“Interesting chords will compel interesting melodies” —Jimmy Webb
New writers often tend to develop the melody line for their songs by stringing together a sequence of random chords, without trying to achieve a good balance between the individual chords and the emotional message of the song. This can sometimes result in a song that sounds confusing or boring.
Your choice of chords can bring character and color to your song and give it a sense of direction. So don’t just use the first chord that comes to you (although it may eventually prove to be the right one). Instead, assess every individual chord to make sure it matches the emotion of the melody and the lyrics.
Understanding how chords like to move—and how different chords harmonize with certain notes—is a vital part of the craft of songwriting. Most chord progressions work to pinpoint the ‘home’ chord (e.g. C in the key of C) as the harmonic and melodic objective.
Every chord has a different emotional tone. Major chords can convey happiness, joy or a positive feeling; minor chords create a sense of melancholy or sadness; and tension can be increased by using unresolved chords (chords that want to re- turn to the ‘home’ chord, but don’t).
Roger Nichols believes in using different inversions of a chord, or trying the song in a different key, to add extra color or character to a melody. “After I’ve finished a melody I generally play it in two or three different keys to see if anything is happening chord-wise,” said Nichols. “Many times I’ll hear a new chord in a different key. I basically compose the melody line by singing the melody that occurs to me as I play the undercarriage on the piano or guitar.”
Jimmy Webb—who wrote the best-selling book Tune smith: Inside The Art of Songwriting—believes creating a strong melody is all about finding the right chords. “It’s very hard to write a boring melody to an interesting chord sequence,” he said.
It is also important to consider the frequency of chord changes in each section of your song because this too can affect the balance between chords and melody. In many songs, chords tend to change every four to eight beats—typically on the first and third beat of every bar. A song may sound boring if the chords don’t change often enough, but changes that are too frequent and complex can distract listeners. Switching chords too often in an up-tempo song, for example, can make it sound frantic—so the faster your song the less frequent the changes should be. It is also important to avoid using the same chord patterns again and again in your songs, otherwise they will start sounding identical.
Chord progressions can’t be copyrighted, so try something different by building your own melody around the chord sequences used in several of today’s hit songs. A word of warning though: while the basic shape of your song can be similar to the hit, make sure you DON’T copy the original melody or lyrics … or you’ll be guilty of plagiarism!
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