The Mistake All Beginner Songwriters Make (and how to avoid it!)

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  • Опубліковано 15 кві 2023
  • There is ONE very important way that pro songwriters know how to write lyrics that beginners get wrong. I reveal what it is, show examples from chart-whopping Taylor Swift and Harry Styles songs, and show 2 free resources that will help you write great lyrics.
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    ABOUT KEPPIE
    Hi I'm Keppie! I'm a professional songwriter, and songwriting teacher. I've been teaching song and lyric writing for over 10 years now for some of the best contemporary music colleges in the world- Berklee Online, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's Open Academy, as well as for the Australian College of the Arts. At other times, I've taught for the Australian Institute of Music, as well as the LA School of Songwriting.
    My goal is to help people write better songs! My experience in the classroom, with thousands of students at this point (many going on to find careers and success in music), is that your songwriting, like all things, can get better with meaningful, deliberate practice. My intention is to share the skills, knowledge, information, and ideas that I've gathered with anyone who wants to improve their songwriting.
    Keppie's music is here:
    www.keppiecouttsmusic.com/music

КОМЕНТАРІ • 684

  • @olivarionline
    @olivarionline Рік тому +327

    These days I simply do it the other way round. I write whatever I have on my mind without thinking about neither the song, rhymes, meters nor structures. I write sentences, lines, phrases, words, paragraphs, quotes and sometimes I even paste parts or articles or interviews or anything related to the topic/theme I'm exploring. After I've written everything that I have on my mind I start looking for phrases from what I wrote that might be the title or the chorus and see what internal rhythm they have that can give to the song. And then move on from there - a kind of jigsaw puzzle with whatever I have - sometimes I add more + end up not using half the things I wrote (but still useful to sort ideas and not forget stuff). I have pages of these info dumps that seem like good ideas but haven't managed to turn into songs yet 😂 I leave them for when I'm not feeling inspired to come up with something completely new.
    Anyway well done for this video and channel - always very resourceful and helpful.

    • @olivarionline
      @olivarionline Рік тому +3

      @Meeps music that's great - didn't know it about Peter Gabriel

    • @jasoncabral8732
      @jasoncabral8732 Рік тому +9

      Dude!!! You have to finish!! Sounds like a rad process you have going. I swear a few simple steps, a few precious minutes from crystalline glory. Go man go!! Write motherfucker (said with genuine affection 🤩

    • @justincase2600
      @justincase2600 Рік тому +8

      it's called destination writing. It's a great approach and your songs will never sound stale or forced.

    • @MegaMinecraftluver
      @MegaMinecraftluver Рік тому +2

      when does the music come in?

    • @jasoncabral8732
      @jasoncabral8732 Рік тому

      @@MegaMinecraftluver yes!!!

  • @jedramos6518
    @jedramos6518 Рік тому +70

    Direct rhyme is not wrong. It just limits yourself in the long run. There are so many other possibilities. Song lyrics do not have to rhyme at all.

    • @ledaswan5990
      @ledaswan5990 7 місяців тому +3

      Exactly. These rules and regulations are suspect

    • @danroberts9050
      @danroberts9050 6 місяців тому

      Great example:
      Like father like son
      Not flesh nor fish nor bone
      A red rag hangs from an open mouth
      Alive at both ends but a little dead in the middle
      A tumbling and a bumbling he will go
      All the King's horses and all the King's men
      Could never put a smile on that face
      He's a sly one, he's a shy one, wouldn't you be too?
      Scared to be left all on his own
      He hasn't a, hasn't a friend to play with the ugly duckling
      The pressure on, the bubble will burst before our eyes
      All the while in perfect time
      His tears are falling on the ground
      But if you don't stand up, you don't stand a chance ey ey ey yeh-yeh
      You don't stand a chance
      Go a little faster now, you might get there in time
      Mirror mirror on the wall
      His heart was broken long before he ever came to you
      Stop your tears from falling
      The trail they leave is very clear for all to see at night
      All to see at night
      They come at night
      In season, out of season
      Oh, what's the difference when you don't know the reason
      In one hand bread, the other a stone
      The hunter enters the forest
      All are not huntsmen who blow the huntsman's horn and by the look of this one
      You've not got much to fear
      Here I am, I'm very fierce and frightening
      I come to match my skill to yours
      Now listen here, listen to me, don't you run away now
      I am a friend, I'd really like to play with you
      Making noises my little furry friend would make
      I'll trick him, then I'll kick him into my sack
      You better watch out, you better watch out
      I've got you, I've got you
      You'll never get away
      Walking home that night
      The sack across my back the sound of sobbing on my shoulder
      When suddenly it stopped
      I opened up the sack, all that I had
      A pool of bubbles and tears, just a pool of tears
      Just a pool of tears
      All in all you are a very dying race
      Placing trust upon a cruel world
      You never had the things you thought you should've had
      And you'll not get them now
      And all the while in perfect time
      Your tears are falling on the ground

    • @williamk6605
      @williamk6605 4 місяці тому +1

      If you want commercial success, then song lyrics need to rhyme.

