of the song (especially if the rhyme is in the hook)

Almost all songwriters use rhymes to some extent. Many take it very seriously and make sure that every line rhymes with another one. Some of them even count the number of syllables in each line. You don't have to go that far, but using at least a small number of songwriting rhymes is definitely beneficial. Lyrics are very similar to poems. And although you have other tools to emphasize different parts of your song, set the tempo, etc., I guess there isn't anybody who doesn't like a good-sounding and witty rhyme. However, don't go overboard. Too many rhymes (or too many perfect rhymes) can distract the listeners' attention from the message or melody of your song. You overall goal is to keep the lyrics conversational. This doesn't mean that you can't afford a little poetry here and there, though.

What kind of songwriting rhymes are there?
The most popular rhyme type in the current hits is undeniably the:


• Vowel Rhyme - (also called "near rhyme", "assonance") These are words in which the stressed vowel sound is the same but the consonants that follow them are different. For example: "kind" and "night", "why" and "goodbye", "net" and "bent", etc.


There is another songwriting rhyme that is less often used but is very popular in contemporary music. This rhyme type might be the most difficult to create but it sounds the most clever too:


• Internal Rhyme - The rhyming words occur within the line. For example: "Anybody I throw flames at gets a name it's a game" (from the song Ricky Ticky Tockby Eminem)


Less popular nowadays, and a little too predictable and old-fashioned is the:


• Perfect Rhyme - These are words that contain the same vowels followed by the same consonant. For example: "breaking" and "taking", "embrace" and "grace", etc.
There are some other, less often used rhyme types. These are most often used in poetry. These are: masculine, feminine, three, open and closed rhymes. If you would like to learn more about them, you may want to visit Wikipedia: Rhyme.


How do you find great songwriting rhymes?
There are several ways to find great rhymes. You could purchase a rhyming dictionary. The most popular one of these is The Complete Rhyming Dictionary. Or use an online rhyming dictionary, such as RhymeZone. But what I found to be the most helpful is Masterwriter 2.0. It's a piece of creative software for songwriters and lyricists used by many of the most successful songwriters. The software includes Word Families, Parts of Speech, Phrases, Rhymes, Pop-Culture, Dictionary and a Thesaurus. There are some famous songwriters who also use it, like David Foster, Gwen Stefani, Linda Perry and many more.

More on How To Write A Song 

Songwriting Hooks

What Are Songwriting Hooks?

They are images or phrases in your song (usually in the chorus) that immediately catch your attention the first time you hear them (if they're working well). A hook is something that will make your listeners remember your song. It's the part they will most easily recall. They're the line(s) that make your listeners have an earworm.

Sometimes there is more than one hook in a song. And since the business of songwriting is so competitive, you should make each line of your song as catchy as you can. Therefore some songs end up with several hooks in them.

How to Create A Songwriting Hook?

The words should sound natural and conversational. The best hooks contain images, phrases and action words that sound unusual in some way. Sometimes they contain or consist of a question or questions. They approach the theme of the song from a new, previously unheard-of angle. That's the lyric part.

To emphasize these key line(s), you should make them memorable with a great melody. Before the hook, try to build anticipation. And when you get there, there are several ways to make the hook stay in your listeners' ears: you can use higher notes, longer notes, interval jumps, repetition, unpredictable pause, or shift the starting point of the whole line, etc. The most important thing is that somehow you contrast your hook with the rest of your song.

A songwriting hook should cleverly summarize what your whole song is about. You can write a great hook only if you are completely clear about what your song is about. So before you start writing a song, sit down and define what it will be about. You could even make a sketch of your song, which makes it a lot easier for you to make it logical and cohesive.

Songwriting Hook Examples

Rihanna - Unfaithful: The most important hook is in the chorus. The songwriters built up anticipation with "And I know that" then start the hook itself "he knows I'm unfaithful and it kills him inside". This is a perfect example. The lyrics completely summarize what the whole song is about and the melody gradually rises which make the listeners' excitement stronger too.

Kesha - Blow: This song is similar. The build-up in the chorus is "This place's about to" then it starts the most important part of the song "Blow". And this word is emphasized by using an interval change, repetition, and production techniques.

More about How To Write A Song 

How To Write Rap Lyrics

To learn how to write rap lyrics, first let's take a look at the differences between "writing regular lyrics" and rap lyrics.

