Two freestyle rap exercises for total beginners
Starting with a blank beat and no plan is the hardest way to learn freestyle. These two drills give you lots of structure, so you only make up a small part of each bar, then take the structure away bit by bit.
Most people try freestyle for the first time by putting on a beat and making something up with no plan at all. That’s what freestyling is, right? But it usually goes like this: the beat starts and you’re instantly overwhelmed. When do I jump in? What do I say? Where does it go from here?
The fix is to start with a lot of structure and slowly build your way into a freestyle. Both drills below work that way. Each one hands you part of every bar, so you only have to improvise the rest.
Both drills use the basic shape of a rap line: one bar is four beats, and the rhyme lands on beat four. If that’s new to you, read how to freestyle rap first. It takes five minutes.
Drill 1: freestyle only beat three
How it works
Every bar is already mostly taken care of:
| Beat 1 | Beat 2 | Beat 3 | Beat 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| rest | rest | you freestyle | rhyme word (given) |
The rhymes are provided on beat four. The first half of each bar is left empty. Your only job is to fill beat three, a word or two that leads into the rhyme. Because the rhymes are already there, whatever you say comes out sounding like a rap.
Why it works
It turns out your brain doesn’t need to move a million miles an hour to freestyle. With the first half of every bar empty, you get two full beats to think before you have to say anything. That’s plenty of time.
Your lines don’t need to be cool or clever. At this stage, all that matters is that you say whatever comes to mind on beat three.
Build it up slowly
As you get comfortable, widen the part you improvise, one beat at a time:
- Beat 3 only. Rhymes given, first half empty.
- Beats 2 and 3. Start your line a beat earlier.
- The whole bar. Improvise from beat one up to the given rhyme.
- Your own rhymes. By now your rhythm and wordplay are solid enough to supply the rhyme on beat four yourself. That’s a full freestyle.
Don’t rush through the steps. Good things take time. Stay on each one until it feels easy.
In The Rhyme Game: choose All Words and AABB, so every rhyme is shown on beat four. Keep quiet on beats one and two, just nodding along with the ball, and come in on beat three. Step 3 above is the game’s normal way to play, and step 4 is First Only, then No Words. See how to play.
Drill 2: “me and my people”
How it works
Split every bar in half:
| Beats 1–2 | Beats 3–4 |
|---|---|
| the same phrase, every bar: “me and my people” | freestyle whatever you want |
It sounds like this:
Me and my people steadily rapping
Me and my people off the head we be snapping
Me and my people we be going insane
Me and my people we kick rhymes off the brain
Why it works
Repeating the first half of every bar gives you a ton of mental breathing room. Two beats of every line are already decided, so all your attention is free for the second half.
It also makes it impossible to fall out of the groove. Even if a line falls apart, the next bar starts with “me and my people,” and you’re right back on the beat.
If you’re a beginner
Use the breathing room to think about what you’ll say. Rhyme every two lines if you can. If you can’t rhyme yet, don’t. The point is to stay in the groove.
Don’t judge anything you say. It doesn’t have to make sense or rhyme or have anything to do with “me and my people.” It just has to come out of your mouth, on the second half of each line. Do this five minutes a day for a week and you’ll feel far more comfortable speaking on a rhythm.
If you’re advanced
Use the first half of each bar as a run-up. Pick the techniques you can never quite pull off live, like double time, triple time, metaphors or multisyllabic rhymes, and go as hard as you can on the second half. Practiced here with a safety net, they become natural enough to use when you’re freestyling without one.
Change the phrase
“Me and my people” is just a starting point. Any filler phrase works, for example:
- “Every time I rhyme…”
- “When I’m on the track…”
Longer phrases with more syllables are a good way to warm up for double-time runs. Harry Mack uses repeated phrases like this all the time.
In The Rhyme Game: any fill mode works. All Words with AABB is the easiest, because the rhyme you’re heading for is already on screen. Say your phrase on beats one and two, then freestyle into the rhyme word.
Which drill should I start with?
| Drill 1: beat three only | Drill 2: me and my people | |
|---|---|---|
| You say | a word or two per bar | half a bar, plus the rhyme |
| Rhymes | given | given in the app, or your own |
| Best for | your very first freestyle | once beat three feels easy, and for advanced practice |
If you’ve never freestyled before, start with Drill 1. When improvising a couple of words on beat three stops feeling scary, move to Drill 2.
The two drills also combine well: do Drill 1 with a filler phrase on the first half of each bar, instead of staying silent, and you’re already practicing Drill 2.
Five minutes a day
Each video is a short lesson followed by a play-along rhyme game. Once you understand the drill, use the “Skip to the play-along” link under the video and go straight to practicing. Five minutes a day for a week or two is enough to notice a real difference.
For a full practice session built around drills like these, see the 10-minute daily freestyle practice routine.
Where to go next
- Ready for the next step? Learn three rules of freestyle flow.
- Not sure what to say? Try the Big Topic drill.
- New to freestyle? Read how to freestyle rap, a beginner’s guide.
- Learn how rhymes pair up across lines in rhyme schemes explained.
- Set up the app with how to play The Rhyme Game.