    • @danroberts9050
      @danroberts9050 4 місяці тому +2

      @@williamk6605 Especially if it's going to be a song designed to appeal to the simple minded masses. You're right.

  • @liquidsolids9415
    @liquidsolids9415 Рік тому +74

    Since you asked for examples - "Baba O'Riley" by The Who rhymes "fields" with "meals", and "living" with "forgiven" (with a perfect rhyme in there as well - "fight" and "right"):
    "Out here in the fields
    I fight for my meals
    I get my back into my living
    I don't need to fight
    To prove I'm right
    I don't need to be forgiven"

    • @screamingpirhana
      @screamingpirhana Рік тому +3

      These rhymes work because they feel like perfect rhymes, or it's not that noticeable. Living works with forgiven because there's a whole other line before that rhyme comes up. That's good craftsmanship.

    • @liquidsolids9415
      @liquidsolids9415 Рік тому +1

      @@screamingpirhana Couldn't agree more. Pete Townshend knows what he's doing!

    • @kphoria1009
      @kphoria1009 5 місяців тому

      @@screamingpirhanathat’s the whole point of slant rhyming

  • @htws
    @htws  Рік тому +142

    Hi folks! I am, quite frankly, loving the controversy that this little video has sparked! The passion!
    There have been a few comments here referencing Sondheim and The Beatles etc, so a little more context might help quell concerns that I am relegating the great writers of the canon to beginner status...Perfect rhyming was absolutely the bread and butter of popular songwriting as it emerged in the Tin Pan Alley era, and up until the late 50s, or even early 60s. Essentially, the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s diversified not only style but expression and taste, and we bare that legacy today. Songs that rely on perfect rhyme, TODAY (as in, in our contemporary era), will sound like a call-back to an older era. It's not about good or bad, really - it's all about effect. If that is the effect you want - go for it. But a quick scan of Billboard charts in almost all genres where lyrics matter from the past 20 years will reveal a different trend. I have found, in my 13 years of teaching at universities, that beginner songwriters tend to default more strongly to that way of writing, possibly (and I suspect) because when we are explicitly taught rhyming during language acquisition (ie early childhood and literacy development years), we are taught perfect rhyming. But our EARS (and subconscious perception) can easily perceive much more subtle and complex rhyme, no problem. Developing as a lyric writer is about tapping into that knowledge, making the implicit explicit. The intended audience of this video is beginner songwriters starting out TODAY, wanting to build a career as a contemporary artist or songwriter, not a critique of songs of the past. Thanks for your all comments, thoughts, and insights. Happy writing!

    • @benheneghan8621
      @benheneghan8621 Рік тому +2

      My ears, by the time I was ten, detected assonance perfectly easily, and not subconsciously. I knew it was a would-be rhyme where the vowels were the same but not the final consonants. It's not a mystery, but (in my book) it's lame craftsmanship.

    • @Oleg_K.
      @Oleg_K. Рік тому +8

      You do provide useful tips along with an interesting perspective on slant vs. perfect rhymes but I think you fail to make the point clearly enough that perfect rhymes are, in fact, something to strive for. The level of agency with language needed for effectively and artistically using perfect rhymes is far far higher than the one needed for creating slant rhymes. And, if used purposely and properly, every piece of rhymed writing would have a greater effect on the listener if the rhymes are, in fact, perfect rather than slant rhymes.
      The difference in the effect created is, you rightly point out, important to bear in mind, especially if the trends in popular music clearly prefer one over the other, however, this has less to do with the listeners flocking towards the specific qualities of slant rhymes and more to do with the low barrier for entry for today's lyric writers and their diminished ability to find and utilize perfect rhymes.
      People listen to what is given.
      And if that's loosely connected, cliché ridden, rhymezoned to hell and back, poorly written nonsense - then that's what people listen to.
      Write what ever kind of stuff you want, but have your paradigm set correctly - perfect rhymes is the ideal you strive for, the rest is what you do for effect or when you can't find your way to the ideal.

    • @grantlong5540
      @grantlong5540 Рік тому +7

      Jimmy Webb’s greatest regret, rhyming time and line. I read his book, Tunesmith, about 15 years ago & still refer to it. I bought Clement Wood’s Complete Rhyming Dictionary because Jimmy recommended it. Perfect rhymes are so much harder to write. I don’t think they sound anachronistic if the song is actually good.

