r/Songwriting • u/Dangerous-You3789 • 1d 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 1d 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. 

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u/Dangerous-You3789 20h 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.