Rhyme Schemes

There are a number of different rhyme schemes for songs. The patterns can be analyzed with the use of capital letters such as A and B. When anaylzing lyrics and two lines rhyme you can indicate the pairs with two matching letters, like AA. You can use the letter X for a line that doesn't rhyme.

Roses are red (X)
Violets are blue (A)
Sugar is sweet (X)
And so are you. (A)

Sometimes all four lines rhyme, which can be indicated as AAAA.

Sometimes a second pair of lines rhyme with a different sound. We could call the second sound B. Pairs of rhymes can be arranged as AABB, ABAB, ABBA, or in other combinations. Here's an AABB verse from Lennon/McCartney:

Well she was just seventeen (A)
you know what I mean (A)
and the way she looked was way beyond compare (B)
so how could I dance with another when I saw her standing there? (B)

listen

 

Warning: when you set up a rhyme scheme listeners may expect you to follow through with the same one for each verse.


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