    • @michellemonet4358
      @michellemonet4358 Рік тому +2

      Thanks.
      .Sondheim...my favorite composer not only had amazinf and clever.lyrics his tunes were always memorable.

    • @marcbelanger2817
      @marcbelanger2817 Рік тому +1

      Another factor in favour of imperfect rhymes: English is a rhyme-poor language compared to, say, French or Spanish. So English-language songwriters by necessity have over the decades improvised and stretched the rhyme possibilities of the language.

  • @beatfrombrain
    @beatfrombrain Рік тому +60

    Yesterday
    All my troubles seemed so far away
    Now it looks as though it's here to stay
    Oh I believe in yesterday
    Here I stand
    Head in hand
    Turn my face to the wall
    If she's gone
    I can't go on
    Feeling two foot small
    Lennon and McCartney would like to have a word

    • @themacocko6311
      @themacocko6311 Рік тому +6

      I no longer write anymore but sometimes I wonder if they created this channel to thin out the compilation. They say a lot (not all) of things that goes against what professional writing was in my day.

    • @MickPosch
      @MickPosch Рік тому +35

      Yeah, but what about:
      Blackbird singing in the dead of night
      Take these broken wings and learn to fly
      All your life
      You were only waiting for this moment to arise

    • @cboisandlin9601
      @cboisandlin9601 Рік тому +1

      @@themacocko6311 compilation?

    • @thewrens_
      @thewrens_ Рік тому +2

      as with most things, the best always break the rules so idk

    • @hplovecraft1402
      @hplovecraft1402 Рік тому +1

      @@cboisandlin9601 Only a guess but i suspect the word was meant to be Competition .
      Maybe a long compilation of competitors that need thinning out :)

  • @stevengrantofthegiftshop1549
    @stevengrantofthegiftshop1549 Рік тому +24

    Beautifully explained! I've always had trouble writing lyrics, but now I feel a sudden surge of confidence, let's hope it actually lasts! Thank you!

  • @bangpow00
    @bangpow00 Рік тому +24

    Oh, it makes great sense to rhyme the vowel. Especially since we are emphasizing vowels when we sing, not so much the consonants. And yet it hadn't fully occurred to me until you talked about it. Thank you!

  • @dannybonsai7102
    @dannybonsai7102 11 місяців тому +9

    Heart of Glass has the exact example you mention.
    "Once had love, and it was divine,
    Soon turned out, I was losin' my mind."

  • @irvyne6111
    @irvyne6111 Рік тому +102

    A lyric from the show "Something Rotten" popped into my head. It always makes me laugh:
    "Ohhhhh, every time I hear a perfect rhyme I get all tingly,
    Because I knoooowww, that to write a perfect rhyme is not an easy... thingly..." 😂

  • @rainblaze.
    @rainblaze. 10 місяців тому +7

    One of my favorite couplets is ~
    "I read some Byron, shelly, and keats
    Recited it all for a hip hop beat
    I'm having trouble saying what i mean
    With dead poets and drum machines "

  • @MrMikomi
    @MrMikomi Рік тому +71

    This is great advice and thanks so much for it. I think though that near-rhymes and even non-rhymes are just what is currently in fashion, and conversely perfect rhymes are out of fashion and sometimes seen as clichéd (especially the obvious/overused ones). If we go back a few decades anything other than perfect rhymes was largely frowned upon and seen as lazy or inept songwriting.

    • @htws
      @htws  Рік тому +14

      So aptly put. Thanks for that (and please see the pinned comment above)!

    • @officialWWM
      @officialWWM Рік тому +6

      @@htws there is no pinned comment 🤔

    • @MichaelJohnson-composer
      @MichaelJohnson-composer Рік тому +1

      I’m not sure about that. Bands like The Magnetic Fields and The Divine Comedy use straight rhymes and their songs are anything but amateur.

    • @ledaswan5990
      @ledaswan5990 7 місяців тому +1

      @@MichaelJohnson-composerThere’s no one way of writing a song

    • @jibberism9910
      @jibberism9910 5 місяців тому

      My current and first "song" needs to rhyme to keep it all together. Vocals are quite detached, robot like. They somewhat follow the melody, but the timing is quite loose. So if it doesn't rhyme it would be hard to figure out where we are.
      Probably bad writing, lol.

