Words to Cheers Chants

Coming up with words to cheers chants is a fun and creative endeavor. A good chant can set the entire bleachers rocking and bellowing their support for their team. Even better is the fact that a good chant is self-sustaining, like setting a pebble in motion that becomes an avalanche. It adds variety to the tools used to get a crowd's spirit in motion.

There are two main factors involved in any chant: words and rhythm. With the right combination, a chant can become an "earworm" that sticks in a person's mind for days after the game. However, a mismatched rhythm and word combination leaves the fans scratching their heads saying "huh?" as the cheerleaders try to draw them in. Use a couple of principles to pick the right words to cheers chants.

Short words and hard words are best. The term "hard" pertains to words that have hard consonants and vowel sounds. "Go!" is a strong, short word, but "them!" is not. That's not to say that words like "them" can't be used, but used sparingly. "Beat their team!" has two strong words to one soft, as does "Go, fight, win!" On the other hand, "Let's beat them!" has two softer words to one hard one, and won't have as much impact on the audience.

Using polysyllabic words can be tricky in chants. Sometimes they will work wonderfully, but other times they end up with that proverbial "huh?" coming from the crowd. Again, a good rule of thumb is to keep it simple at two syllables if possible. If multi-syllabic words are necessary, make sure each syllable is completely enunciated and preferably emphasized on the beat. For example, the word "everybody" shouldn't be slurred into "evreebuddy", but rather over-emphasized into "ev-ree-bud-dee!"

Three and four beat rhythms are the best fits for cheer chants words. That's not to say that each phrase only has to have three or four words; any musician will tell you that dividing the beats into halves or quarters is easy enough and is in fact even more stimulating to the ear. However, the fact remains that the most effective chant may simply be one beat, and one word: "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Another tool is called syncopation, and it's the key to music like hip hop and rock and roll. Basically, it's emphasizing the beat halfway between the second and third beats of a 4/4 time phrase. For some reason, the ear latches on to that rhythm, and it can be the difference between a chant being dutifully repeated versus being danced, clapped and moved to.

That brings up another very effective tool for cheers chants: percussive noises such as clapping, stomping, or even enlisting the help of the pep band rhythm section. The rhythm should be a very basic one, emphasizing yet not drowning out the words to the chants

Once the words for cheers chants and the rhythms have been selected, it's time to make it more personal. Certainly using the school's initials can be a way to start, as in this cheer for East High School:

E-H-S!

Go, fight, win!

E-H-S!

Go, fight, win!

Simple, strong, and unless they are playing Edgewood High School, there's no mistaking whose side the cheerleaders are on. However, in that case using something like the school colors might be used to identify which team is which:

Rock the purple!

Rock the gold!

Pur-pull gold!

All the Way!

Notice how in the third part of the chant, the word "purple" was separated. Another choice would have been to make a phrase out of "purple and gold" but this doesn't rhythmically fall very strongly into the rest of the chant. On the other hand, simply repeating "Pur-pull gold! Pur-Pull gold!" over and over can be just as effective a way to get the crowd rowdy.

Finding the right chants for your team and for your audience is a great addition to your squad's routines and other cheers. In the best case scenario, it's a way to keep the spirit alive in your fans for days after the game.

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