Rhyming (continued)
Different Types of Rhymes
Perfect Rhymes – The definition of perfect rhyme is pretty obvious, it’s perfect! There are some examples: good/would, drive/five, love/dove. Some feel that perfect rhymes are what we should all strive for is songwriters especially those on Broadway. I don’t feel that strongly about it. I feel that you should chose a rhyme that best serves the song.
Slant rhymes — Also called imperfect rhymes, oblique rhymes, or near rhymes. Examples of these would be: light/life, scenery/brevity, town/ground. While some songwriters looked down upon slant rhymes. One prominent songwriter that I’ve cowritten with prefers them. Slant rhymes are often used in pop music, and in my opinion, often enhance it by surprising the listener.
Masculine rhymes – A masculine rhyme is either a single syllable word or one in which the last syllable rhymes. Here are some examples: institution/deduction, sideways/today, socialism/individualism. Another name for masculine rhyme is “one rhyme.”
Feminine rhymes – A feminine rhyme is a two syllable rhyme with the accent falling on the first syllable. Some examples of this would be: diver/fiver, single/tingle, marriage/carriage. Another word for feminine rhyme is “two rhyme”.
Internal rhyme — These are rhymes that occur inside a line rather than at the end.
Open rhyme– an open rhyme is one that doesn’t end in a closed consonant, but rather in a vowel or a soft or silent consonant. These are especially useful in lines that need to be held while sung. Some examples would include: hay/say, too/you and go/no
Closed Rhymes — these are rhymes that end in the following letters: b, d, k, p, q and t. What these letters have in common is that when sung and make us close our mouths. They are also called ‘stopped rhymes’.
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Jim Bruno's Songwriting Class 