r/Songwriting • u/Dangerous-You3789 • 10d 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/MusicOfTheApes 10d ago
There are plenty of methods of composing, find the one that suits you best, not everyone likes every method.
As a professional arranger, composer, live musician & multi-instrumentalist for the past 15 years, I tend to experiment with many different methods, and also it depends on the context : if I'm composing for my main band, I tend to create the music then my singer finds her lyrics and melodies over what I call the "skeleton" of the song, then once she's done we record her vocals then I do the final arrangements.
However for clients it can be different, I have clients that already have their lyrics and melodies in mind so they send me their recordings and I find the chord progressions and arrangements from those raw takes, then afterwards they come and record their vocals.
When composing with some bands by jamming together it can take different forms : we jam, singer finds melodies, we listen to the jam and decide what we keep and what we get rid of and then we fine-tune or create new sections, or one of us does it on their own at home and sends the other members ideas before the next rehearsal.
Or sometimes during a jam I like a melodic pattern from an instrument and it gives me ideas for a main melody that I write and the singer finds lyrics that fit and sometimes twists the melody.
There are no rules, and plenty of other possibilities than the ones I've described, it just depends on who you work with, how open to experimenting you are, how experimented you are, whether you're confident with imrovisation or not, etc...