SONGWRITING 1Week 5

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of today’s session, students will be able to:

1. Utilise various rhyming techniques to evoke emotion in a song

2. Find family rhymes

3. Define the difference between additive/subtractive rhymes

4. Define the difference between assonance/consonance rhymes

REVIEW

➤ Five elements of structure:

➤ number of lines

➤ length of lines

➤ rhythm of lines

➤ rhyme scheme

➤ rhyme type

Stable Unstable

Stable Unstable

➤ Even number of lines ➤ Lines of equal length

➤ Odd number of lines ➤ Lines of unequal length

PROSODY!

RHYMING TECHNIQUES

➤ End-line rhymes create a roadmap for your ear

➤ The rhyme scheme creates expectations for the listener that you can either resolve, or not.

Stable Unstable

RHYME THESE LINES:

Once upon a time

There lived a rusty __________

Susan had a little pig

It liked to eat, it liked to _________

Here we go round the mulberry bush

Looking for berries to turn into ______

RHYME SCHEME

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Catch a tiger by the toe

Mary had a little lamb

Fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go

a

a

x

b

x

b

Rhyme scheme tells us when to stop and when to go:

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Goes the little song

Stable Unstable

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

Goes the little song

Catch a tiger by the toe

And drop him at the gong

Stable Unstable

Mary had a little lamb

Fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

She sold the lamb to pay the rent

Stable Unstable

ACTIVITY

➤ Take this verse as a starting point

➤ Adjust the verse to have the following rhyme schemes:

a

a

a

a

a

b

b

a

x

x

a

a

x

x

x

x

➤ Tips: Look at the verse in context: what’s the song about?

➤ Stable or unstable?

Every night I’m lying in bed

Holding you close in my dreams

Thinkin’ about all the things that you said

And comin’ apart at the seams

(Eagles - Best of my love)

➤ Perfect rhyme

➤ Family rhyme

➤ Additive rhyme

➤ Subtractive rhyme

➤ Assonance rhyme

➤ Consonance rhyme

PERFECT RHYME

1. The syllable’s vowel sounds are the same

2. The consonant sounds after the vowels (if any) are the same.

3. The sound before the vowel sounds are different

A lovely day to have some fun

Hit the beach, get some sun

FAMILY RHYME

1. The syllables vowel sounds are the same

2. The consonant sounds after the vowels belong to the same phonetic families

3. The sounds before the vowels are different

A lovely day to have some fun

Hit the beach, bring the rum

RHYME TYPE

ADDITIVE

1. The syllables vowel sounds are the same

2. One of the syllables add extra consonants after the vowel

3. The sounds before the vowels are different

A lovely day to have some fun

Hit the beach, get some lunch

SUBTRACTIVE

1. The syllables vowel sounds are the same

2. One of the syllables add extra consonants after the vowel

3. The sounds before the vowels are different

Hit the beach and get some lunch

A lovely day, have some fun

ASSONANCE

1. The syllables vowel sounds are the same

2. The consonants after the vowels are unrelated

3. The sounds before the vowels are different

A lovely day to have some fun

Hit the beach, fall in love

CONSONANCE

1. The syllables vowel sounds are unrelated

2. The consonants after the vowels are the same

3. The sounds before the vowels are different

A lovely day to have some fun

Hit the beach, bring it on

Stable Unstable

➤ Expanding your rhyming possibilities accomplishes three things:

➤ It increases the possibility of saying what you mean (and still rhyming) greatly

➤ It guarantees the rhyme will not be predictable or cliche

➤ It allows you control how stable or unstable the rhyme feels, allowing you to support or create emotion through rhyme

ACTIVITY

➤ Choose a couplet or verse from a song that you like

➤ Make sure it has a perfect rhyme in the rhyme scheme

➤ Alter this rhyme - change to family, additive/subtractive, assonance/consonance.

SONG 2

➤ Requirements

➤ Draft due week 8