Lyrics
Internal Rhyme
- Definition
- Internal rhyme is a rhyme that occurs between words within the same line, rather than only between the ending words of separate lines.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Songwriting stage
- writing
In practice
Instead of waiting for a line's final word to rhyme with another line's final word, internal rhyme places a rhyming pair inside a single line, or between a word in the middle of one line and the end of another. This technique adds an extra layer of musicality and can make a line feel denser and more rhythmically interesting.
Internal rhyme is especially common in genres with fast, wordy phrasing, but it can enhance a lyric in any style when used sparingly at a key moment, such as a hook, where the extra internal echo helps a phrase stick in a listener's memory.
Example
The line 'I chase the pace of every place I've been' uses internal rhyme by matching 'chase,' 'pace,' and 'place' within a single line, giving the phrase a quick, rolling rhythm before it resolves.