1. LESSON 5
RHYTHM AND SYLLABLES

2. FREE WRITE Remember…. Don’t worry!
Keep your pen and pencil moving for the whole five minutes.

3. BRAINSTORM
In your journal, spend one minute defining rhythm and naming places you hear rhythm.
Ready… set… GO!

4. Rhythm and Syllables ACTIVITY
A song is a combination of words + music.
For lyrics to fit well with music, songwriters need to learn about rhythm and syllables.
Rhythm is a pattern of sounds and silences.
Syllables are the parts that a word is divided into when it is pronounced.

5. Compare the two lyrics below. Does something sound wrong?
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
And the rocket’s red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there
And the rocket’s red glare
The bombs exploding everywhere
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there

6. Compare the two lyrics below. Does something sound wrong?
“Beat It”
Just beat it (beat it) beat it (beat it)
No one wants to be defeated
Just beat it (beat it) beat it (beat it)
No one wants to lose when they fight
“We Will Rock You”
We will, we will rock you
We will, we will beat you really bad

7. “Where the Green Grass Grows”
LISTEN
“Where the Green Grass Grows”
Individually count the syllables for the first few lines and write the total at the end of the line.
With a partner, count the syllables for the remainder of the song.
What did you discover?

8. HOMEWORK Choose three songs to analyze.
Song analysis
Choose three songs to analyze.
In your journal, copy the first verse and chorus of each song. Number the lines, then count and record the number of syllables in each line. For example:
Song 2:
Verse
Line 1: 6 syllables
Line 2: 8 syllables
Line 3: 6 syllables
Line 4: 8 syllables
Line 5: 9 syllables
Line 6: 4 syllables
Chorus
Line 1: 4 syllables
Line 2: 4 syllables
Line 3: 8 syllables
Song 3:
Verse
Line 1: 6 syllables
Line 2: 6 syllables
Line 3: 6 syllables
Line 4: 8 syllables
Line 5: 8 syllables
Chorus
Song 1:
Verse
Line 1: 8 syllables
Line 2: 8 syllables
Line 3: 8 syllables
Line 4: 8 syllables
Chorus
Line 1: 4 syllables
Line 2: 4 syllables

9. Homework song analysis
What did you learn about the kinds of syllable patterns you like or dislike?
Write a verse and chorus that uses each of the three patterns you discovered. This writing (and all your writing for this unit) could become part of your final song or you could just use it as practice.