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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Songwriting → chords and melody
I've always been asking to myself a question : which is the relationship between the melody of a song
and the chords that I play while singing it?
Suppose I write a new song by myself, playing it with a finger on a piano. Then, if I ask a professional
or a skilled friend to find the chords that fit with the melody, how he or she will proceed? WHAT is the
criterion followed?
I'm not really a theory expert or anything, but when I have a melody and want to find the chords I play the first few notes of the melody on the piano, and then play a chord that has similar notes in it. The melody will only sound good if most of the notes are the same notes in the chord. Hope that helped!
When I want to write chords to fit a melody, I look at the key the melody is in. I need a key chart to do that. If it has no sharps and flats I know it is in C key. If it has one sharp, I know it is in G key...and so on. These charts are simple and easy to find.
I know there are 3 main chords in each key. I have to fit a chord to each melody note. There are usually several melody notes with only one chord. I have drawn a chart with these on it. It is the 1st, [the root chord]. The 4th note e.g. in key C, CDEF...the 4th note is F, so the chord is F chord. The next main chord is the 5th, and it is G, but it a 7th, so it is G7. Then I have C, F G7, the 1st, 4th and 5th notes of the key are the root note of each chord. This works in every key. So key D is D, G, A7.
If there is a minor sound, I try the minor after the root, so in C, I try Dm. In D, I try Em. I listen to see if it sounds right. If that does not sound right I try the seventh, and instead of a seventh I play a minor, e.g. A7 becomes Am.
I write the chord for each melody note which is one of those main chords which contains the note, Sometimes the note is in 2 chords so I have to listen to them and choose the best sound.
Your method looks easy and probably gives the best results. I'll test by myself. Your explanation was very
clear, for which I thank you because is a rare quality. Best regards Paolo.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Songwriting → chords and melody
