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Songwriting
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Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 1,156
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 1,156 |
Hi KC! Your question starts at a position that not all songwriters start at i.e. a chord progression. For me, while there are occasions when I initially start with chords, it is usually accompanied by a rudimentary melody that takes shape as the chords do - one feeds into and inspires the other. Both together start to inform the harmonic idea of the song. Sometimes, this is also accompanied by a lyrical idea. This question you asked is related to another which is 'What inspires you, musically?' This is a thread with a few contributions and also links to other related threads that might give you some ideas to check out: Inspiration and creativity The chords you provided in your BIAB chordsheet pic illustrate the problem - I could see the chords for each bar and that the song was in 3/4 time - but nothing more. Is there a melody? What is the tempo? What Style (and therefore 'feel') were you imagining. All of these can inform either directly or indirectly where a song goes to. In relation to copying chords from another song that sounded good - as the basis for my own - I found I couldn't get the original out of my head, so I've not used this approach anymore. Personally, I like straying outside of the key (modulation, borrowed chords etc.), and I don't like thinking theoretically about this when I use it - just does it sound good? All of this is to repeat what others have said - just go by what sounds good - but I'd add to put in some of the other fundamentals like tempo, style, feel and importantly, melody, and then you'll start to find your chord progression takes shape at the same time as these other elements that define your song. Enjoy the journey! Andrew D
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