A rhyme scheme denotes when and where you switch rhyme sets.
In a written song, these can get very complex but for now we will only cover small chunks. Chances are the scheme you have been using so far is something like:
Basically you have probably been waiting until one rhyme set is complete before moving onto the next. While that's totally fine, if you want to improve your transitions between rhyme sets you can do what's called a transitional rhyme. Here's an example:
Like the name suggest, by starting the next rhyme set before the bar concludes you can transition between the two seamlessly. While this is the most basic example of a transitional rhyme, you can layer more complex transitions over it. The possibilities are limitless:
You'll notice on line 5) there is rhyming within a single bar. This is called an internal rhyme. Internal rhymes allow you to control the speed at which you deliver your rhymes. Since they can occur anywhere within the bar, in theory, you can have an entire bar in which every word rhymed. But be warned. As awesome as internal rhymes can sound, it depletes your rhymes at a drastically increased rate, and can leave you less time to think of new ones to replace them. But its pretty cool nonetheless. Here's another example of Eminem's use of internal rhyme.
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The last kind of rhyme we're gonna cover in this class is called a mind rhyme. These are by far the trickiest kind of rhyme to pull off because it's essentially mind control. Mind rhymes allow you to get the audience to rhyme inside their own head. Don't believe us? Watch.
"Internal, transitional, AND mind rhymes?!?! How am I suppose to keep track of all that while freestyling?" Well internal rhymes are simple enough. Its just what you have been doing but unleashing you rhymes more quickly. The other two types of rhyme, however, are a bit more difficult. Up until now you could have been freestyling by saying words as they come to you without any planning. That ends now. In order to pull of a transitional or mind rhyme you have to be thinking at least one bar ahead. Here's the trick, you don't have to know the entire bar, just the ending rhyme.
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For transitional you just have to know what rhyme set you want to transition into before ending your current one. Not even a full rhyme set, maybe just a word or two. So as you approach the last few words in your rhyme set, alarm bells should go off in your head to start transitioning. And as soon as you successfully incorporate the new rhyme, drop the old rhyme set. Completely forget about it for now. Keeping multiple rhyme sets in you head at once is incredibly difficult but we'll teach you a technique to help with that in Rhyme III. This might take a bit of practice but it gets easier. Eventually you can train yourself to do it semi-automatically so it takes less brain power.
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For mind rhymes its all about suggestion. In order to pull off a mind rhyme you need to dedicate at least two bars to it. The first is what's called the setup. In this case it doesn't really matter what you say so long as the last word rhymes with the mind rhyme you're trying to pull off. Of course we'd like it to be sensible English but for now just focus on the second line. With the extra time you gained from trashing your first line, you need to think of a suggestive sentence that irrefutable has to end with your intended word. Pull this off, and you've got yourself a mind rhyme! To practice, just say "blah blah blah's" for your first bar except for the last word. Slowly build up to sensible English and eventually your first bar might be good as well. Goodluck.
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Lastly, as promised, it's time to teach you how to rhyme without rhyme sets. When practiced, this will not only give you confidence to rap about anything but also really impress your friends because now they can pass you words to rhyme. The technique is to break down any word to its core sound so that it's easier to rhyme. For example, let's take the word "intelligent". Try to think of a few rhymes. No, really, do it. We'll wait...
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So the breakdown to its core sound would be EL-A-ENT. This gets rid of all the harsh syllables that make it hard to rhyme. I bet you can now think of more rhymes more easily than before. Let's try another word: "motivate". It's breakdown would be O-A-ATE. Try it.
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It's easier than before. However, right now when you try to break down you own words and find rhymes, its slow. Much too slow to rap solely relying on this technique (And why why didn't teach you initially). With some practice, and expierence it is possible to use this technique exclusively if you want but there's no shame in still using rhyme sets as well. The minimum goal for us is to be able to consistently do this for at least 4 rhymes. There's a word generator under the Resource Tab for practice. Here's a video of someone using a similar technique (Note his filler is his own name):