rhyme dictionary

G

grinder

New member
Anyone know of a free, online dictionary, for imperfect or slant rhymes? I've searched like crazy, with no luck.
 
NationalSandwic said:
eep... the idea of rhyming dictionaries freaks me out. i don't think you should need them... but, each to his own...
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i agree to an extent with that. if all else fails, if youre clever about things, you dont even NEED a rhyme. but, things like the site suggested, along with a good thesaurus (www.dictionary.com or similar) can help get other, less cliched words. use them as an occasional aid tho, not as a serious tool to rely on.
 
NationalSandwic said:
eep... the idea of rhyming dictionaries freaks me out. i don't think you should need them... but, each to his own...
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Hmmmm...pro writers use them without a blink. Why wouldn't someone use every available tool?

:confused:
 
I dont recommend using a rhyme dictionary for rap music though. Unless you are ok with sounding like Vanilla Ice under the influence. If you listen to most commercial rap songs, you see that artist tend to "bend" and "stretch" the proper pronunciation in order to rhyme words together. Eminem does it all the time. I have yet been able to find a rhyming dictionary that give you rhymes for bended words; if they come up with something like that then everybody can do chain word writing like Em. Just my 2 cents good luck :)
 
IMO, a rhyming dictionary is just another tool in the kit, to use as one sees fit. Despite what some "purists" may say, using a dictionary (rhyming or otherwise) doesn't mean one is any less of a writer. I speculate that many hit songs were written with the writer's use of a rhyming dictionary.
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
IMO, a rhyming dictionary is just another tool in the kit, to use as one sees fit. Despite what some "purists" may say, using a dictionary (rhyming or otherwise) doesn't mean one is any less of a writer. I speculate that many hit songs were written with the writer's use of a rhyming dictionary.
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i'm not a purist. and for sure, hit songs have been written with rhyming dictionaries, i'm sure. no, it doesn't mean you're less of a writer, but i think it does imply (so, it's not necessarily true) that you're not naturally going with what your heart and mind knows. and you should be speaking your heart and mind. imho.
 
NationalSandwic said:
i'm not a purist. and for sure, hit songs have been written with rhyming dictionaries, i'm sure. no, it doesn't mean you're less of a writer, but i think it does imply (so, it's not necessarily true) that you're not naturally going with what your heart and mind knows. and you should be speaking your heart and mind. imho.
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but on the other hand, maybe the heart and mind hasnt always got the vocabulary to say what you want in the way you want, so dictionaries, etc are useful....?
 
Geesh.... who wouldn't use a rhyming dictionary? Why bother yourself searching for rhymes when someone else has already done it for you? That's like saying that buying your beef from the grocery store is cheating....!!

THat said, a good rhyming dictionary is certainly not the end-all-be-all when it comes to rhyming. If you expect to open yours up and find a long list of words that fit your lyric perfectly, you're going to be disappointed. You have to learn to look up false rhymes too.

The place where a rhyming dictionary won't help you at all is with conglomerate rhymes. That's what Raydio was talking about. Rhymes that are built on a group of words (like "then if it" and "benefit"), or mid-word syllables (like "crack" and "jackpot"). As Raydio said, conglomerate rhymes are huge in rap, but also pop up in many other genres.

A
 
BTW.... rhymezone.com won't give you false or slant rhymes. I don't really like rhymezone's format anyway..... plus, I'd rather have a book any day.

A
 
Hmmm... I just realised that I'm not sure exactly what people's ambitions are on this board. If you just want to write songs for the fun of it, then sure, do as you please. But if you'd like to have a professional career writing (and perhaps performing) songs, then I think you need to show some serious natural talent. Sad as it is, some people are born gifted and some aren't. That's why they get paid the big bucks, 'cos they're rare.

Aaron, comparing using dictionaries to buying beef doesn't work. Beef is a natural, consumable/disposable/replaceable good, and not very important. Songs are constructed, and should be meaningful, not disposable/replacable. If you are writing those sorts of songs, don't expect people to buy into them. If you want to continue with the buying-as-cheating analogy, then I'd say this: Would you not think that buying your rhymes from a bookstore is cheating?
 
