Members rivshark86 Posted July 24, 2003 Members Posted July 24, 2003 How do you write music? How do I know what chords to use for a song? I know the blues scale, and the major scale, but thats it. In a song, how do you know what chords to use in a verse, and then what to switch them to in the chorus? Is there a web site some where that I could learn more on this.
Members Bluemusic Posted July 24, 2003 Members Posted July 24, 2003 There are more approaches to wring songs than there are songwriters. Having said that here are a few suggestions. First do you know how to harmonize a major scale? In C: C is maj D is Minor E is Minor F is Major G is Major or Dominant A is Minor B is dim Ok the main tonal centers you want to be concerned with is I IV and V . That's C F and G in C major E min and A minor are closely related to C D minor and F are similar And G and B dim are somewhat related. Remember this is just a down and dirty lesson. Ok so you can have a riff oriented song. Come up with a cool sounding riff. Say it is in C for ease of communication. Play it four times. Move to another tonal center. So play it in F. play that four times. Or as many times as you think sounds cool. These two chords are your verses. Write some words that will work with your chords and rhythm. Let the words suggest a melody. Let it kinds flow from the words. Ok now you have a verse. Write another verse. Now you need a chorus. Maybe use a similar riff and move it to another tonal center or use some appegios based on the minor chords in the key of C. Whatever you think sounds good is good. Try and come up with a catch line or a hook. Something that will really stick in the listeners mind. It can be a melody or some words that you repeat over and over. The title of the song is a simple but effective idea for this. Try and fit this part somewhere either before or after the chorus. Or perhaps between the verses. Your Verse is part A Your chorus is part B Your hook is part C Fit it into some sort of form. AABABCA Anything that flows right. Keep experimenting till you hear something that sounds cool to you. Now the real kicker!!!! You have to have something to say if you want to write a good song. This is sometime the hardest part. The point of your song will determine if it is happy or sad. Sad is like a minor Key. Happy is more major. Screw around with these ideas and come up with something. Now this is by no means a real primer on sonfwritig just something to get your creative juices flowing. Above all have fun. If you dont enjoy it your listener never will. Good Luck.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.