  • @countrymonkOSB
    @countrymonkOSB Рік тому +17

    Sondheim would have vehemently disagreed with this. 🤔He was a very strong believer in the importance of "perfect" rhymes and says he never used rhymes that weren't so. Of course, he was a genius and a purist and wrote for musical theater, not popular music. In any case, thanks for this great video. I'd like to recommend a book I use for finding rhymes, "Surprising Rhymes" by Brian Oliver. It's inexpensive and very easy to use. It also focuses on slant rhymes and not so much on perfect rhymes

    • @kirinrex
      @kirinrex Рік тому +4

      I love Stephen Sondheim and agree he was a genius. He offset his perfect rhymes with complex rhyme schemes, and really understood meter, and didn't try to rhyme in simple couplets or quatrains (sorry, more familiar with poetry and know next to nothing about music, so I apologize if there's a word for these in music), and so even though he used mostly perfect rhymes, the listener doesn't really feel exhausted by it. As well, he had a superb vocabulary! I think using only perfect rhymes is very difficult to do well.

  • @fionagmarshall6931
    @fionagmarshall6931 Рік тому +12

    game changer, thank you. I spend more time creating poetry but this really resonates especially the ideas about focusing on the last strongly stressed syllable

  • @henningbokelmann
    @henningbokelmann Рік тому +15

    The content of this channel is fantastic. Super inspiring!

  • @jibberism9910
    @jibberism9910 5 місяців тому +2

    I wrote my first song(ish) over the past days. Never learned music, so had a few attempts at grasping just enough to work from key and come up with a very simple chord progression.
    Glad I finally tried this, as I now have a base to work from. And needless to say, working this way suddenly opens all kinds of musical doors and gives you a basic understanding of what is out there, even if you don't really know the concepts, you can see them in the distance.
    So anyone who, like me, has zero musical background and finds themself going in circles... Go for it, and you will be thanking yourself for it. Learn about chord progressions, and take it from there. It's an easier way to learn than totally ground-up IMO, as it will bring you in contact with both the basics of what is a song, as well as the basics of what is a scale, etc. Really helped me make sense of the theory.

  • @Jazman342
    @Jazman342 Рік тому +15

    Thank you Thank you Thank you. Exactly what I've been searching for for the last 50 years or so. I've always has issues writing lyrics, while the music comes easily. Without checking, I suspect the only songs I've written that I'm really happy with have, unknown to me, followed these principles. One thing I always like is rhymes in the middle of a line rather than the all too common' last word'.

  • @thefuturist8864
    @thefuturist8864 9 місяців тому +3

    T.S. Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets’ includes a type of rhyme where syllable stresses rather than vowel sounds are repeated and a lot of song writers have used this as well, like Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) and Tori Amos.

  • @SunnyGuitarTutorials
    @SunnyGuitarTutorials Рік тому +2

    So simple, yet I never thought about rhyming the stressed vowel and not the last syllable. Super helpful, thank you!

  • @Curtis2Smith
    @Curtis2Smith Рік тому +4

    I've only just found you and only watched a few of your vids (this and the Beatles) but it feels like you're revealing awesome secrets that should've been obvious (especially since I thought I knew what a secondary dominant was) but somehow went right over my head. Thank you for making this outstanding information so clear.

  • @user-hf3qm3mu5t
    @user-hf3qm3mu5t 4 місяці тому +3

    Love this unpack, thankyou!

  • @Funkybassuk
    @Funkybassuk Рік тому +1

    This is my favourite youtube channel now. Such useful stuff!

  • @bird3124
    @bird3124 Рік тому +5

    I have always loved Jackson Browne’s near rhymes, especially in Doctor My Eyes where he rhymes world with unfurled: “ I have wandered through this world, and as each moment has unfurled, I’ve been waiting to awaken from this dream.” Also love how he snuck in the waiting/awaken near rhyme in the same thought.

    • @BareBohemianBeauty
      @BareBohemianBeauty 10 місяців тому

      I tend to naturally throw in rhymes in the middle of the sentence and I love it when it happens. It adds so much somehow!!

  • @robertrussell9336
    @robertrussell9336 Рік тому +4

    Extremely helpful , I find myself looking over all my lyrics!! Thank you so much.

  • @danieljackson763
    @danieljackson763 Рік тому +4

    Cowboy chord Dan here. Three chords, and the truth. With feeling, please! Thank you ❣️

  • @sashagames3160
    @sashagames3160 Рік тому +3

    I hiiiighly recommend Rhymewave as well. I prefer it over Rhymezone as I feel like it often gives more out of the box options and you can even insert some phrases, for instance "get out". Just an example, but yeah, I always used Rhymezone, but after a while it feels like you keep seeing the same words (duh! :P) and for some reason that felt different for me when using Rhymewave.
    But yeah, great video. That vowel-rhyme point you made is so important. I was already doing that, but you laid the process bare, so now I finally have the tools to explain people (outside of the music industry) who say it's only rhyming when the written word shares the most amount of letters with the word you wanna rhyme with, that that's not true.

