how does chord progression tie in with melody?

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xuType

New member
how do people write melodies? does it follow chord progression? or is it just whatever sounds good? obviously straight up playing the chords or arpeggios would be boring, so how do composers spice it up? like say one song playing I-IV-V-I would sound different from another song playing I-IV-V-I in the same scale, right?

img17.imageshack---.us/img17/9379/you2v.jpg

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does the melody in the picture follow a chord progression? can someone explain it?
 
Some start by bangin tha melody and then add the chord progression after while other folks lay down tha chord progression and then play a melody from the notes in the chord progression as it progresses u dig
 
10ndaYii said:
Some start by bangin tha melody and then add the chord progression after while other folks lay down tha chord progression and then play a melody from the notes in the chord progression as it progresses u dig
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yeah i get that, but i don't get how its done. its like i got two pieces of a puzzle but i dont know how to fit them together
 
I'm not the greatest producer but I have a method that relates to what your saying . Like 10ndaYii said I lay my melody down first by determining what scale I wanna use . Heres a website with all the scales ---looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/ . Then I make chords within that scale .

remove the --- ^
 
It all depends what you're starting out with. When playing a melody, you'll almost always imply some sort of harmony / chord progression (whether in your mind, or because you played a second note in the bass for example.)
Your example, if you can call this a "melody" at all, definitely defines a chord progression.

If however you start out with a chord progression, you can play any melody over it that fits (that's what scales are for). In that case you're basically connecting (and/or extending) the chords.

Chords are the vertical component, melody is the horizontal component. A Chord progression is both.
It's useful to think of melody in terms of "one note at a time". As soon as you are playing more than one note at a time, you have harmony and what usually follows is a progression. Hope that helps.
 
Speekless said:
It all depends what you're starting out with. When playing a melody, you'll almost always imply some sort of harmony / chord progression (whether in your mind, or because you played a second note in the bass for example.)
Your example, if you can call this a "melody" at all, definitely defines a chord progression.

If however you start out with a chord progression, you can play any melody over it that fits (that's what scales are for). In that case you're basically connecting (and/or extending) the chords.

Chords are the vertical component, melody is the horizontal component. A Chord progression is both.
It's useful to think of melody in terms of "one note at a time". As soon as you are playing more than one note at a time, you have harmony and what usually follows is a progression. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...


yes. i think ive got a better idea of it now. i guess the best thing to do is just keep on writing
 
Speekless said:
It all depends what you're starting out with. When playing a melody, you'll almost always imply some sort of harmony / chord progression (whether in your mind, or because you played a second note in the bass for example.)
Your example, if you can call this a "melody" at all, definitely defines a chord progression.

If however you start out with a chord progression, you can play any melody over it that fits (that's what scales are for). In that case you're basically connecting (and/or extending) the chords.

Chords are the vertical component, melody is the horizontal component. A Chord progression is both.
It's useful to think of melody in terms of "one note at a time". As soon as you are playing more than one note at a time, you have harmony and what usually follows is a progression. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

plus learn the scales. me i lay may chord progression down first and then play the notes thats within that scale
 
xuType said:
how do people write melodies? does it follow chord progression? or is it just whatever sounds good? obviously straight up playing the chords or arpeggios would be boring, so how do composers spice it up? like say one song playing I-IV-V-I would sound different from another song playing I-IV-V-I in the same scale, right?

img17.imageshack---.us/img17/9379/you2v.jpg

remove the ---

does the melody in the picture follow a chord progression? can someone explain it?
Click to expand...

Yes it does.

You are in Bbm - your progression is Bbm7-Gbm7-Abmaj7-DbMaj7 over two bars which is then repeated for the rest of the page.

Melodically, you are doing some very interesting things, particularly right at the start where you use the 4th (Eb) rather than the 3rd (Db) as the upper note in the right hand. Your use of harmonised Ab-Eb for three of the four chords also ties everything together, with the little downwards scale runs filling in the harmony and creating melodic movement. The last four bars develop your ideas in a new direction, and suggests some very interesting possibilities for continuation.
 
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It wasn't actually written by me, but rather something I downloaded not too long ago. Thanks a ton for the analysis though, it's really helpful
 
If you make a melody according to you chords.. it wouldnt hurt if you use a note outside that chord.. as long as it sounds good and fits.. it doesnt have to be cacaphony cuz a 3 note chord + 1 melody note = might just be one bigger chord

Me myself i make melodies humming something.. and if i would have a chord porgression, i would listen to it and hum something along.
 
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