Rhyme Schemes Explained: AABB, ABAB, Internal and Multisyllabic

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of which lines rhyme with which, written as letters. AABB means the first two lines rhyme and so do the next two. ABAB alternates. Everything else is a variation on those.

How the letters work

Each letter stands for a rhyme sound. Give the first line's ending the letter A. Any later line that rhymes with it also gets an A. The first line that does not gets a B, and so on.

So AABB is two couplets: lines one and two rhyme, lines three and four rhyme with each other but not with the first pair. ABAB alternates: one rhymes with three, two rhymes with four. ABCB rhymes only the second and fourth lines and leaves the first and third loose, which is the standard ballad shape and far more common in songs than people realise.

AABBA is the limerick. Lines one, two and five share a sound and lines three and four share a different one, which is why a limerick's fifth line lands the way it does: the ear has been waiting for that sound since line two.

AABB against ABAB

Couplets close fast. The rhyme arrives one line after it is set up, which makes AABB feel decisive and slightly comic. It is the shape of most punchlines and most nursery rhymes, and both for the same reason.

Alternating rhyme holds the reader longer. In ABAB the ear waits two lines for the resolution, which builds a little tension and reads as more considered. It is the more common scheme in sung verses for exactly that reason.

ABCB is quieter than either. Because half the lines do not rhyme at all, the rhymes that do arrive feel like they happened rather than like they were arranged, which is why so much folk and country writing uses it.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme that lands inside a line rather than at the end of one. It is what most people are hearing when they say a rapper's flow is dense, and it is largely invisible on the page until you look for it.

Internal rhyme lets you keep the rhythm moving without the metronome effect of an end rhyme on every line. It also means a line can rhyme with itself, which is a useful way to hold a long bar together.

This is the technique to reach for when a verse feels flat but the end rhymes are already fine. The problem is usually not the rhymes you have; it is that they are all in the same place.

Multisyllabic rhyme

Rhyming two or more syllables at a time rather than a single word ending. It has been the baseline expectation in rap since the late 1980s, and a verse built on single-syllable end rhymes reads as somebody who has just started.

The craft is in keeping the sentence honest while the rhyme gets longer. A three-syllable rhyme that bends the meaning into nonsense is worse than a one-syllable rhyme that says what you meant.

It is also where near rhyme earns its place. Perfect multisyllabic rhymes are rare enough that insisting on them will run your writing into a corner.

Near rhyme, and when to prefer it

A near rhyme shares some sound but not all of it: home and alone, mind and time. In song they frequently sound better than perfect rhymes, because a held note blurs the ending anyway and the listener hears the vowel more than the consonant.

The rule worth keeping is that a near rhyme that preserves the sentence beats a perfect rhyme that damages it. Forced rhyme is the single most audible sign of an amateur lyric, and audiences hear it immediately even when they could not name what is wrong.

Questions

What does AABB mean?

The first two lines rhyme with each other, and the next two rhyme with each other but on a different sound. It reads as two couplets and it closes quickly, which is why most punchlines use it.

What is the most common rhyme scheme in songs?

ABCB, where only the second and fourth lines rhyme, is more common in sung verses than people expect. ABAB and AABB are both widespread. Choruses often abandon a strict scheme entirely in favour of repetition.

What is internal rhyme?

Rhyme that falls inside a line rather than at the end. It keeps the rhythm moving without putting a rhyme in the same position every line, and it is most of what people mean when they call a flow dense.

Is it bad to use near rhymes?

No. In song they often sound better than perfect rhymes, because a held note blurs the ending. A near rhyme that keeps the sentence honest is always better than a perfect rhyme that bends it.

What rhyme scheme is a limerick?

AABBA. Lines one, two and five rhyme, and lines three and four rhyme with each other and are shorter.