  • @frankdion2174
    @frankdion2174 Рік тому +4

    Vowels are good, since you tend to hold the sound when you sing. I always start with the story I'm trying to tell and many of the words find me. Thank you for all you do to help writers.

  • @EllyValentini
    @EllyValentini Рік тому +44

    I love the way Taylor Swift and Imagine Dragons rhyme.
    They don’t just rhyme words but sometimes sentences, and those rhymes are often the opposite of the previous ones (i don’t even know if this makes sense lol).
    They’re able to evoke strong feeling with only a couple of words 😮
    I’m a beginner at best, and their songs are marvelous to pick apart 😊

    • @FairyRuins
      @FairyRuins 10 місяців тому +1

      Can you give me an example pls

    • @EllyValentini
      @EllyValentini 10 місяців тому +1

      @@FairyRuins For Imagine Dragons, Believer, Enemy and Bones.
      Say a lot with deep metaphors and the melodie’s are fire too.
      For Taylor, I love anti-hero.
      Each line hits hard then relate one before and manage to tell a story chronologically (🤯).
      Honestly, this all might be because I don’t have a lot of knowledge on this. So i’m easily impressed.
      But I love it either way 😄

    • @zalananevem
      @zalananevem 6 місяців тому +2

      @@EllyValentini i think you are not wrong at all. imagine dragons gets an undeserved amount of hate most of the time, i feel like. i get why some people call them corny and sometimes i feel it too, but i think their alternative pop/pop songwriting capabilities are top tier if they actually tap the right nerve while writing. no surprise they come out with a hit basically every year or so.. also believer's "note style" verses and the dynamics in that song are fire af.

  • @maseratifittipaldi
    @maseratifittipaldi Рік тому +5

    I stumbled upon this very informative article. I always thought songwriting comes straight from the heart without any technical expertise. One of my favourite songs hardly has any rhyme: "The way we were" . There are many others too. But I suppose it depends on what the motivation for songwriting is in each instance.

    • @themacocko6311
      @themacocko6311 Рік тому

      If you are writing for yourself, then no structure is fine. When writing for a market, then there are rules or guidelines. The cool thing is, that's what makes it fun and challenging. Playing within the rules of a game is what makes the game fun.

    • @ratatatuff
      @ratatatuff Рік тому

      Songwriting channels like this or the Berkeley courses are formulaic songwriting. You use their strategies it if you want to get a pop/country song that sounds like all the other bland and boring pop/country songs. It's sad but it sells.

  • @todddurbin9006
    @todddurbin9006 Рік тому +6

    Hmm. I would love to know what Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin or any of the Great American Songbook writers... or Broadway writers for that matter... would say about this "amateur mistake." The reality is perfect rhymes make a songwriter work HARDER at the craft of expressing an original sentiment than slant rhymes. And that's a GOOD thing. Imperfect rhymes are much easier and lead to lazy writing. For example, modern country music... all written by "pro writers" using the technique she is advocating above. Imperfect rhymes are absolutely NOT the "bread and butter of great lyric writing." In contrast, look at lyrics by Lorenz Hart or Oscar Hammerstein II, and then compare them to lyrics by Harry Styles. Then ask yourself which set of lyrics are better crafted. Renowned lyricists are who you should learn from, and then apply those principles to your own songs. That's what you should strive for.

    • @htws
      @htws  Рік тому

      Please see pinned comment at the top, Todd!

  • @ChowdMusic
    @ChowdMusic 6 місяців тому +2

    This was a real light-bulb moment for me. It's absolutely absurd that I didn't already know this, but I'm going to forgive myself for that and get back to writing. Thanks Keppie!

  • @mystikrebel1089
    @mystikrebel1089 Рік тому +4

    Brilliant advice again. Thanks Keppie

  • @chrisshollinrake6826
    @chrisshollinrake6826 10 місяців тому +2

    Love your work, I will definitely try these ideas out. Thank you.

  • @markchristopher420
    @markchristopher420 Рік тому +4

    Excellent advice, just superb! It makes for a more natural, conversational tone and relieves some of the stilted, rather rigid formatting & formulaic nature of far too many compositions. Well done! 😊

  • @brandonvas2508
    @brandonvas2508 11 місяців тому +2

    Thank you very much for this lovely kind hearted video. This video has been really helpful for me as a beginner and has changed my way of thinking and improved my song writing alot that to at the comfort of my home. Not many songwriters will share this tip. Made my day 💯❤️

  • @timball8429
    @timball8429 Рік тому +4

    Thank you, Keppie for this insight. It’s a great insight that has massively opened up my rhyme vocabulary. See you soon for the next song critique.

    • @guitaring1
      @guitaring1 Рік тому +2

      wait? there's a song critique option?