Although rhymes are important in every genre, they have an especially important role in rap. So familiarizing yourself with different types of rhymes is something your should definitely do.

Rich vocabulary is also important in most genres but in the rap or hip hop world it's even more so. By "rich vocabulary" we don't mean beautiful, literary words (although you can include some of those too). What we mean is that you should be familiar with as many words, idioms, slang words and expressions as possible.

It's also useful to be aware of where stress is in words because by stressing a word different ways, its meaning can change. Or you can find different rhymes based on where you stress a word - it doesn't always have to be a perfect rhyme. You can make it sound perfect by moving the stress to different places. The most successful rap and hip hop artists are aware and masters of such tricks.

How do they get their amazing wealth of vocabulary from? I've seen an interview with Eminem where he said that he used to read the dictionary. You read it right - READ the dictionary. He said he's always loved words and wanted to know all of them. So he spent endless hours studying words to learn how to write rap lyrics. When he was and is writing a song, he wants all the words that exist to be at this disposal. Although I'm sure he doesn't know "all the words", he's done a great job at enriching his vocabulary!

Eminem also said that he scribbles down new song and lyric ideas on pieces of paper, napkins or anything else all the time. Then he went on to show a shoe box full of pieces of paper with ideas on them. You should do the same. You never know when a new idea hits you. Have something to capture it with all the time. When you write rap lyrics, you'll probably use some of them. Or when you feel stuck, you can always refer to your earlier ideas for inspiration.

While learning how to write rap lyrics, you might also want to get an audio recorder to rap your lyrics to. Record yourself then listen to the recording. It might not be a pleasant experience (most people hate their own voice) but it's an essential part of the learning process.

So here is a possible way of how to write rap lyrics:

• Immerse yourself in and study rap / hip hop. Listen to and possibly memorize the lyrics of your favorite songs.

• Think of a title and a subject of your new rap song.
• Plan the song structure (Verses, Choruses, Bridge, etc.)
• Write the Chorus first and summarize your message in it with as much passion as you can.
• Finish the lyrics by writing the Verses (the story of the song), the Bridge (the emotional peak) and maybe a Pre-Chorus to increase energy between the Verse and the Chorus.
• Write a basic beat to your lyrics. By the way, you can write the beats before the lyrics too.
• Record yourself perform the song.
• Rewrite what needs to be rewritten. (A song usually has to be rewritten at least a dozen times before we can call it "finished".)


Learning how to write rap songs might take a little time. But the more time you spend with it, the sooner you'll reach your goals. If rap is very important to you, you'll learn how to write rap lyrics in no time!


More about Writing Song Lyrics

How To Write Music

Learning how to write music is important if you'd like to become a serious songwriter. You can get by writing only lyrics but if you can contribute to melodies, your chances of succeeding will be much higher of course.


The rules I write here are guidelines. The more of them you use in your songs, the more likely you'll write a potential hit. Songwriters who also perform songs have more freedom though. Their fans will listen to their songs because they like them as performers. They can get away with longer solos, less general lyrics and more unusual song structures.

Characteristics of a Hit Song

Intro

The Intro (also called Introduction) is a very short instrumental section at the beginning of the song. Why "very short"? Because today's listeners get bored fast. That's why the singer will have to start singing very soon after the beginning of the song. The average Intro is 10-15 seconds. Shorter is fine, longer isn't fine. There are a few songs that have a longer Intro but they are almost always written by the artists themselves. If you write AND perform your songs, you always have a little more leeway. Writing a good intro is one of the most important aspects in learning how to write music for hits.

What's the purpose of the Intro?

✓ It sets the tone of the song: is it a happy or a sad song? what's the mood of the performer like?

✓ It sets the tempo of the song: your listeners should immediately know if it's a ballad, a mid-tempo or an up-tempo song.

Tempo

There are three main types of songs on the charts. Each kind has a different tempo.


• A song is up-tempo if it's more than 120 beats per minute (bpm).
• A song is mid-tempo if it's between 90 and 120 bpm.
• A song is a ballad if it's less than 90 bpm.

Most songs at the top of the charts are up-tempo. The second most common type is mid-tempo and ballads don't become hits that often. Most songwriters write many more ballads than up-tempo songs but it shouldn't be the case. Ballads can me more satisfying to write but an up-tempo song has a much bigger chance of becoming a hit. That's why it's worth learning how to write music for up-tempo songs as well.