NationalSandwic said:
Hmmm... I just realised that I'm not sure exactly what people's ambitions are on this board. If you just want to write songs for the fun of it, then sure, do as you please. But if you'd like to have a professional career writing (and perhaps performing) songs, then I think you need to show some serious natural talent. Sad as it is, some people are born gifted and some aren't. That's why they get paid the big bucks, 'cos they're rare.

Aaron, comparing using dictionaries to buying beef doesn't work. Beef is a natural, consumable/disposable/replaceable good, and not very important. Songs are constructed, and should be meaningful, not disposable/replacable. If you are writing those sorts of songs, don't expect people to buy into them. If you want to continue with the buying-as-cheating analogy, then I'd say this: Would you not think that buying your rhymes from a bookstore is cheating?
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many a writer, away from songwriting, use dictionaries, thesaurus's, spell checkers, and many tools to correct/help their spelling/grammar/wording etc. there's many times i use a word in a song that 'just dont seem right', which is where ill firstly think of others, or if i get stuck, look up something. nothing wrong with that in my book, and sure dont make me talentless.
so .... to dismiss these sorts of things totally, is a little bit wrong. a lot wrong, actually.

so to agree with some - write with what you feel first. but if you get stuck, help yourself out and look it up in a good ol' dictionary, will you? lol
 
So, NationalSandwic, are you saying the pro writers here in Nashville shouldn't be using a rhyming dictionary? That would probably be news to them.

I'm sure everyone has their own style. I rarely use a rhyming dictionary. But on occasion it is a help. It is a tool. Even the pros (people who make a living at songwriting) use them. Why not use one? It sounds kind of silly not to if it helps you write. If it dosn't help you, then don't use it, but don't disparage the folks who use them and use them successfully in their songwriting careers. It is certainly possible to have serious talent and use a rhyming dictionary.
 
Jagular said:
... I rarely use a rhyming dictionary. But on occasion it is a help. It is a tool. Even the pros (people who make a living at songwriting) use them. Why not use one? It sounds kind of silly not to if it helps you write. If it dosn't help you, then don't use it, but don't disparage the folks who use them and use them successfully in their songwriting careers. It is certainly possible to have serious talent and use a rhyming dictionary.
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Bingo!! Got it in one, and think that pretty much answers the whole question....

(ffs, grinder only asked of where to find one :D )
 
I think we're talking at cross-purposes here. I'm interested in songwriters who write in a certain style. And I'm interested in songs and music that do certain things. Some of the paint-by-numbers stuff that goes on in this forum really runs against what I like.

So I'd best say: I don't like the use of dictionaries; I think it detracts from the writing process. I certainly don't need a spell-checker and a thesaurus to get me through my writing (which is not limited to songs). I won't use rhyming dictionaries (even if it seems I'm not able to do it otherwise), because it would go against how I feel music should be made.

So, certainly, it's your own perogative.

brummygit, I'm not saying you're talentless. I'm saying that there are people out there who don't need these crutches, and it's important that they don't.
 
NationalSandwic said:
I think we're talking at cross-purposes here. I'm interested in songwriters who write in a certain style. And I'm interested in songs and music that do certain things. Some of the paint-by-numbers stuff that goes on in this forum really runs against what I like.

So I'd best say: I don't like the use of dictionaries for me personally; I think it detracts from my writing process. I certainly don't need a spell-checker and a thesaurus to get me through my writing (which is not limited to songs). I won't use rhyming dictionaries (even if it seems I'm not able to do it otherwise), because it would go against how I feel music should be made.

So, certainly, it's your own perogative.

brummygit, I'm not saying you're talentless. I'm saying that there are people out there who don't use these sometimes helpful tools.
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Fixed...I'm sure that's what you really meant, otherwise your post comes across as quite arrogant ;)
 
i did mean me personally, jagular. but i also meant crutch.
i wrote not so much with arrogance as with disdain. similar, i guess.
sorry, being really contemplative about music lately, and i can get very cynical.
 
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