  • @happyguycmb2883
    @happyguycmb2883 Рік тому +1

    Watching this I recalled something poet Robert Frost said: "Writing unrhymed poetry is like playing tennis with the net down." That sentiment is in a lot of the commentary here.
    But poetry is not song lyrics. You recite and hear all the word sounds of a poetic line; but you sing the vowels in a lyric line. So you hear the not-quite-right in lines that end in "time" then "find". But when "time" and "find" are sung, the words "rhyme."
    Put another way: you don't sing the way you talk. So using imperfect rhymes takes advantage of that reality.

  • @someguyspage1809
    @someguyspage1809 Рік тому +3

    If perfect rhymes are "mistakes" that "beginners" make, then the vast pool of mistaken beginners includes Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb, Paul Simon, Gordon Lightfoot, et al.

  • @brucemillar
    @brucemillar Рік тому +1

    Great video and teaching style. Loved it! Thank you.😊

  • @lougeorge
    @lougeorge Рік тому +1

    This was gold, thank you so much!

  • @MrReasonabubble
    @MrReasonabubble Рік тому +3

    This was interesting!
    I have always sought perfect rhymes, and felt disappointed when I've had to "resort to" imperfect/ slant rhymes. I've only ever thought that perfect rhyming is undesirable or amateurish when it forces the writer to construct awkward or unlikely-sounding phrases for the sake of the rhyme.
    I'm still not wholly convinced that slant rhyming is _better_ - but I certainly feel as though you've given me permission to use it freely, so thank you! 🙂

    • @twezzo99
      @twezzo99 Рік тому

      To allow false rhymes in service of expression is fine by me. To call them better definitely isn´t. I can´t take that stance seriously. I believe great art is usually born out of restriction.

  • @mk00918
    @mk00918 Рік тому +2

    I expected songwriting and you teach us rhyming.

  • @thegreatriffs2552
    @thegreatriffs2552 Рік тому +1

    Brilliant channel. I've just stumbled across it and I'm very impressed.

  • @polmorgan3533
    @polmorgan3533 Рік тому +5

    I have a tune where all the lines rhyme with 'education', 'adulteration' etc. all the way through the entire song with just one rhyme. took me months to work out.

    • @TP-om8of
      @TP-om8of Рік тому

      There’s about a billion words that end in “-ation”.

  • @altonbay629
    @altonbay629 Рік тому +3

    Sounds like you're in the Pat Patterson school of Clement Wood's rhyming options.

  • @rockstarjazzcat
    @rockstarjazzcat Рік тому +2

    Happy to have stumbled upon your channel, Keppie Coutts! Thank you for sharing your work! Kind regards, Daniel

  • @pinna7258
    @pinna7258 8 місяців тому +1

    Thank you so much for this! This was a big help 👍🏾☺️

  • @chrisroberts-songsfromthel6299

    What a great tip, I've never heard that before. Thank you!

  • @chezdan9
    @chezdan9 Рік тому +1

    Yesterday
    All my troubles seemed so far away
    Now it looks as though they're here to stay
    Oh I believe in Yesterday

  • @lari_storyart
    @lari_storyart Рік тому +1

    Thanks for this content! Good notes to be with an eye open when writing lyrics!

  • @brightonmischief
    @brightonmischief Рік тому

    Thanks for this video! It’s a mistake I didn’t realise I was often making until now. Looking forward to putting it into practice!

  • @Luthiart
    @Luthiart Рік тому +2

    This video is very useful to me... I've always struggled at writing lyrics because I've always insisted on using perfect rhymes. I also have a tendency to fall into internal rhyming schemes. I don't really do it intentionally because it sounds clever (which, honestly, it does), I just often find myself writing one verse that has an internal rhyme, and then, of course, all the rest of the verses HAVE to have the same internal rhyming pattern. Coupling that with the necessity for all your rhymes to be perfect, you eventually run into a brick wall. There are times when I hear an imperfect (or "slant") rhyme, and I think it sounds strained, or lazy (and that's why avoid them), but other times, I barely notice it. Like rhyming "fields" with "meals" in Baba O'Riley (as another commenter mentioned).

  • @mycresentmoon
    @mycresentmoon Рік тому

    Hey Keppie, great video, I've been dabbling in songwriting for quite some time, and doing some of your suggestions unconsciously but you explained some techniques that can make the whole process much smoother. Thank you.

  • @Fatherflot64
    @Fatherflot64 Рік тому +1

    Assonance rather than rhyme. Emily Dickinson used slant rhymes all the time, but she would do the opposite of what is recommended here -- she would change the vowel and rhyme "rides" with "is" or "seen" with "on". Another poet who did it a lot was Wilfred Owen. He would rhyme "seeds" with "sides", "tall" with "toil", and "star" with "stir".