Melodic Structure

Learning how to write music is the first step. But you should also know how to keep the listeners interested for about 4 minutes. Some songwriters tend to write very long Verses. But to maintain the listeners' interest, you should get to the Chorus quite quickly to give them a pay-off for sticking with you. You can either write a shorter Verse (4-6 lines) or insert a Pre-Chorus that beautifully connects the Verse and the Chorus and gradually intensifies emotion. The Pre-Chorus should be about 2-4 measures). More and more hit songs use this trick.

Solos, Intros, Outros

Long solos (anywhere in the song) were fashionable 10-15 years ago. But not anymore. Listeners like to hear the singer sing as much as possible. So avoid long solos.

Length of Songs

Your song shouldn't be longer than 3-4.5 minutes. If it is, radios will not want to play it. They make money from commercials and if your song is too long, it uses valuable advertising time and DJ's won't be motivated to play it.

Repeat and Repeat

Although your song should be unique, there should also be plenty of repetition in it. Both lyrically and musically. This makes your song memorable and the listeners will want to listen to it over and over again.

To include repetition, you can use "motifs".

▪ Motifs are short repeated musical phrases. They can be rhythmic, melodic, chord progression patterns or all of these together. Motifs can be a couple of notes or several measures long.

Usually a Verse is about eight measures long. You need to use some repetition in these eight measures because if you don't, it'll be difficult for the listener to remember your song. That's why you'll want to write the Verse using motifs. It's useful for both parties: your listener will remember and enjoy your song more and it'll be easier to write a song since you only have to create motifs then repeat them.

The motifs don't have to stay exactly the same though. Especially if you repeated the motif twice. It would be boring to hear exactly the same pattern a third time in a section.

Contrast In Music

Contrast is the most important characteristic music, melodies, rhythm or any other aspect in a song can have. Contrast makes the listeners feel like they are on an emotional roller coaster ride. And that's our goal.

The different sections in your songs should contrast (i.e. Verses, Pre-Choruses, Choruses and the Bridge). You can (and usually should) also include smaller contrasting parts within the sections.

How to Write Music that Creates Contrast BETWEEN Sections

Use one, two or all three. Just make sure that all sections are easily distinguishable.

✓ Melodic contrast: e.g. the Chorus should be higher than the Verse and Pre-Chorus.

✓ Harmonic contrast: vary the chord progressions between song sections. Begin each section with a different chord to make it more interesting.

✓ Rhythmic contrast: vary the rhythm between the different sections of the song.

How to Write Music that Creates Contrast WITHIN Sections

✓ Melodic contrast: when you repeat a motif, make a little change in it - add or leave out a couple of notes from the beginning or end of the motif or change a couple of notes in it.
✓ Harmonic contrast: vary the chord progressions while repeating the same melody.
✓ Rhythmic contrast: vary the rhythm a little within the sections.

How to Write Music to Lyrics

The combination of music and lyrics together is called prosody. It's the art of putting them together so they sound good and natural to your listeners. Being aware of its rules and techniques is an essential part of learning how to part music.


How To Write Music to Lyrics
Read the lyrics out loud. As if you were saying it to a friend. Notice your natural intonation and the stresses, i.e. "the music of your lyrics". Then start singing the lyrics in a conversational style, as if you were saying it to somebody. Put the higher-lower tones to the places when they naturally occurred in your speech but exaggerate them. There you go, now you have a basic melody for your lyrics. At this point, all you need to do is make some changes because now it probably sounds quite predictable.


• Stress the hook even more - give it higher notes
• Make some parts faster or slower
• Include short breaks (you can do this even in the middle of the line if it makes sense)
• Start a line later or earlier
• Add some words to a line


What Problems Can Come Up During This Process?
▪ You stress a word in the wrong place or have too many syllables in a motif which makes it difficult or impossible to understand the lyrics. It's called "word warping". E.g. instead of "INteresting" you stress it on the second syllable and it sounds like "inTRESting". In some cases a stress change might even mean something completely different. What's the solution? Words and syllables that are more important than others should get a higher or longer note (or both). You can also put important words and syllables on strong beats, e.g. if it's a song in a 4/4 time (which is the most common), the first and the third beats are strong, the second and fourth beats are weaker.


