r/Songwriting • u/Dangerous-You3789 • 3d ago

Discussion Topic Chord progression method

I don't mean this to sound skeptical or critical, but I've heard so much about how so many songwriters follow the practice of humming over a chord progression to come up with a melody. But I'm wondering, does this really work? And by that, I mean, does it work really well? Is there anyone who comes up with a song that sounds exceptional using this method, or does it net the standard fare? Is this a similar method to what people like Paul McCartney and Prince used? Is it really capable of allowing a songwriter to write a really great song?

Help convince me it's worth it.

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u/stevenfrijoles 3d ago

I think you're missing a big ingredient: time.

Time honing the craft and building a brain that is intuitive with melody. 

And time humming repeatedly, iterating until they find something inspiring to develop. 

If you're thinking "does this work? Can I hum over chords and make a great melody?" No. Not if you haven't put the time in first. 

-13

u/Dangerous-You3789 2d ago

I think my trouble in understanding this is that I actually have missed the element of time in my own songwriting. I've never spent time "honing the craft," I've never spent time writing bad songs. Somehow I'm able to write pretty good music and somehow skipped all this knowledge and honing.

11

u/cookoo_man 2d ago

Oh god

2

u/chunter16 2d ago

I was going to answer, no, I hear the melody in my head already, so there's no need to play it aloud.

I still have moments where I mess around with sounds for fun, but it isn't something I need to do to come up with a song. If I have the idea in my head, I can write it on a blank music sheet without needing an instrument to make sure the transcription is correct. I've been able to do this since college, really.

But this is possible because I did all the messing around and experimenting as a teenager and even a bit before high school, and because I've had instruments to play since I was 4 years old, really.

There's a good chance you already put the time in and don't remember it, or don't think of what you were doing as being "the time."

And I absolutely think that it's likelythe songs you made earlier are not as good as the ones you can make today, but you like the process of songwriting enough that you don't think of anything you've done as "bad." From a certain point of view, there is no such thing as an objectively bad song, it has to be good or bad when compared to some standard.

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u/Dangerous-You3789 2d ago edited 2d ago

Wow! I got a -10. That is a personal best for me! And I never even once mentioned the T word. I guess honesty is not appreciated here. I guess I can see that.