What to do with chords and melodies

D

davidvaillant

New member
Hi guys,
I have made a sick melody with nice chords on FL Keys but now that this is done if I want to do a progressive house song what do I need to do next? Do I layer my leads or make a base and is this melody and chords part of my intro or drop?
Thanks
 
There is no set path for song creation. As much as I would like to structure your song for you, it is ultimately up to you to decide how to fit your melody in somewhere. I would recommend listening to other progressive house songs and see how their structure is laid out. Then, without copying, try and do the same to your song.

Try and imagine the song in your head and put these thoughts onto paper (or your DAW).
 
Do you really want to follow a pattern? Maybe you'll come up with something new. No? Well then lay down your beat because writing a rhythm and more melody first makes it hard to create a drum beat later, I find. drums are a beast to compose last thing. I often start with the beat or do it second.
 
Just make the music man, there are reasons you might want to restrict what you're doing but fitting into a genre isn't one of them
 
Well were you going for progressive house in the first place? What chord progression you used or what pattern you used could differ depending on what you were going for. So if you didn't intend to do a Progressive House track then the chord sequence might not fit the genre. It could but might not.

A good idea would be to analyse 4 or 5 of your favourite tracks. Write down everything. Takes a while though, couple of hours a song but write down the bpm and write down where things come in and drop out. This is good for learning structure of your chosen genre.

Another good technique is to make 8 bars (maybe 16 but 8 should usually do) and after you have your piano chords, layer the song up looping the 8 bars. Maybe do a kick drum next as this will help to make sure the piano sequence is definitely in time and the next elements are too. Then add a bass line then strings, lead etc. Just go by ear. If things aren't working, try finding out the key of the chord progression and finding out what scales fit that key. Layer all the elements up till you have 8 bars of music with everything playing and then you structure it out by moving elements apart or to the relevant places. You'll know everything works melodically as you've had it all playing together at the beginning.
 
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Search online how to get out of the loop syndrome with your music, because that is exactly where you are right now.
 
SimonT said:
A good idea would be to analyse 4 or 5 of your favourite tracks. Write down everything. Takes a while though, couple of hours a song but write down the bpm and write down where things come in and drop out. This is good for learning structure of your chosen genre.

Another good technique is to make 8 bars (maybe 16 but 8 should usually do) and after you have your piano chords, layer the song up looping the 8 bars. Maybe do a kick drum next as this will help to make sure the piano sequence is definitely in time and the next elements are too. Then add a bass line then strings, lead etc. Just go by ear. If things aren't working, try finding out the key of the chord progression and finding out what scales fit that key. Layer all the elements up till you have 8 bars of music with everything playing and then you structure it out by moving elements apart or to the relevant places. You'll know everything works melodically as you've had it all playing together at the beginning.
Click to expand...

On point.
 
davidvaillant said:
Hi guys,
I have made a sick melody with nice chords on FL Keys but now that this is done if I want to do a progressive house song what do I need to do next? Do I layer my leads or make a base and is this melody and chords part of my intro or drop?
Thanks
Click to expand...
You're done with the writing. Now for the arranging & producing.

Genre is usually determined by groove, arrangement & production. I agree with Battlegun & SimonT; listen to some examples, gather some info and get your song in the ballpark. I too suggest working from notes as it's less likely you'll copy exactly what you heard.
 
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