How To Count Bars When Writting Raps

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504musicman

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I have a new rapper that seems to have his own conception of bars and the idea that 16 bars is when you fill up the entire page with lyrics.

Really I say. :-)

The thing is I know what bars look / sound like when making beatz but I honestly don't know how to count bars when putting it on paper in a rap.

Could someone show me a method for counting bars in raps or post a standard rap song lyrics?

4 or 8 Bar Intro
16 Bar Verses
4 or 8 Bar Outro


I would greatly appreciate someone explaining this to me so I can break it down to this cat.

One
 
...I think you're lying. Bars for a producer are the same thing as bars for an mc- it's not a number of words, lines, or space on a page. Bars are measures, i.e. time. So all you would really have to do is sit your stupid ass mc down and explain to him how manys beats are in a bar and then teach him how to count 16. If you're not lying, join the ****ing club because I for one am pretty damn weary of all these idiot mc's who can't even do their job right and NOT write a 14 bar, 19 bar, 46 bar, 12.5 bar verse and then come to the studio expecting me to tutor them and then ARGUE like the concept of bars is subjective. Rappers don't get the raw end of the deal, believe me. They get the spotlight, the stupid backpacking groupies who think their "sooo deep" and most of the door money after shows. If you don't know how to count bars, you're a lazy mother****er. All you gotta do is listen to a rap song and see how long the rappers verse is after the intro and up until the hook. It's really not that hard. 13 and 3/4 of a bar just makes me think that you're mentally disabled, lazy, stupid, insincere or all 4.
 
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1 2 3 4, doing that 4 times is 4 bars. you dont need to know any more than that just tap your foot or hand its not that hard. how fast you count is up to you.
 
urban sin said:
how fast you count is up to you.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that make bars subjective again? You can't count any speed. You count at the speed of the song. Or you can count in double time or half time, but that doesn't change the number of bars.
 
If you dont have a track layed out or your not rappin to some instrumentals ya got to tap the speed at which you gonna have your beat, or just to count. You can change the speed later, your lyrics will be faster or slower but they will still only be the original number of bars. If your rappin over instrumentals you dont got to, you just count from where the 1st bar starts and where the 4th bar ends.

eg 4 bars

"as my heart races, i turn to face,
my whole life ive awaited a determined fate, im eye to eye with it now,
but what can i say, the reflection speaks for itself, reflecting disgrace."

Now tap on the table 1234 at any speed. It will make 4 bars. change the speed any you still have 4 bars. different measures at different speeds. 1\4, 2\4, 4\4, 8\4
 
Ya know someone bought my that tupac res. book for x-mas and I noticed that what he seemed to do was to label the bars on the page, like

1< times racing in the minds of men'

2< they making corp. type moves all I got is my pen'

3< and i can't sacrifice the art just to see are numbers blend'

4< so stay on my own, alone and just pretend'

5< not to see 'em. do anything not to be 'em

6< so you'll neva catch me at Jacob's, renting a chain'

7< instead cha find with my headphones pickin ya brian'

8<...

I just wrote that right quick left slow to show you what I'm talking about. I think that Idea is that if you contain them within bars of their own, then when it comes to putting them to a beat (if your not already writing to one) then you know where each line (or set of lines) fits and how to spit it. For instance line one would obviously be said at a slower pace, sluring the words or putting an emphasis on words like "racing" and "minds" stretching them out a bit. where as the next line would be sped up a bit to make it fit within one bar. Another good thing about breaking your lines up this way is that you can deal with them on their own so if you have to re-write something to make it fit better you can deal with it line by line. They say good poetry can be dealt with this way, meaning that every line can stand on it's own.
anyways thats my babble for the day... by the way I'm new to the board, been lurking for a minute reading tips on production in the forums... there seems to be some cats on here. til next time...

one,

j.o.d
 
Justblaze as in Justblaze the producer? Or Justblaze a fony? Maybe you're Justblaze's cousin and he let you use his name, temporarily, until you GET YOUR OWN.
 
painoner said:
...I think you're lying. Bars for a producer are the same thing as bars for an mc- it's not a number of words, lines, or space on a page. Bars are measures, i.e. time. So all you would really have to do is sit your stupid ass mc down and explain to him how manys beats are in a bar and then teach him how to count 16. If you're not lying, join the ****ing club because I for one am pretty damn weary of all these idiot mc's who can't even do their job right and NOT write a 14 bar, 19 bar, 46 bar, 12.5 bar verse and then come to the studio expecting me to tutor them and then ARGUE like the concept of bars is subjective. Rappers don't get the raw end of the deal, believe me. They get the spotlight, the stupid backpacking groupies who think their "sooo deep" and most of the door money after shows. If you don't know how to count bars, you're a lazy mother****er. All you gotta do is listen to a rap song and see how long the rappers verse is after the intro and up until the hook. It's really not that hard. 13 and 3/4 of a bar just makes me think that you're mentally disabled, lazy, stupid, insincere or all 4.
Click to expand...

:bigeyes: Damn, don't piss Pain off.. ha ha ha.. soundz like one too many "stupid mc's" pissed him off enuff. ha ha ha. :D

Didn't know there was supposed to be a concept to "writing bars" on paper. Each lyricist has their own method to it.. after all, each lyricist got they own method to spit, so there wouldn't be a "formula" to write down on it.

Genycis
 
pain- i see ya point. but if i get the message across in less than 16 bars, im not addin filler. if it sounds aight to me, im done. probably why ill never do a solo album.

example:

ive unlocked pandora's box/ unorthodox methods perfected/ cured attention defecits an dyslexics/ an excellant crafstman, threat to newbies, the vets & has-beens/ close- captioned or audible, prose phenomenal/ flow enhanced sans punchlines- im not comical/ chasitise or ride my jock, its optional....
 
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i hear that and also agree.


As i pass timelines/i write crime ryhmes/of betta times passed/opponents turned to ash/volcanic blast, burnt shoes show remains/walk away with notebook/step over bloodstains/won't speak victims names/respect shown to fallen/next city beckons/hunger thirst callin.

Nikka, ya flows stay hot...we need to hook up.
 
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sounds like a plan. once i get my audio up & runnin we gotta collab on somethin. dyin to hear the voice.
 
No doubt.

i need to get my sh1t up and running also, got too many fingas in pies at the moment. Got to focus.
 
What?
As far as I understand...you need to pretty much sit and listen to the beat you're gonna rap to, then write the song. It's a rare thing to be able to write something and match it to a beat.
Yes, a bar is a 4 count, but I mean, you need to hear the actual song in order to write your verses.
Scout's honor.
 
its simple. write on lined paper and make each line a bar, squeez it in if u gotta. u can then easily see ur rhyme schemes and mess with
A
A
B
B

or

A
B
A
B

usually with a normal rap tempo of about 93, an average emcee can comfortable squeeze in 10 syllables in the first bar and then up to 15 in the second. its all relative to ur style and how lyrical u want to be. but please dont be an idiot and say my bars are my bars and i finish when i want to. that aint no way to make pro music dunns.
 
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