  • @dljohnsonmusic
    @dljohnsonmusic 3 місяці тому

    Awesome! Thanks for sharing this! So glad I found your videos, it's going to take my songwriting to the next level!

  • @malachibasoah8213
    @malachibasoah8213 9 місяців тому

    Golden teaching!!!🙌🙌 Thanks!

  • @hermancharlesserrano1489
    @hermancharlesserrano1489 8 місяців тому +1

    Whenever I forgot a lyric gigging, this was my go to trick, completely inventing a word with the right vowel sounds 🤣🤣🤣

    • @jibberism9910
      @jibberism9910 5 місяців тому

      Besides, Tell-Sell probably has whatever you came up with. It's a thing alright!

  • @korbanpyke5996
    @korbanpyke5996 Рік тому

    I haven't seen your channel before but the other day I wrote a fresh lyric sheet and I realized the reason it felt better than usual was for all the reasons you talked about here

  • @dextercox3304
    @dextercox3304 11 місяців тому

    Thank you for this video! I've felt like I been messing up quite a bit on my song writing. This will play more out a lot more, creating my songs a lot more better.

  • @reference_realistic
    @reference_realistic Рік тому

    I beginning to love this channel. Thank you ❤️

    • @htws
      @htws  Рік тому

      Thank YOU.

  • @cleftturnip7774
    @cleftturnip7774 Рік тому +19

    The problem is having a set criteria for what is good and bad. Just in art I mean; not life in general.

  • @starros1
    @starros1 11 місяців тому

    Really appreciate your insight. Fascinating!

  • @callmeamusicalmess
    @callmeamusicalmess 2 місяці тому

    So, there's this song that rhymes "Poison" and the words "choice and" and I feel like it's so creative

  • @shawnbbbross9439
    @shawnbbbross9439 Рік тому

    Excellent lesson - thank you!

  • @easygurps
    @easygurps 9 місяців тому

    Not a slant rhyme but i love
    "where there's a will there's a way, money's gonna find my hand one day"

  • @MikeSabatella
    @MikeSabatella Рік тому

    This is very freeing, just provides so many options to unleash creativity... Thank you!

  • @mrswagg22music
    @mrswagg22music 9 місяців тому +1

    Grt video!! I love this and it is so true so many writers these days go the lazy route rhyming every word well done!! I make this pt also

  • @shenyathewelder9695
    @shenyathewelder9695 9 місяців тому

    You are teaching in the way I understand, you have my gratitude!

    • @shenyathewelder9695
      @shenyathewelder9695 9 місяців тому

      B rhymes was a weird app to me until I understand this video

  • @zzcanasta
    @zzcanasta Рік тому +3

    They sat together in the park
    As the evening sky grew dark
    She looked at him and he felt a spark
    Tingle to his bones
    'Twas then he felt alone
    And wished that he'd gone straight
    And watched out for a simple twist of fate....

  • @billwarner213
    @billwarner213 Рік тому

    GREAT advice - thanks!

  • @AwayWithWordsMusic
    @AwayWithWordsMusic 11 місяців тому

    Very insightful. Thank you!

  • @williamgriffin61
    @williamgriffin61 10 місяців тому

    Holy cow this is mind blowing. Thank you sooo much. Keep making great videos please 🙏 😊

  • @geoffnelson7783
    @geoffnelson7783 11 місяців тому +1

    Beatles rhymed "night", "fly", "life", "arise" or "night / life" and "fly / arise":
    "Blackbird singing in the dead of night
    Take these broken wings and learn to fly
    All your life
    You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

    • @htws
      @htws  11 місяців тому

      Thanks Geoff! Great example :)

  • @dancrump9772
    @dancrump9772 Рік тому

    Purple/circle I really love your channel. Thank you so much for what you do. I’ve been writing for years and years and this is a game changing video.

  • @BouseFeenuxTV
    @BouseFeenuxTV Рік тому

    Amazingly informative video! Thanks so much!

  • @garyswift135
    @garyswift135 Рік тому

    Thanks for sharing the useful tips, Keppie! Just now subscribed to your channel and am checking out your cool music.

  • @TheDirtyBlueBlood
    @TheDirtyBlueBlood 9 місяців тому

    I love the way Slipkot rhymes in Duality
    "I have screamed until my veins collapsed
    I've waited as my time's elapsed
    Now, all I do is live with so much hate
    I've wished for this, I've bitched at that
    I've left behind this little fact
    You cannot kill what you did not create
    I've gotta say what I've gotta say
    And then, I swear, I'll go away
    But I can't promise you'll enjoy the noise
    I guess I'll save the best for last
    My future seems like one big past
    You're left with me 'cause you left me no choice"

  • @DustyChalk
    @DustyChalk Рік тому

    Thank you so much for this!