▪ You place musical breaks between the phrases where it isn't necessary or natural. It might even change the meaning. What's the solution? When you're not sure if it sounds good or makes sense, read the lyrics out loud including the pause. If it makes sense that way, it's okay. If it doesn't, place the pause somewhere else. There is a saying: "when in doubt, read it out loud".


▪ The rhythm of the motifs do not go with the rhymes in the lyrics. What can you do? Change one or the other until they match :)

How to Write Music

How to Write Music for Verses and Choruses
Verse lyrics explain the scene therefore they are usually more conversational, more limited in range. Choruses summarize the emotion the song is about so they are more intense, exaggerated with interval jumps. The different sections of music should be clearly defined.


How to Write Music for Pre-Choruses
The goal of a Pre-Chorus is to connect the Verse & Chorus and gradually intensify the emotion before the fulfillment that the Chorus gives you starts. There are some different ways to do this. Many successful songs contain a rising musical phrase, some even a scale. Or you can make the music faster than in the Verse.


How to Write Music for the Bridge
The Bridge is the most emotionally intense part of songs. This is where you summarize the way you feel and maybe offer a punchline. You should express its importance musically too. Make sure that the Bridge contrasts the other parts of the song in pitch, dynamics, pace or all of these. You can also surprise your listeners if you complement a dynamic Chorus with a slow, soft Bridge.


How to Create Repetition
We've talked about repetition and its importance. But to master how to write music, you must know how to achieve the perfect balance of new and repetition:


In her book Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting Robin Frederick mentions the "Vacation Rule": "Do it, do it again, go away, then come back" that's often used in Verses.


What it means is that, for example, you use a motif (short musical phrase) in the first line, repeat it in the second, use a new melody in the third and go back to the first motif in the fourth line. Of course, you don't have to stick to these four lines all the time. You might have more lines and you can use a different pattern of repetition. But it's a basic guideline that's worth considering. Listeners know and like this kind of structure. It makes them feel that although it's a new song they already know it. That's what most hit songs do.


Mood
These are the two most important ways you can express mood through music:


✓ harmony and chord progressions (happy: major chords, ascending bass lines - sad: minor chords, descending bass lines)
✓ tempo (happy: usually up-tempo or mid-tempo - sad: can be fast or slow)


More on advice on Writing Music First


You might also consider music writing online. Nowadays there are great opportunities to collaborate through the internet, or write music notation, beats and backing tracks online.


If you'd like to study how to write music in even more detail, there are two books I recommend. The first one is Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting by Robin Frederick. There are several "shortcuts" in her book and they include several pieces of advice on how to write music. If you consider some of your favorite songs, you'll see how right Robin is about how to write music for hit songs.The other book I suggest getting is Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook by Karl Coryat. You don't need to be frustrated to benefit from this book of course :) What you'll read is several techniques and games to inspire your music writing and help to come up with melodies you didn't think you could write. It also helps you with lyrics.


Chords that sound good together
Chord Substitutions 

Music Writing Online

Music writing online is a topic that a lot of budding songwriters have asked me about. The questions I get are usually one of these:

1. Is there a way to do music writing online? I'd like an online service that lets me write then print music notation. And also access music I write from any computer and enable me to share my work with anyone and… :)

2. Is there a website where I can write beats and background tracks?

3. Also, is there a website where I can collaborate with other songwriters completely online?

Fortunately, there are more and more great online services that will help you do these online nowadays. I guess Noteflight is the best answer to the first question, JamStudio to the second and SongWritingFever to the third. It's worth checking out all of these sites though!

• Noteflight - online music notation. You can write, print, share or even hear you music right in your browser. It's a great free service and there are also paid premium options for quite low prices.

• Sheet Music Editor - it's a drag and drop sheet music editor. Your sheet music will end up looking less professional than in Noteflight (since you manually move the notes in Sheet Music Editor) but it's still a nice free service.

• JamStudio - it's another free online service that let's you create music beats. You can write songs, backing tracks, karaoke songs, demos and even mix them.

• SongWritingFever - another really interesting free service. You can write songs with other songwriters online. You may post your work (e.g. lyrics or music) and other songwriters will help you complete your song. It's a really interesting, innovative idea in my opinion!

Songwriting online is getting more and more popular even among those who "don't need it" because they live in a major music center. It's opened a lot of doors for everybody. This is new method is definitely something worth trying!


More on How To Write Music 

Songwriting Ideas

Songwriting ideas are easy to find. Even if you have no inspiration, intentionally looking for themes or phrases that help you get started is something you can always do. And fortunately, there are several ways you can do this.


