Chords

Chord writing

 

I unknowingly started developing critical listening skills when learning to play guitar. I had no formal music training, only my ears and perfect pitch (very useful!). I tried learning the chords to tracks from Earth Wind and Fire’s album I Am but to little avail. I really started learning when I joined a band and begged the guitarist to show me his fingering. And that’s how it began. 

Listening skills are essential to being able to pick out the components that make up a song. Again, I stress, listen to the greatest most successful writers of the 2nd half of the 20thCentury, listen to your favourite tunes, their shape, where the chords are used and to what effect. And remember, in many of those songs, the melodies came first and the chords next giving a chance for the melodies to move without the chordal boundaries. 

The right chords in the right places can make a melody memorable, make it soar and set off its beauty. The wrong chords can kill and bury a melody, so how you use them is important. 

There are many things you can do, here are just a few: 

·      Major chords are well suited to songs with a positive message.

·      Re I, IV, V chords, the IV and V have an unresolved feeling, which can add tension to a verse or pre-chorus

·      The ‘I’ is the home or root chord, which has a grounded feeling of comfort and familiarity to it. It can add memorability to a chorus.

·      If the verse chords add tension, then chorus chords often have release, and vice versa to give the song dynamics

·      Similarly, if the verse has slow changing chords, then the chorus could have faster changing chords, and vice versa

·      Use inversions to add colour

·      If your song goes on a chordal journey a la Life On Mars (Bowie) or Wuthering Heights (Kate Bush), then the chorus/refrain/punch line should be incorporated in a progression with less movement and containing the I chord

·      Try modulating up for the chorus as in Trouble (Coldplay) and America (Simon & Garfunkel) or down as with Walk On By (Dionne Warwick) although it does go up to a call and response refrain.

·      If your verse is in say C min, go to the major for the chorus, or vice versa. (depending on the subject matter of the song)

·      Work out the chords to one of your favourite tunes. Play it around for a while. Twist it a little by using some relative minors; make it your own.

·      You could also pick the most and/or least important chords in the progression, and replace them with other chords that work. You may find one that takes you on another journey or tangent that may be fruitful and re-inspire you.

·      Guitarists can use different tunings to achieve different voicing

 This is just a little background showing what you can do to make your chord progressions complement your melody and subject matter in interesting ways.