  • @aliceaboard
    @aliceaboard 3 місяці тому

    I sold a small book long time ago with my poems but you just changed my rhyming world! Guess it’s a new era for me

  • @barryjmccormack
    @barryjmccormack Рік тому

    Superb!!! I have only watched a few of your videos but you are very impressive. I will be watching quite a few more

  • @nathanchristie2663
    @nathanchristie2663 7 місяців тому

    Amazing advise. Looking forward to getting involved with this. Ive got the Patt Pattison book aswell, but not the best at understanding when it comes to reading. Youve explained this very well. Cheers

  • @PunkMarioBros
    @PunkMarioBros Рік тому +2

    When I clicked on this video I expected overwriting lyrics to be the issue, but rhyming! Personally, I don’t rhyme much in my songs but when it does rhyme it’s because it s perfect for it to be placed whilst with rhyming every line it can feel forced and negatively impact the song, one of my favourite bands (Youth Fountain) uses a similar concept to this and it sounds amazing as long as you don’t overwrite the lyrics

  • @gleannmhuire
    @gleannmhuire 10 місяців тому

    Thank you. Excellent advice 😊

  • @yago.mp3
    @yago.mp3 Рік тому

    I HELPED SO SO MUCHH

  • @palmreadings
    @palmreadings Рік тому +1

    Thank you, you're great!

  • @MatthewEverettGates
    @MatthewEverettGates Рік тому

    Thank-you!! That's illuminating. Strong syllable, and slant vs perfect; something I've felt before, but didn't think to address in writing. These are structural things I didn't know, though have read and heard so much by example, now I'll pay attention. I feel the weaker rhymes a fine, but if I don't pay attention to the stronger ones then the while line/section will not be doing what I want it to.
    So clear, and helpful!
    Rhyme dictionaries are fun, but rhyming well is hard (the trap of letting it force the idea-movement is not fun): I'll do better and use it as a rhythmic musical device. Your video on rhyme scheme is great, too!!

  • @sammohan807
    @sammohan807 10 місяців тому

    This is very useful, Thank you!

  • @daltonhobson6982
    @daltonhobson6982 Рік тому

    How come it seems to take a lifetime to find people like this to help us.Great help thank you

  • @nilspeereboom3000
    @nilspeereboom3000 Рік тому +1

    Thanks! Very usefull!

  • @johnfowlertrailrunning
    @johnfowlertrailrunning Рік тому

    This is so informative, really useful!

  • @JimReuterskiold
    @JimReuterskiold Рік тому +1

    A rhyme I like, from Joe Ely: I keep my fingernails long so they click when I play the "piana"/I'm gonna keep 'em that way 'til the swallows come back from Louisiana (Ely also uses "Alabama", and "Texarkana" in the same place).

  • @nyrman
    @nyrman Рік тому +1

    just found your channel. nice pace and explaining, sub and binge watch :)

  • @Campusanis
    @Campusanis Рік тому

    Yay for RhymeZone! I also like using the "advanced" feature to find near rhymes (and not so near ones) more quickly.

  • @uberdonkey9721
    @uberdonkey9721 2 місяці тому

    My wife is a singer, I'm a prose writer and because her English isn't great I've beem tasked with writing song lyrics for her for a song she's composed. Your videos are such a help, thankyou!

  • @tammieschiller397
    @tammieschiller397 9 місяців тому

    this is exactly the resources i needed! here's a proud set of slant rhymes in a song i wrote last year...expect, next, met, breathless
    .

  • @Jesse615
    @Jesse615 Рік тому +1

    I've been utilizing this idea, without quite understanding the mechanics of it. Thanks! Another item I use along with a rhyming dictionary (and is just as useful to me) is a thesaurus. :)

  • @phatato
    @phatato Рік тому

    The tip regarding how to use rhymes zone to find more options by searching for a few slant rhymes was very useful thank you.

  • @BryanRoyes
    @BryanRoyes Рік тому

    beautiful explanation as always

  • @andyp257
    @andyp257 6 місяців тому

    This video single handedly elevated my poetry to the next level. I now routinely use the methods I learnt from this video to come up with interesting rhymes, so thank you!

  • @KenTeel
    @KenTeel Рік тому +3

    Yesterday, all my troubles seem so far away........ I'm not half the man I used to be, there's a shadow hanging over me....Why she had to go, I don't know... Michelle, my bell, these are words that go together well., my Michelle.... Well she looked at me, and I, I could see..... When you get free, to take some tea with me... Band on the run, I hope you're having fun.... Paul, are you reading this? You see, you've got this all wrong....

  • @zackorr421
    @zackorr421 Рік тому

    Keppie ROCKS