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SONGWRITERS WORKSHOPNGWRITERS WORKSHOP J
Jane Shieldsane Shields

Finding your words

Show what you mean - don’t tell. “I’m so sad, I just feel together with alliteration and consonance serves as
bad, my girlfriend left me today.”....Not the best way one of the building blocks of verse. Assonance does
to express your words. This is a fast way to make your not have to be a rhyme; the identity of which depends
song forgettable. merely on sequence of both vowel and consonant
sounds
The best lyrics, like any good writing, get us to feel
emotions because they capture that experience, not Consonance refers to repetitive sounds produced by
because they tell us what to feel. Try to write about consonants within a sentence or phrase. This repetition
what it’s like to feel something, instead of just telling often takes place in quick succession, such as in pitter-
your audience. A good example of an alternative to this patter. It is classified as a literary term used in both
“I’m so sad” thing is from Damien Rice’s song The poetry as well as prose. For instance, the words chuckle,
Animals Were Gone: “At night I dream without you, fickle, and kick are consonant with one and other due
and hope I don’t wake up; ‘Cause waking up without to the existence of common interior consonant sounds
you is like drinking from an empty cup”. Another example, Macklemore’s Same Love uses many
examples of assonance rhymes and other non-standard
Brainstorm some ideas so you can see what you have rhymes: lately/daily, anointed/poisoned, important/
and choose or even build off of an existing idea. It is support it, etc
probably best if you have an inspiration.
Pararhyme is a half-rhyme in which there is vowel
https://www.rhymezone.com/ - Check this out if you’ve variation within the same consonant pattern.
never used it before. It’s a great aid to rhyme and more. “Strange Meeting” (1918) is a poem by Wilfred Owen,
a war poet who used pararhyme in his writing. Here is
Rhyme within reason. You know when you see a song a part of the poem that shows pararhyme:
written by someone who isn’t very good, and the lyrics Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
just come off as cheesy? This is often because they Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
rhyme too much or very badly. Aim to avoid having With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
all of your lines rhyme, and look for rhymes that you Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
do use that look natural. Don’t put weird phrases or And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,
words into your lyrics just to get a rhyme. Really, your By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
lyrics don’t have to rhyme at all. Plenty of songs have
non-rhyming lyrics. Alliteration and rhyme
Alliteration refers to words that share the same initial
Good: “You make me feel real again/You just have to sound, like Peter Piper, Bugs Bunny, or Mickey Mouse.
smile and I know/The sun’s coming out” Rhyme refers to words that share the same final sound
Bad: “I really love my cat/My cat is where it’s at/Her tail or sound sequence, like me and tree or tap and cap, or
looks like a bat/She’s getting kind of fat...” fun and sun. Rhyme is actually quite complex and
difficult to explain precisely, so you’ll want to keep
Of course, there are some genre considerations. Rap it pretty simple, at least at first. Stick to one-syllable
often has far more rhyming than other genres, but even words with a simple sound structure, at least at first.
then it’s not required. It’s just stylistic. Once you’ve mastered this try longer words.

Try non standard rhyme schemes. If you do want to Avoid cliches. You want to avoid cliches because these
make your rhyming stand out a bit more and avoid keep your songs from standing out and don’t show off
sounding cheesy, you can experiment with different your unique talent. If you have someone down on their
styles of rhyming. Did you know that there’s more ways knees (especially if they’re begging please), someone
to rhyme? Explore assonance/consonance rhymes, is walking down the street (either it’s a girl or it’s you,
pararhyme, alliteration, forced rhymes, etc. either way, it’s been done), or you just have to ask
“why can’t you see”, you probably need to go back to
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create the drawing board. Most importantly, enjoy what you
internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and write!!!

SONGWRITERS WORKSHOP 05