✓ There are some books written especially for this purpose. In The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook by Karl Coryat and Nicholas Dobson you will find several techniques for finding ideas and getting creative. If you use some of the many tricks listed in this book, soon you'll be able to summon your inspiration on command. There are methods for getting inspired to write music and lyrics too. What I did was write each of the techniques on a 3 by 5 card then when I needed some inspiration, I randomly chose one of the cards and started working with the help of the technique on it. It has never failed to work for me.


✓ Another great resource for songwriting ideas is The Songwriters Idea Book by Sheila Davis. There are 40 songwriting strategies in this book. Each one is guaranteed to spark your imagination. There is also some information about personality types, brain function and writing styles. I found this part of the book incredibly useful because understanding ourselves and our working style is essential if we want to get better at our craft and stay productive.

✓ Sometimes a good title can ignite our creativity and lead to a complete song in a short time. You can find great titles by reading magazines (especially tabloids), reading some book titles in a bookstore, watching films and TV shows, etc. And sometimes song titles just come to you out of nowhere (and you should write them down as soon as they come!). But if you feel you really can't come up with anything, try the Song Name Creator. This is a great website where you just have to push a button and you immediately get a list of song titles. They are randomly created of course. You would think you just can't get really great titles from a machine but you'll be surprised. There are always at least 1 or 2 incredible titles out of 10.

✓ Still have no idea what to write about? Need some inspiring songwriting ideas? Just think of other, successful songs and what they are about. Let me help you. 99% of them are about love. But love isn't simple, which makes it easy for all of you to write something unique in connection with this concept. Some angles you might consider:

• Wanting to be loved
• Finding love
• Hitting on a girl/boy
• Partying
• Being in love
• Jealousy
• Suspicion
• Breaking up
• Love disappearing from the relationship
• Cheating
• Leaving your lover
• Remembering how it all started
• Your love is everlasting
• Thoughts about the meaning of love

✓ And there are some (usually less commercial) but just as interesting topics for you to write about:

• Religious themes
• Problems in society
• The nature of life
• Thoughts about yourself and your feelings
• Family
• Friends
• Places
• Reaching your goals
• Being yourself no matter what

✓ Another one of the best songwriting ideas is to do songwriting on assignment. There are some A&R companies and music libraries who release a list of the types of songs they need. For example: "We need a song about flirting a la Rihanna's What's My Name. The demo should be broadcast quality. The deadline is…". Sometimes it's much easier to write songs if you know what you would like the end-result to be - exactly or more or less exactly.


✓ Increasing your songwriting creativity is really easy. You just have to find the right methods and resources to find the best route. However, I don't want to burst any bubbles but usually it's not like you get some divine inspiration and start working but the other way around. Sit down to work and the inspiration will eventually come. And the more often you do this, the faster it comes.

Free Songwriting Tips

These free songwriting tips might seem small to you but they are powerful. Little changes in your writing habits can make a huge difference in your results.

First of all, it's very important what kind of tools you use. Songwriting tools can rage from a pen and a sheet of paper to the most sophisticated software and filing system money can buy.

Think about your working style.

• Are you the kind of person who likes everything in order to start working productively?
• Are you the type who needs clutter to get creative?
• Do you like working in your home?
• Do you sometimes start scribbling down or recording ideas in the middle of the day?
• Have you written so many songs that it's difficult for you to remember them?
• Do you prefer old-school or modern equipment?

These are some of the questions you'll need to answer. This way it's easier to find out what tools you'll need to make your songwriting process as smooth as possible.

There are plenty of ways to improve your songwriting. Some of the ideas to improve your songs aren't for you. Since we have different personalities, obviously, not all of the tips for songwriting are useful for you. Choose the ones that you feel the closest to you. You could, for example, start one of them today, and a second one next month.

Think about it, if you stay with this schedule, you improve your craft 12 different ways in a year. That's something less than 1% of songwriters do.
And once your song is finally finished and you're sure it's a potential hit, you should make a songwriting demo. These days it's simpler and cheaper to do than ever. Not cheap but cheaper :)

You may feel overwhelmed at first. It's sometimes difficult to decide how to start implementing these free songwriting tips. I suggest starting with reading a book or two about songwriting. Books are easy to get, easy to read, easy to enjoy. Have fun!