next2friendsblog.com

Lyrics are different than poetry in one fundamental way: They are meant to be heard, not seen. Poets have an advantage over lyric writers in that their words stay in one place, on the page. It’s on the page, held and looked at and read that they have their impact. But lyrics have no physical form like poetry in that they are meant to be sung or spoken. So what can lyric writers do to have an impact on people? The answer is rhyme. Rhyming words are the signposts of lyrics. Repeated sounds are musical to the ear. Just think of your favorite song. If nothing repeated it wouldn’t be music, from the melody lines right down to the drum groove. The same is true of lyrics. Repeated sounds make music. And that’s all rhyming is: Repeated sounds. Let’s dig deeper.

Perfect Rhyme

Now, there is nothing really perfect about “perfect rhyme”, in fact it often is a bit boring and cliché, but it is just one type of rhyme that lyric writers work with. A perfect rhyme is one in which both the vowel sound and the ending consonant are the same. This is easier to show through example than it is to explain:

Take the words “beer” and “near”.

They start with different letters but end sounding exactly the same. They are perfect rhymes.

Family Rhyme

Now it begins to get a little more interesting. Consonant sounds can be said to belong to “families,” grouped together with other consonant sounds that are similar but not exactly alike. Rhymes using these sounds can be said to be family rhymes. Some people call these, Slant, Near, or Sprung Rhyme.

Here is a chart of consonants that are part of the same family:

So here are some examples of family rhyme for the plosives:

blood/bug/tub/struck/putt/cup

Here’s some for the fricatives:

grease/beef/sheath/screech/grieve/breath/breeze

And last, some family rhymes for the nasals:

some/among/bun

Don’t be scared by the terms. Voiced simply means you have to make a sound with your voice to make the sound as in “b” or “v”. Unvoiced does not involve making a noise, it’s just air being stopped or modified. Say the ”p” sound. Did you have to make any noise in your throat? You may have but you didn’t have to. The “p” sound is created by obstructing your airflow with your lips and letting the air pop out, that’s all. Whereas the “b” sound uses the exact same obstruction with your lips but adds a little grunt as you do it. Hence the difference between voiced and unvoiced. One actually uses your voice and one doesn’t.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck rhyming!

Hans Erik
Content Marketing Director
Hans@Next2Friends.com
www.Next2Friends.com